You’ve probably made a pretty big investment in your computer, not only in what you paid for it, but what you’re storing on it. Protecting your equipment from power fluctuations and surges is crucial, and really is not that expensive when you consider what you’re protecting.
While searching for surge protectors or battery backups, remember that you get what you pay for. A $7 surge strip from Wal-Mart may handle the most common small surges, but if you really want assurance that your equipment is safe, you’ll need to find something better.
When shopping for surge protection, you’ll want to look at the “joule” rating. The higher this number, the bigger the surge it can handle. Also look for products that offer electromagnetic and radio interference protection. Be sure it’s UL listed and that it specifies to what extent it’s guaranteed.
You’ll need to consider each and every part of your PC when shopping for surge protectors. Surges can come through any component plugged into the outside world. Your phone lines and cable lines are also subject to surges and can be the source of problems. While not as common, phone and cable surges are very dangerous, especially if they come into your home via overhead lines that can be affected by lightening. Many quality surge protectors will include options for your phone and data connections.
Surges, however, are only a part of the problem. Brownouts, blackouts, and power fluctuations can also cause wear and tear on PC components. Surge protectors will only protect equipment from surges or spikes in power. The solution to protection from both sides is what is called a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). UPS’s use a battery that is constantly being charged when it is in use, the moment that power fails, the battery takes over supplying the connected equipment power for long enough to either safely ride through a short power fluctuation or brownout, or to give the user enough time to save work and shut down if power won’t return for more than 15 or more minutes. UPS’s also come with build-in surge protection, so your equipment is also safe from lighting strikes.
UPS units are rated on how long their run time is (measured in Voltage-Amps), the higher the VA number the longer it can run equipment as well as what kind of equipment it can handle. 650VA is typically what most desktop systems need to run approx 10-15 during blackout periods.
