Chapter 11. Uninterruptible Power Supply - UPS
You should use a protection against lightening and power surges or a UPS
if you have many thunderstorms in the area.
That will save hardware, software, your time, and money, and help prevent you from throwing out
that old monitor, CPU, or modem when it gets trashed by lightening.
For details consult the UPS-HOWTO.
For desktop PCs, in areas prone to lightening or power outages, UPSs could save hours
of work each week, potentially translating into power savings.
However, there is some concern over their additional usage of AC power.
If anyone has any studies or research on this issue, could they please forward it to us?
That would be an interesting question to post to APC, BEST, etc.
UPSs also contain batteries with a high environmental cost.
So, just use a UPS when really needed and when benefits
outweight environmental costs.
For example, if you are using a notebook, a much cheaper surge protection is enough
thanks to your battery.
People have also reported issues using unreliable power
sources, for example in trains. Make sure you use a surge protection
device then!