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Save that data! Get a battery backup for your work-from-home desktop PC

If you’ve done work on a computer for any length of time, you’ve likely experienced the horror being in the middle of a project and the power goes sideways - either from a surge or an outage - and your unsaved data vanishes.

If you’re on a laptop with a built-in battery, this is not an issue. But desktop users can only feel as secure as the AC power coming into their homes - unless they’re using a battery backup system, known as an uninterruptible power supply, or UPS.

UPSes for the home generally look like a large black box equipped with multiple outlets. Inside is typically a lead-acid battery, like the kind in your car. The UPS plugs into your home’s AC power, which both keeps the battery charged and provides juice to your devices.

Some of the outlets are connected to the battery, but the rest are just surge-protected. The surge protection they provide is very good, certainly better than low-budget power strips. And some UPS models have connections for phone/DSL and cable-TV connections to prevent surges and brownouts from damaging hardware.

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Home UPSes can be fairly affordable, depending on how much power your gear draws. Most home users can buy one that’s adequate for well under $100, though you can spend much more if your needs are greater. Popular brands include CyberPower, APC, Tripp-Lite

Keep in mind, though, that they are not designed to run your hardware for a long time. They provide you with enough time to save your work and shut down your equipment safely. But they can be a lifesaver in other ways during an emergency, which I’ll discuss later.

UPSes are useful for more than just computers - you can use them with any electronics you want to keep running for a brief time in an outage. For example, along with the UPS I have for my Mac mini and dual-monitor setup on my desk at home, I have another that sits in my TV stand, where it surge-protects my HDTV and provides a battery backup to my cable modem and router. If there’s a power outage, and assuming my internet provider isn’t offline because of the same problem, I can still use my broadband connection as long as the UPS’ battery holds out.

There are two types of UPSes commonly used in home settings. A Standby UPS senses a power failure and quickly switches over to battery power. A Line-Interactive model has an additional transformer that is better able to handle surges, brownouts and so-called “dirty” power. The latter costs a little more but is worth it if your home’s power isn’t as stable as you’d like.

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Buying a UPS isn’t as simple as getting enough outlets, though that’s a consideration. Your main consideration is making sure you have one that’s powerful enough to keep your gear running long enough for you to safely turn it off. Here’s where, gentle reader, I’m going to present you with some math.

Before you choose a UPS, you need to know how many total watts your equipment requires. In most cases, the specifications for your computer and monitors will show you the power draw. A big, hulking desktop tower or a gaming system will have a power supply that runs in the 400-900 watt range, though most of the time those systems aren’t drawing the full amount. At the other end of the spectrum, the Mac mini I have uses 85 watts of power.

Most common LED monitors don’t draw much power. I have a 27-inch display that pulls 35 watts, and a second, 21.5-inch monitor that pulls 25 watts.

In total, my system pulls 145 watts, which isn’t much. An older Windows-based desktop I once built for gaming had a 600-watt power supply, so it would draw, at maximum, 660 watts with those monitors.

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A UPS’ capabilities are measured in volt-amperes, or VA. As I warned, there is math: You have to plug some numbers into an equation to convert the wattage of your system to VA rating on a UPS.

Fortunately, it’s a simple equation: Wattage times 1.6 equals VA. So for my paltry Mac system, 145 X 1.6 = 232VA. If I had still had that gaming PC with the same monitors, the equation would be 660 X 1.6 = 1,056VA.

I recently replaced the UPS on my desk, not because it wore out (which eventually the batteries do), but because I needed more outlets to support my pandemic, work-from-home lifestyle. I bought a Tripp-Lite rated at 750VA, or 450 watts - far more than I need at the moment, but with room for expansion if I upgrade my desktop computer. I just needed more outlets, and this one has 12, with six backed up by the battery.

Uninterruptible power supplies, such as the Tripp-Lite 750VA, can give you time to save your data and power down your computer in the event of a power failure.
Photo: Courtesy Tripp-Lite

The Tripp-Lite model also has software that can automatically shut down your computer’s operating system if there’s a outage and you’re not there to do it yourself. Many UPS manufacturers offer this, but it does require a cable that may or may not be included, and the software may not work on your operating system. Tripp-Lite’s PowerAlert app runs on Windows and Linux, but isn’t available for the Mac.

As I mentioned, UPSes can wear out, typically because the battery no longer holds a charge, or the surge protection circuitry eventually gives up the ghost. There’s not much you can do about the latter, but many home units come with replaceable batteries that cost about half of a new unit. In fact, it’s smart to buy that extra and keep it handy.

Even a battery backup needs a backup occasionally.











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