I’m a solid believer in uninterruptible power supplies (UPS).  Definitely use a surge protector, but why do you need or want an UPS?  The number one reason is so your computer doesn’t experience a rude shut down in either a power outage or a power blip.  You know the kind.  The lights wink but come back on immediately.  Without an UPS, your computer will be restarting without benefit of a “graceful” shutdown, and files could be corrupted — perhaps files essential to your computer’s operation.

My husband has a basic 650VA UPS for his desktop computer.  I have two 1000VA UPSs.  One for my Mac Mini and another for the internet modem.  I’ll come back to that last one in a few minutes.  First, let’s talk about the UPS units on our computers.  Other than the surge protection capabilities (yes, the UPS is also a surge protector), it serves two other purposes. It keeps power smooth, and some places have what’s called “dirty” power.  You won’t notice it in your lights, but it fluctuates, which is bad for electronic devices.  Even if you don’t lose power completely, fluctuations can be harmful.

If you do lose power, an UPS can be programmed to shut your computer down (in case you’re not around when the power goes off but your computer is on) or it can give you enough power to shut your computer down yourself after you’ve had a chance to save what you were working on when the power went out.  If you have a large enough UPS, you may be able to work on your desktop for several minutes with the power out.  This depends upon the size of your UPS and the power efficiency of your computer, monitor, and other necessary peripherals.

I experienced a power outage yesterday in mid-afternoon.  I gracefully shut down my Mini to conserve UPS power.  My laptop is plugged into a UPS-powered outlet, so it maintained it’s charge.  Over the next hour or so, I did a couple of things before powering down the laptop.  I had the lid closed, so the laptop was asleep.  I went to the grocery store to pick up a few items. When I came back, I checked the status of the outage on the laptop. It didn’t show one, so I reported the outage, and I learned power was expected to be back on in two hours.  I closed the lid and worked on a few other things.  I came back to log a long entry on a site I frequent, then I powered down the laptop to conserve the UPS power, because the outage had changed to three hours later.  I needed to make sure I maintained battery power both on the computer and the UPS.

Luckily, my iPad was fully charged and the iPhone was in good shape.  I switched away from using the phone to conserve it’s battery (after a while, I plugged it into the laptop USB port to charge, just in case).  The iPad battery is very efficient, so it’s good to use.  This is where the large UPS solely devoted to the internet modem comes into play.

With numerous battery powered devices and several external batteries to recharge those devices, having the internet modem still working is critical.  The internet modem works via phone lines, which have UPS power of their own for numerous hours, so the modem, if powered, will still work.  I decided to replace my failing 750VA UPS with a 1000VA UPS last year.  With my internet modem on that UPS, I had uninterrupted internet service (and the modem didn’t miss a beat, thanks to the UPS, so it didn’t even know the house had lost power).

Without the UPS for the modem, I would have had to use the hotspot on the phone, chewing of data.  Or stay offline.

I prioritized my time and worked on something that required light until light began to fade.  Then I headed upstairs to prepare for a quiet evening in the dark (with a fully powered iPad).  Right after brushing my teeth, power came back on. My husband said I should have brushed my teeth earlier.

Surge protectors are critical, but have you considered a well-thought out UPS scheme for your home?