Battery Backups vs Surge Protectors
What happens when lightning hits?
Simply put, lightning is an electrical circuit seeking a ground. The unfortunate part is that it usually finds that ground in your unprotected computer, television, stereo, or other equipment. With a high quality battery backup or surge protector, you can protect your valuable equipment at very little cost.
What is the difference between a battery backup and a surge protector?
Both will provide surge protection but a battery backup (also called an uninterruptible power supply or UPS) has a battery inside. It is designed to keep your computer running for 7, 10, 15 minutes etc. The length of time depends on the size of the UPS. A battery backup allows you just enough time to close all programs, save your work and shut down properly.
Remember, it is only meant to be temporary so do not keep on working…it will only last for a few minutes. Stop, save whatever you have open, and shut the computer down. Sometimes the power only goes out for a few minutes and pops right back on. You have to make a judgment call at that point depending on how bad the storm is.
If you think that it may go out again, shut your computer down and wait for the storm to pass and power resumes normally. Allowing continuous off and on surges to your computer is very damaging.
A Surge Strip as shown above, is cheap and designed to protect your equipment from a power surge, but it will NOT keep your computer running like a battery backup.
Also, it will NOT protect your computer from the JOLT of being shut down abruptly in a power event. A battery backup will as mentioned above.
The bottom line is spend the extra money and invest in a battery backup. Yes it will cost more than a strip but you are protecting your expensive equipment so it is well worth it.
If you get a hit , it is time to replace it.
Surge protectors are designed to sacrifice themselves to save the equipment that it is protecting. So if you come in to your office one morning after a night of lightning and the computer that was plugged into a surge protector will not power on, count your blessings.
Your surge protector did its job, it protected your equipment. Replace it and be happy about it. Most manufacturers have a lifetime warranty. So if you take the time to fill out their paper work, you could mail the old one to them for a full replacement at not charge! This is in addition to replacing your damaged equipment if that is the case.
Battery backups will hold up quite a bit longer but will also fail or drain the battery after so many power hits. That is exactly what these devices are designed to do so don’t get upset when they seem to stop working. It has probably saved you hundreds or thousands of dollars in potential damage.
Not All Plugs are the Same!
Note the labels on the battery backup by the plugs. There are 2 types of plugs on a battery backup. Surge protection only on one side, battery backup + surge on the other side For example, if your battery backup as six plugs only three will be Surge + Battery Backup protection. The other three only act as a surge protector ONLY. Important to know.
Make sure to plug your main equipment such as your computer and at least your main monitor #1 to the battery backup side. The Surge Only side you can use for your printer, phone system etc.
What is the best battery backup?
Stick with the name brands when it comes to battery backups. APC by far is the most popular and probably the best choice hands down. Tripplite is also a good brand. Don’t cut yourself short on protection. Spend $40-$80 on a good quality battery backup and you will be glad you did.
What about my phone line?
Contrary to popular belief the majority of damage finds its ground through the path of least resistance. This is normally your phone or ethernet cable (CAT 5/6) since that is the thinnest wire. And since you phone line is connected to modem in your computer, you have just given that lightning the ground that it is looking for, at the expense of your computer.
Most people do not think about the phone line assuming the electrical current always comes through the main power circuit, not true. Phone lines although to a much lesser degree, also carry electrical current. In fact nearly 90% of the time the damage from a strike travels through the phone line NOT the main electrical path.
So do not underestimate phone line protection, it is most important. Get a high quality surge protector which also includes phone line protection as well as the main power.
What is a battery backup supposed to do?
The objective of a battery backup unit is to just to give you 5-10 minutes to properly shut your system down and wait for power to be restored. This is sometimes contrary to what APC will tell you because they want you to buy their very expensive power units to maintain full power for extended periods of time costing thousands.
Lets say you have one of our QuadStation multiple display computer systems with 4 displays in this example. You would plug in monitor #1 (where your Start button is), the main QuadStation computer and perhaps your cable modem to protect it. (If the power goes out most likely internet will go down in the area even if your cable modem is plugged into the battery backup. However, it is still a good idea to protect it from damage.) Everything else (remaining monitors, printers etc) plug into the surge only side to protect from damage in the event of a lighting strike or power surge.
What happens if the power goes out?
So when the power goes out, you will have your main computer and monitor #1 running (where you start button will be) so you can click on start shut down after closing any programs. This is assuming that you have your computer and at least monitor #1 plugged into the battery backup properly. See “Not all plugs are the Same” above.
If you have a multiple display system the remaining monitors (plugged into surge protection ONLY) will lose power and screens will go dark. Don’t be concerned. If you have open applications on those monitors and you can still see them, quickly save your work and close the program. Remember you only have a few minutes. Then shut the computer DOWN.
The Bottom Line
In summary, a surge protector only (or plugging into the surge side of a battery backup) will cut the power abruptly to anything that is plugged into it. However it will protect it from damage usually. This is also the case of a battery backup with a weak battery!) A battery backup which is supported by the battery will maintain power for a few minutes only, giving you time to shut down properly.
What about my laptop, it has a battery?
True your laptop does have a battery so if the power does go out your laptop will stay on. This is provided that it was not hit by the lighting. However, if the power cord and the phone line are not looping through a surge protector it is still susceptible to damage. It is easy to have a false sense of security when it comes to laptops.
The next time a lighting storm comes around, just unplug the phone line and the power source. You can keep right on working on your laptop. Because you have eliminated the possibility of damage by disconnecting any link between you and the lightning.
Looking for a high quality laptop? See our QuadStation Mobile laptop systems with support for up to 3 monitors.
Conclusion
Do not take lightning or power interruptions lightly, they can be very damaging and quite expensive if not taken seriously. So, be PROactive not REactive when it comes to protecting your costly equipment. Protect your equipment with a good quality battery backup, you will be glad you did. That is a lot cheaper than having your computer equipment damaged.
