Home use UPS recommendations

[Blues&twos]

Hi all, I've been meaning to buy an Uninterruptible Power Supply for a while as I live in an area which is a little prone to mains power cuts. We use UPSs quite a lot at work for the control systems, but they are heavy duty commercial equipment and even the small ones are very expensive.
I'm in the UK, so it will be 240V ac 50Hz input/output and will only be required to keep my single desktop PC and flatscreen monitor running for a short while so I can shut it down in a controlled manner if the mains power is interrupted.
There seem to be a few domestic types on the market but I don't know if they're any good. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks in advance.

[Mac the Knife]

APC (Schneider Electric) make good dependable UPSes - the APC Back-UPS 650VA should suit you.

Got about 5 of 'em around. USB signalling to the PC (none of that serial port fuss) and reasonable software.

No need to look any further.

Mac

[Blues&twos]

Hello Mac, just had a look at the 700VA model. Thanks for the tip! Amazon sell them for about 80 quid and they get 4.5 stars out of five from nearly 600 customer reviews.
Looks like that'll do me just right!

​​

[Blues&twos]

Have just installed my new APC UPS BE700G-UK (700VA/405w). Pretty much a doddle, the supplied USB cable connects the UPS to the PC, on which their PowerChute software can be installed (from supplied CD) to allow configuration of the operation of the UPS. Easy to configure from the application menus.
With a little trepidation I gave it a try by flicking the mains power switch off.... All good, and got audible notification from UPS and message on PC screen. The intervention of the UPS is also recorded in a log. Looks like good kit- hopefully time will prove this right.
Thanks again for the tip, Mac.

[aerobelly]

Test it frequently, about once a month will do. The wretched things, even expensive commercial ones, can deteriorate without warning. Of course do the test with no work to loose on the computer. I once had to spend GBP14,000 on batteries to refurb one that was on life-support -- that did not make me popular with my boss. We tested the UPS and the associated large diesel generator weekly.

'a

[Saab Dastard]

I was recently asked to look into the optimum temperature for comms rooms - not data centres - housing branch office routers, switches and a few servers. I was quite surprised that the limiting devices in terms of temperature range were the UPSs backing the routers and core switches. 20-25 C is the optimum, apparently. Too warm and the battery life is significantly reduced. Too cool and the battery power can drop, or the battery can even be damaged (in extreme situations).

Test regularly, and follow the manufacturer's recommendations for maintaining good battery health. Expect to change the battery every 3 - 4 years, or less if the temperature is significantly outside the optimum (and /or you don't follow best practice).

[Mac the Knife]

The APC gear (at least my Back-UPS 650VAs) periodically do a self-test and give you a GO/NO GO notification.
Not much help if you're powering something that isn't UPS aware, but the UPS does start beeping at you more & more often.
Glad it all went well for you Blues&twos

Mac

Edited to agree with SAAB - I put the date installed on 'em with a chinagraph crayon

[kenparry]

I have had an APC UPS for my home setup for about 6-7 years, the ES 700 model. This because in rural Cambridgeshire we used to get (not so bad now) frequent outages, especially in thunderstorms or when farmers were moving their high machinery, which would often take out power lines. The final straw was one series of on/off/on/off/on switches which so corrupted my OS that it took me 3 whole days to recover the machine to a fully working state.

We still get brief outages, probably when supply feed circuits are being switched, and the UPS has been well worthwhile. The battery life seems to be about 4 years, so I am probably due another one soon. From my experience, you have made a good choice.

[Blues&twos]

Thanks all. I will put the installation date on it and do appropriate testing to give me some advanced warning of when the battery will need replacing. The software looks quite good and seems to give warnings and the like, but I won't rely entirely on notifications.
Rural electricity, eh?

[Nightstop]

I have two APC UPS’, one works fine the other packed up after about 6 months. They’re not used in the UK and are pretty heavy, so due postage I haven’t bothered to get the u/s one fixed under guarantee. If you’re in an area subjected to frequent power surges/cuts I’d recommend a self-resetting mains RCD, ours has saved the contents of our freezer on several occasions.