Alpha7 :
So you guys are confident they actually protect you from power surges? I've read some mixed reviews on the internet. Some argue they do nothing, others say they work well. I really know nothing about them.
That's because there are different UPSes with different features.
There are ones which are just a battery backup which kicks in when all power is lost. These don't provide surge protection. I guess they expect you to plug a surge protector into it if you want that.
There are ones which combine a battery backup with a surge protector.
There are ones which also try to cover brownouts (brief drop in power from your power company - you may have noticed these as the room lights dimming for a fraction of a second). These UPSes are advertised as having AVR - automatic voltage regulation. These always do surge protection as well.
And there are ones which generate a true sine wave output instead of faking it. Most devices which run constantly (light bulbs) or convert to DC (your PC power supply, anything with an AC adapter) are usually ok with the imitation sine wave output. Devices with sensitive AC motors though, like an electric drill or medical equipment with pumps, may need pure sine wave output.
All surge protection is not equal either. Different protectors will kick in at different voltage levels. If your surge suppressor kicks in at 300 V and your equipment fries at 200 V, the surge suppressor isn't going to be much help. Reality is that AC power is dirty, so most devices are designed to withstand brief surges of slightly excessive voltage.
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