I'm looking for a silent line-interactive UPS to protect my computer from power problems, since my current PC has stopped working and I'm worried the electrical grid may be involved. I need to connect a PC with an 850 W power supply, two monitors, and my Internet box. The UPS should provide at least four French-style electrical outlets and be quiet enough to use in a bedroom. What capacity and model specifications should I look for?
3 Answers
Make sure the UPS has at least four French-compatible outlets and check whether all of them provide battery backup or whether some are surge-only. Also look carefully at the noise specifications: many UPS units are quiet most of the time but may run a fan or beep during a power failure, which could matter in a bedroom.
The reason for buying one is important. If you only want protection from brief outages and voltage fluctuations, a line-interactive UPS should work. If the electrical supply is especially unstable, you may also want to compare voltage regulation features and pure sine-wave output, particularly if the PC uses a modern active-power-factor-correction power supply.
Just to clarify, you’re looking for a UPS rather than a generic inverter. Since your computer has an 850 W power supply, don’t choose a unit based only on the PSU rating. Check the actual power consumption of the PC and monitors, then leave some headroom. A line-interactive UPS with enough watt capacity for the combined load would be the appropriate type.
Yes, I specifically need a line-interactive UPS for the computer, two screens, and Internet box. I’m mainly trying to find the right capacity and a model that stays quiet.