I'm looking for a very quiet/silent UPS

stevejay · Post by **stevejay** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:55 pm

Hi ho,

I would like to purchase a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) that is very quiet - preferably silent - in normal use. (Of course, I don't care how much noise it makes when the power goes off. Well, a blast from a built-in air horn might be a bit too much...)

I would prefer a line-interactive type. It will have my PC (475W power supply) and two LCD monitors attached. I presume a UPS with a rating of around 700VA would be fine. I have a budget of up to £250 (that's about the same in dollars).

I have searched this forum and found a thread from three years ago, but models change - I'd love some up-to-date information to help me choose. The main problem I'm having is identifying UPS models that have fans and those that don't. I've already had to return a (an?) UPS I bought, as it was too noisy. It just never occurred to me that noise would be a problem with a UPS

Bye,
Steve

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:02 pm

Sorry, not much advice, but I am also interested in this topic. I have run searches on this subject in the past and have only come up with very vague references to some models (usually Belkin or APC) that people report as quiet/silent in everyday operation. Unfortunately even if they mention how many VA the model is, both companies offer more than one model with that rating.

I have seen an APC tower-style UPS rated at anywhere from 1050 to 1200 VA that doesn't seem to have any fans, at least not visible anywhere from the outside. The only problem is, they rate this unit at 45 (!) dBA for some reason, implying a fan somewhere at some time. I was going to email APC about this model but never got around to it.

They are line interactive though... This is practically identical to the products I've seen (must be a Canada thing) http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=23

EasyRaider · Post by **EasyRaider** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:47 am

I have MGE Ellipse 800 (not line interactive), which is silent (just a hum when the battery kicks in).

Any fanless unit should be fine, I think. Most line interactive have fans AFAIK.

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:58 am

I have two of these, they are fanless. They hum very slightly when on AC (you have to put your ear on them to hear it).

LiquidRain · Post by **LiquidRain** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:36 am

I have an APC Back-UPS XS 800. Great battery life, lots of plugs, but has a low electrical hum. On AC power it's less audible than the hard drive in my server, which is an Antec rubber-grommet mounted Samsung 250GB P120 in an SLK3700AMB. It emits a more audible electrical hum as well as a quiet "squeal" (like an old TV) when charging, and is of course very loud when on battery. (oddly enough the XS 800 does not exist on APC's site but is sold in all Future Shops/Best Buys I have seen in Canada - it may be similar to the RS line but I am not sure)

My other UPS is an APC Back-UPS ES 500 and is silent on AC, slight hum/squeal on charge, and it goes without saying loud on battery.

stevejay · Post by **stevejay** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:49 am

Thanks for the replies- much appreciated! I got some recommendations on a different forum about one or two APC models, in particular the APC Smart-UPS 1000VA/1500VA models. Whatever I do get, I'll be sure to post my thoughts on it here.

Bye,
Steve

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:04 pm

So... it sounds like a lot of UPS's are normally near-silent except when running on the battery?

Elixer · Post by **Elixer** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:14 pm

I have a powercom 575VA UPS. It's inaudable when my greatly quieted computer is on, but when it's off and it's really quiet outside you can hear it make a buzzing sound intermittenly every second or so. The noise is probably <20db at 1m. I wouldn't be suprised if a lot of UPSes made similar very quiet noises.

HammerSandwich · Post by **HammerSandwich** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 11:52 am

Looks like BrianE found one of my earlier posts.

I started out with an APC BE725BB, which has a hum/buzz even in normal use. This noise isn't incredibly loud, but I can notice it. The unit whines while charging, which can require several hours after a 5-10 minute outage.

Later I bought a Belkin F6C1000-TW-RK using the "12345" discount from Belkin.com. This UPS is far better than the APC! It's built very well and is dead silent except when runnng on battery. I've had it for a year now with no problems at all.

The F6C1000 pleased me so much, that I've recommended Belkins to a number of other people over the last year. I've noticed no noise from any of these units in the limited time I've spent with them. In addition, no one has complained about them in either noise or reliability.

For now, I'm sold on Belkin UPSes for normal needs.

bakerzdosen · Post by **bakerzdosen** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 1:10 pm

I'll second the vote for the Belkins. I've got a F6C1500-TW-RK (basically the same thing) that I got for like $129 with the same special a few months back. It just sits there and runs. I also have an older Belkin (F6C120-UNV I think - it looks right) and an IPT Antzen i-500. None of them really makes noise (in the normal course of things.) However, it does get noisy when the power goes out. The alarms are so annoying that the fans won't bother you at all.

kenyee · Post by **kenyee** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:28 pm

The APC SmartUPS is silent until it uses the battery or when it roughly hits 90% of its power capacity, then a fan turns on that is a bit loud. It has true sine wave output (unlike the BackUPS and most less expensive power supplies). The biggest negative is that if the battery doesn't work any more, it'll do a rude shutdown of all your equipment w/o warning

The TrippLite SmartOnline ones are double conversion (runs on battery all the time), like the SmartUPS RT series. The problem is the fan runs all the time and it's loud (it's a Delta fan). The SmartUPS RT is rated at 45dB. I'd guess the TrippLite is also around there and I'm returning the one I just bought. Too bad though...it has all the other features I want, including staying online even if the power fails (it acts like a surge protector).

The TrippLite w/ the LCD display that you can get from Costco don't have a fan so there's no noise and it doesn't have a true sine wave, but I can't take a UPS that weighs 15lbs seriously...gotta wonder how long it'll last on battery

stevejay · Post by **stevejay** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:43 pm

Hi again,

Before I first posted here, I bought a Belkin Net Series UPS (1000VA version). I was then somewhat freaked when, as soon as I plugged it in to charge up the batteries for the first time, a very loud fan started up. That's when I realised I needed to choose a bit more carefully, so I returned it and posted here for your thoughts - many thanks for the replies!

I went with a recommendation in a different forum and got an APC Smart UPS (1000 va model). I've had it about a month now and am very happy with it, and it's already saved my bacon once. There's an electrical buzz when it's topping up the charge in the batteries or when it's actually powering the PC. The rest of the time - which is almost always - there's complete silence.

I tried a few times running it on batteries for a few minutes (as much for the novelty as anything else

) and no fan kicked in. However, my current setup doesn't draw much current.

Bye,
Steve

PositiveSpin · Post by **PositiveSpin** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 4:14 pm

I have four APC SmartUPS 1500VA in the shoebox style. They are very quiet normally, but once a week they switch to battery (it's a self-test thing) for a minute. While on battery they are loudish (fan noise mostly, plus a clunk as they switch) - it can be a bit startling the first time it happens. They beep every so often (no air horn!) while on battery - when there's a power failure and all four start beeping I'm left in no doubt

Main reason I chose the 1500VA is because it's more than enough capacity for each machine - with the monitors off (idle) I get 90 minutes runtime - that tides me over pretty much any normal blackout. Monitors on (4 LCD panels per machine) reduces that to about 35 minutes.

One warning - place the UPS where you can't accidentally kick it. With the batteries inside they don't move, and your foot suffers!

Oh, and if you want to maintain connectivity while the power is out, don't forget to connect your router and modem to the UPS. (yes, the comms often stay up during a blackout - the comms companies have UPSs too!)

stevejay · Post by **stevejay** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 9:29 pm

PositiveSpin wrote:They beep every so often (no air horn!) while on battery

I was kinda hoping for a police-style great big flashing light, or maybe for the room to be bathed in red 'tactical' lighting

Bye,
Steve

jfeldt · Post by **jfeldt** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 12:03 am

PositiveSpin wrote:They beep every so often (no air horn!) while on battery

I have a few APC UPSs, and one can turn the beeping option off if so inclined using the windows software (and I believe apcupsd). I ask them to power down the computers before they run out of battery power, so I would rather not be woken up for nothing.

Jason