UPS equipment and overvoltage protection adapters for home/private users/customers

[Anonymous user]

Hello,

I want to buy two or three UPS devices for my private household.

I would like to ask if it makes sense to insert an overvoltage protection adapter on both sides of the UPS, maybe to ...
  

... protect the UPS against overvoltage which comes from the power grid

... protect the devices which are supplied by the UPS
     
  
If it makes sense, which adapters do you recommend ?
  
  
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Additionally I would like to ask:
  
  
- Exhaust air of a small UPS: What is important to know ?

- Best underlay for an UPS ( stone tile, fireproof cloth ) ?
  
  
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Thanks

Danny

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

You don't need to supply any sort of power line protection before the UPS, and should not supply any after it. The UPS is equipped to deal with all sorts of powerline problems: surges, spikes, sags, blackouts and other problems. In fact, the most important thing you can do is to make sure that the outlet to which you connect the UPS is properly grounded. If it is not, its surge protection capability will be impaired. (There's a small red warning lamp on most APC UPS products to alert you of this and some other common wiring problems. If it comes on, have a qualified electrician repair the wiring to that outlet.)

If you really feel the need to do so, you can plug the UPS into a voltage stabilizer. This should only be done if the power quality in your area is very, very poor. APC sells one known as the Line-R.

Attaching a surge protector or other power filtering device to any of the UPS's outlets may cause it to shut down suddenly or indicate an overload condition when it switches to battery.

APC's higher end UPS products offer additional protections over the basic models. For example, the Back UPS 1000VA models and higher have the ability to control low (or sometimes high) line voltage without using up the battery, through a featured called Automatic Voltage Regulation, or AVR. The Smart UPS products also have this capability. Some models also have the ability to protect against surges that may come in through telephone, coaxial or network lines.

I would suggest that you buy a UPS with a capacity somewhat larger than you need. For example, if you find that a 500VA UPS would support your load, you might actually purchase a 750VA model instead. The larger model will allow for future expansion, will operate with less stress than the smaller model, can keep your equipment running longer, and -- most importantly -- will allow for a safety margin as the built in battery ages and loses capacity. Definitely don't buy a UPS that's too small and try to get more out of it than it was made to give.

As far as ventilation goes, you'll be fine as long as none of the ventilation openings on the UPS are covered up. There are no special requirements. The UPS will be just fine at any normal room temperature.

You can place an APC UPS on almost any flooring or work surface without issue. Carpet's OK, unless it's very deep. Wood floors are also fine. While any electronic device can fail, and some do fail dramatically, this is very unlikely to happen. There are several safety circuits that would intervene before a situation became dangerous. If you are worried about something happening, I would suggest any of making sure the power cord can be reached easily, keeping an all purpose fire extinguisher present and making sure that your smoke or fire alarms are working correctly.