The only reason I am thinking about getting one is simply because I don't want my hardware getting damaged because of power outages.
If a surge protector would give me the protection I need then I wouldn't bother buying a UPS.
Let's start with the many myths. Power outages do not cause damage for a long list of reasons. For example, if power outage causes damage, then so does power off. As the telco installer noted, those telco switching machines do not have a UPS because power off is not destructive.
Because it is called a surge protector, that means it provides surge protection? When did you (and others) jump to that conclusion based on what facts and numbers? 'Protectors' and what provides 'protection' are two completely different items. Most educated only in word association or from a retail salesman never learned the difference. What does a protector do?
Either surge energy is dissipated harmlessly in earth. Or that surge is inside the building hunting for earth ground destructively via appliances. No protector stops or absorbs surges as myths so often promote. Will that 2 cm part inside stop what 3 kilometers of sky could not? That is what some are saying. Will its few hundred joules absorb a surge of hundreds of thousands of joules? Of course not. But again, that is what many claim - by ignoring numbers.
So again, what does that plug-in protectors (or UPS) do? View its manufacturer specs. Where does it list each type of surge and protection from that surge - in numbers. It does not. It does not claim to protect what an overwhelming majority recommend it for.
So what does BT do? With every thunderstorm, that CO (switching computer) is confronted by about 100 surges. How often is your town without phone service for four days while they replace that computer? Never. Because they do not use any plug-in protectors. And they use the only protectors that have performed surge protection for the past 100 years. Yes, we are now about to discuss how all successful surge protection has been done long before computers even existed.
From the NIST (a US government research agency) is:
> You cannot really suppress a surge altogether, nor "arrest" it.
> What these protective devices do is neither suppress nor arrest
> a surge, but simply > divert it to ground, where it can do no
> harm.
Why does the NIST say something completely different from what the overwhelming majority assumed? Again, where does the energy go? Did they even ask that question? What does BT do to not have damage? BT does not spend massive sums on those obscenely overpriced protectors. BT installs protectors that are as close to earth ground as possible and up to 50 meters separated from electronics. Both distances mean better protection. An effective protector makes a 'less than 3 meter' connection to earth. Obviously nothing plug-in can make that low impedance connection. A connection that must be that short, no sharp wire bends, no splices, ground wire separated from all other wires, not inside metallic conduit, etc. All necessary so that a protector connects that energy to earth.
So what does a protector do? It is a connecting device - not a protection device. A protector must connect every incoming wire in every cable 'less than 3 meters' to single point earth ground. How does a UPS do that? It does not - and does not claim to provide protection in its numeric specs.
Only the more responsible companies provide 'whole house' protectors such as Keison, Siemens, General Electric, etc. Earthed protectors for phones are:
http://www.citelprotection.com/english/citel_data_sheets/data_line_protection/B280_B380_B480.PDF
http://www.keison.co.uk/furse/furse11.htm
How to make a protector better? Upgrade (ie shorten) the quality of and connection to earth ground. A protector is only as effective as its earth ground. The NIST makes that point bluntly:
> A very important point to keep in mind is that your surge protector will
> work by diverting the surges to ground. The best surge protection in
> the world can be useless if grounding is not done properly.
UPS has one function. To provide power during blackouts - to protect from unsaved data loss. View that UPS spec. How many joules? It contain near zero joules. But near zero is enough for a sales brochure to convince the naive that it contains "Surge Protection" (in big letters). And so an overwhelming majority say a UPS provides surge protection. Most ignore the numbers that say 'near zero' (ineffective) protection.
Where does that energy get dissipated? Either surges are harmlessly absorbed in earth (as BT and all other phone companies do everywhere in the world to have no damage). Or that energy is hunting for earth destructively via your appliances. A plug-in protector can even give a surge more paths to find earth destructive via adjacent appliances. Yes, can even contribute to damage of adjacent appliances.
The informed consumer installs only one 'whole house' protector so that everything (even the furnace and dishwasher) is protected at about £1 per protected appliance. When surge damage cannot happen, the protector with a dedicated wire to earth ground is the 'always required' solution.
Appreciate how much longer it took to explain technical reality. Again, why does a overwhelming majority make recommendations without knowing this?
Plus my ups has a £100,000 warranty if it ever fails to protect me
Also, the amount of systems (or components) we replaced due to lighting damage obviously was a figment of my imagination too.