Hello, 

Two of the APC Uninterruptible Power Supply units (UPS) at the office are beeping about once per day.  It is because the battery on them needs to be replaced. I then went to the APC website http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13&subid=5

They have so MANY options to choose from that it has me FLUSTERED. I called sales at APC and told them what is connected to the UPS. With that, he recommended I get one of the Back-UPS RS line because it has automatic voltage regulation (AVR). AVR instantly adjusts both low and high voltages to safe levels. 

He said the cheaper models below the RS line don’t have voltage regulation so only protect against high voltage levels and not low voltage levels which can also damage sensitive electronic components.

He specifically recommended this one because of what was connected to the UPS (COMPUTER, external HARD drive, router) which requires more power support: http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1300LCD&total_watts=200

Do I really need low voltage protection? Am asking because the price to have both high and low voltage protection is so much higher.

Any assistance WOULD be appreciated.

Thanks,

JerryAny UPS is better than no UPS.  Depending on the model you now have, I would probably just replace the battery.  If each one has one 12V 7AH, they are about $20/ea.  If it's a 6V or 2-12V (+24V), the batteries are more expensive.
http://www.apexbattery.com/What the sales man said is technically true, but if you have had the UPS units so long that the batteries are almost dead, and have had no problems, just replacing the batteries should be fine.

If you were in an area subject to brown outs, like Southern CA, low voltage protection would be a good idea.  But for most of the country it's not a problem.

Second.I recommend high voltage protection because it will protect you from tons of more surges. Quote from: neelchauhan on November 24, 2009, 01:44:28 PM

I recommend high voltage protection because it will protect you from tons of more surges.