Surge protectors with UPS, household use?

[tinpanalley]

I just moved into a new place and need some surge protectors since I'm back in North America (Canada) for the first time in 4 years. You get enough bizarre power behaviour over the years and you start to realise a few good surge protectors would have been a lot cheaper than the crap power strips you've bought in the past.

I have a handful of things that need plugging in by my desktop, a handful that need plugging in by my TV. For everything else, there is a need for multiple outlets but not for massive consumption all at once as with the prior two. Is it standard practice or would it be advisable for me to have UPS surge protectors for TV and desktop or are good quality surge protectors sufficient. I don't think my area is highly susceptible to brownouts.

 

sidebar: are USB ports just a ridiculous marketing add-on on surge protectors whose functions should be handled on their own or is it perfectly fine to have them on there?

 

Thank you!

[Velvet Revolver]

if you are in an urban area the power is stable as can be

i have not had a brownout in years

come to think of it i cant even think of the last time we had one

ups is only needed for an always on computer, like a server for business

i was able to buy a used commercial power bar rated pretty high with a built in watt meter for $25, normally they go for $250+

where are you located?

i just saw a ups rated at 700VA but its a lead acid ups so its a heavy mother fucker

it seems the usb gimmick adds an extra cost the product

[tinpanalley]

10 minutes ago, Velvet Revolver said:

if you are in an urban area the power is stable as can be

i have not had a brownout in years

come to think of it i cant even think of the last time we had one

ups is only needed for an always on computer, like a server for business

i was able to buy a used commercial power bar rated pretty high with a built in watt meter for $25, normally they go for $250+

where are you located?

i just saw a ups rated at 700VA but its a lead acid ups so its a heavy mother fucker

it seems the usb gimmick adds an extra cost the product

I'm in Quebec City.
I imagine it would have to be at least the wattage of my PC's power supply, right? So in my case 650W?

[SCHISCHKA]

35 minutes ago, tinpanalley said:

sidebar: are USB ports just a ridiculous marketing add-on on surge protectors whose functions should be handled on their own or is it perfectly fine to have them on there?

 

If they were 1A id find them useless. I bought a USB multi charger that makes the coil whining noise so Id be worried about my power adapters having an extra feature that could do that and extra point of failure

[W-L]

1 hour ago, tinpanalley said:

-SNIP-

UPS's are mainly best used for very unstable power conditions or frequent power loss. I personally have one on my main computers for battery backup to prevent potential data loss or corruption. For the wattage or VA required it only needs to be what power draw it will be under, what components or devices are you planning to put onto the UPS.

[Velvet Revolver]

Quebec explains the worry you have

 

[tinpanalley]

16 hours ago, Velvet Revolver said:

Quebec explains the worry you have

 

Not sure I understand.

[tinpanalley]

16 hours ago, W-L said:

what components or devices are you planning to put onto the UPS.

I'm most concerned about my desktop (650W PSU) and my stereo, TV, AV devices although I'm told all those have fuses. and dips in power (infrequent) to them won't really cause anything more than an inconvenience.

[W-L]

7 minutes ago, tinpanalley said:

I'm most concerned about my desktop (650W PSU) and my stereo, TV, AV devices although I'm told all those have fuses. and dips in power (infrequent) to them won't really cause anything more than an inconvenience.

The power supply in most cases will protect your system from damage by sacrificing itself in the process but won't protect against data loss if it was doing something and there was a power outage. Other devices like your TV and stereo may not like it but won't suffer from the same issues say a computer or game console would. The main idea for a UPS is not to keep things running for long when there is no power but to allow for you to save and safely shut everything down during and extended loss of power.