Does anyone use a UPS (battery backup) in Switzerland? In the US they were a given if you have a desktop computer, but I'm not sure I've ever heard of blackouts or brownouts here. Is there a need for a UPS here?

I never had a need for UPS / AVR here for the last 3 years here, having some 5+ machines running 24x7 at home.

Get a Sine Wave UPS and it will clean the power, iron out spikes and generally provide a much better voltage for your computer equipment, most of which is quite sensitive to the issues addressed by a decent UPS. If you are running your hard disks with both caches enabled (Windows and hardware) then a UPS will ensure writes complete if you have a sudden outage and this is vital for RAID setup's if you don't want to spend hours even days whilst the RAID sub-system rebuilds itself.

i.e. if you are serious about protecting your equipment, a UPS isn't just for power outages.

Well, to clarify the whole situation, I already have a UPS rated at 800watts, and even though by all calculations, I'm never exceeding 600watts peak, it's recently been powering down due to overload while the computer sleeps (very strange).It's only three years old, but with just a 24 month guarantee. So I looked into replacing it, and wondered whether I should spend 400fr (again) for something I've never actually needed. I'm aware of the power conditioning, but I'm not sure that's so crucial for one desktop computer. At worst, I'll kill the power supply which would cost a fraction of the cost of the UPS. But I'm not really sure any of it is necessary, in reality.

I just wanted to get a consensus.

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Only justifiable for business applications.

http://www.apc.com/index.cfm

What CPU(s) / graphics card do you have , do you plug in printers or monitors ? What is your PC PSU rated at ?
Have you run a deep cycle refresh of the batteries ?
Do you have a vendor utility to monitor the UPS performance ? Your batteries may need replacing.

I hope at least you have some kind of surge protected power supply other than your PC PSU ? Power conditioning , whilst not vital, will play a large role in increasing the lifetime of some crucial components. If you have no surge protection, your PSU will not fully protect your sensitive RAM and CPU. Some surge must get through briefly for the PSU to trip or blow... This will inevitably lead to some component damage unless you are very lucky.

Yes and no.

The power supply to your apartment block will certainly be well-conditioned and stable.

Up to a point. Or two.

Point one is realisation that, (unlike the (high) quality of AC supply), the quality of Swiss domestic wiring is somewhere between Roman and Dark Ages. All power to a room - overhead lighting, switched lighting, power outlets, minor appliances if kitchen - can be on the same circuit. A simple flick of a lightswitch, or firing up of a cleaner, can be sufficient to trip a circuit breaker, leaving one sitting in the dark listening to the therapeutic sound of a hard disk spinning down...

Point two is that thunderstorms like this evening's will blast through on a regular basis over the year, and periodically blow stuff up. Cablebomb kit seems especially prone, as a number of fried codecs stand testament to.

HTH.

No. No need for home/small business.