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Do I need an uninterruptible power supply?

tomwalsh77

tomwalsh77

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 12, 2012
139
37
Blackpool, UK
I've just read that some people buy UPS's for their iMacs and I was wondering if I need one. The reason I think I might do is because I rent my house and our electricity is on a card meter and sometimes I forget to top up and the power goes off and I'm thinking this can cause damage to an iMac right? If I do need one can anyone recommend a UPS that works on UK voltage.

Thanks.
 
tomwalsh77 said:
I've just read that some people buy UPS's for their iMacs and I was wondering if I need one. The reason I think I might do is because I rent my house and our electricity is on a card meter and sometimes I forget to top up and the power goes off and I'm thinking this can cause damage to an iMac right? If I do need one can anyone recommend a UPS that works on UK voltage.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
A UPS is always a good idea for expensive equipment such as a computer. The possibility of physical damage when the power goes off is very small. What you have to worry about is spikes and brown-outs in the power supply.

scan.co.uk should be able to advise you on which UPS would be most suitable

http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer...ninterruptible-power-supplies-for-computer-pc
 
I use UPS for macs and external drives ... Allows for proper shutdown if power goes off, and is also surge protector, but most important is, if power goes off and then quickly comes back on while hard disks would without UPS still be spinning down.
 
nightlong said:
I use UPS for macs and external drives ... Allows for proper shutdown if power goes off, and is also surge protector, but most important is, if power goes off and then quickly comes back on while hard disks would without UPS still be spinning down.
Click to expand...

Any specs I should look out for in a UPS?
 
We have great power delivery in my area... yet I still use a UPS.

We lost power twice in the past 18 years. Once a sub-station exploded and took down the grid in my city. A second time is when they replaced our electric meters to smart meters. That was a managed shutdown with lots of notice.

Still... for a hundred bucks or two... I am not going to risk damage to my data.

My favorite are APC 1500 models.

/Jim
 
tomwalsh77 said:
I've just read that some people buy UPS's for their iMacs and I was wondering if I need one. The reason I think I might do is because I rent my house and our electricity is on a card meter and sometimes I forget to top up and the power goes off and I'm thinking this can cause damage to an iMac right? If I do need one can anyone recommend a UPS that works on UK voltage.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Just plugging expensive gear into a raw outlet is a little unwise. Even if there is not a power outage, current fluctuates. I will plug my new Imac into a UPS. I plug other gear into a voltage regulator that that eliminates sags and surges. I would at least use a voltage regulator on stuff that you care about. Frankly, I'm tired of the batteries going out on UPS units so I am switching to at least voltage regulators like APC Line R 1200 on most things. I can put up with power outages, but I would like at least a clean 120 volts coming out of the wall.
 
UPSs are pretty basic, just a line conditioner and a battery, so get the cheapest one you can find with the number of outlets you need (3-4 is generally enough for most users). A plus if you can replace the battery.
 
I'd appreciate some help before I buy the wrong UPS for a new iMac. The computer is a loaded 2012: 27", 3.4 ghz, 32 GB RAM, 3 TB fusion drive.

Apparently, I need to know the total load in watts or amperes in order to select a UPS that's powerful enough so that's Question 1. How do I find that info? Called Apple; no help. Looked online; couldn't find it.

Question 2 is about which brand to buy. I've had APCs in the past. How does that brand compare with others?

If it sounds like I'm confused/ADHD/non-technical, all of that is true. :)

I'd be grateful for information and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

PS
I'm coming back to Mac after an absence of 15 years...CAN'T WAIT!
 
wrosie said:
I'd appreciate some help before I buy the wrong UPS for a new iMac. The computer is a loaded 2012: 27", 3.4 ghz, 32 GB RAM, 3 TB fusion drive.

Apparently, I need to know the total load in watts or amperes in order to select a UPS that's powerful enough so that's Question 1. How do I find that info? Called Apple; no help. Looked online; couldn't find it.

Question 2 is about which brand to buy. I've had APCs in the past. How does that brand compare with others?

If it sounds like I'm confused/ADHD/non-technical, all of that is true. :)

I'd be grateful for information and suggestions. Thanks in advance.

PS
I'm coming back to Mac after an absence of 15 years...CAN'T WAIT!
Click to expand...

I've given up on APC brand UPSs after having a bunch of them go bad without warning. I've switched to CyberPower.

http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups-systems.html

I have the CP1000PFCLCD. It runs my 2006 24" iMac, powered USB hub, DSL modem, Airport Extreme, and a few other network widgets. It can also handle my old PowerMac 7100 with a couple of external disk enclosures at the same time, though I rarely turn the old system on anymore. This UPS is definitely overkill for my iMac, but I intentionally bought higher capacity than I needed. That gives me a long run time before the UPS shuts down.

It's annoying that Apple doesn't make it easy to find the power requirements of the new iMacs. That makes it hard to pick a UPS that's "just right". I found the specs for previous (2011) models:
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP634
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP623

Both say the same: "Maximum continuous power: 205W (21.5-inch models); 310W (27-inch models)".

It's very unlikely the 2012 iMacs need more power than the 2011 ones; probably they need less.

If your budget allows, I would get a UPS rated AT LEAST double the maximum continuous power of your iMac. That allows for momentary power requirements higher than the "continuous" level, allows for some extra stuff like routers and USB peripherals, and gives you decent runtime during a power outage. The CyberPower CP850PFCLCD is a likely candidate, and so are some of the AVR series.
 
I will definitively get a UPS for my new IMac, but I read somewhere that IMacs require a Pure Sine Wave UPS.

Pure Sine Wave seem to be about twice as expensive as the Simulated Sine Wave UPS.

Anybody here have some information on that subject?
 
jchfriis said:
I will definitively get a UPS for my new IMac, but I read somewhere that IMacs require a Pure Sine Wave UPS.

Pure Sine Wave seem to be about twice as expensive as the Simulated Sine Wave UPS.

Anybody here have some information on that subject?
Click to expand...

i'd be interested in knowing this as well
 
mefromhere said:
that looks like a good one. It might be more than you need. Which imac, 21.5" or 27"? Will you be connecting other stuff to the ups also?

You might be able to use the smaller cp900epfclcd. But its always better to have too much ups rather than too little.
Click to expand...

27" :)
 
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