Thanks Rinswind, I have added your UPS, to the DO list.


Andy

I have a Belkin 750VA UPS. Bought it 50$ Canadian on dell days of deals. There's some buzz, but I don't hear it (it's under my desk). Of course during a power failure it makes a lot of noise.

Ok, now i have my BR500I on the desk, i will place it under desk, now is under test
I ear a little bit of noise from the unit, similar to the noise reported by andyb, but it's not annoying, almost inaudible from 1 meter (2 feet).
Surprisingly, noise in battery mode is really better than the predecessor, the Back-ups pro. It's a good unit with good software, hope it work for at least 3 years without issue

I need an opinion my friends. When i turn off my PC, I have to turn off the ups? I prefer it turned off...

I just installed a Smart UPS SUA1500 and it makes a constant high pitched whine. Not that loud, but it's a piercing sound, very annoying.

At work everyone has the most basic 350VA APC. The lights went out one day, and I was surrounded my PCs running off the UPS for a few minutes. I never heard a thing.

Hello,

I've joined this forum for the sole purpose of adding to this very useful thread with my own experiences of buying a quiet UPS.

I have previously been using a Belkin F6C525 and it's so quiet I never gave it a moment's thought until recently. However it was insufficient for a two PC and monitor set-up I wanted to create so I went looking for a new, more powerful UPS.

I decided to stay with Belkin and first bought a Universal UPS 1200VA. However I was disappointed to discover that it made a loud hum when switched on and I could hear it at night from 10ft away on the other side of the bedroom.

For my sanity's sake, I had to return it and get something else. A user review described the Belkin Dual Form Factor UPS 1500VA as "dead quiet" but to my mind, it produced the exact same level of hum as the previous Belkin. This too got sent back. The only Belkin series I left untried was the Battery Backup and according to a user review, this too has a loud hum.

Belkin, it seems, no longer manufacture a quiet UPS!

Luckily I found this thread and I can completely agree with the user in a related thread who wrote of the APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA that "The fan only kicks in when on battery otherwise 0db no noise from it at all of any kind." It really is completely silent

So, to conclude, I recommend the old Belkin series which you can still buy at various places (although it is no longer listed on the Belkin website).

and I completely second the recommendation of the APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA as a very quiet UPS.

I hope this is of help to somebody

Hi,
this thread was very helpful for me, so it's fair to report back my experience. Today I bought (after much consideration) APC Smart UPS 750 for my home server. First I was little reluctant about it, because APC specification stated 55dBA, but fortunately this is not normal operation noise, but only when UPS is using battery power. In normal operation mode is perfectly silent, I can only hear a quiet buzz if I listen few centimeters away.
When I work I seat around 1 meter away from it and in my reasonably quiet environment it is definitely more quiet than computers.
Recommended.

I have updated the post to include the UPS's that you reccomend, and the ones to avoid.

Thanks.


Andy

APC Back UPS CS 650VA is a good choice? Anybody have once?

Another one:

SmartUPS 1400. Don't think they make them anymore.

Relative quite under normal operating but the sound you hear is a high freq buzz. Interesting thing, when you have a direct path to the sound source, its ... livable. But when the sound is coming from a indirect path, its very annoying ( brrrrrrrrr kind off sound ).

If your pc is actually making less noice then the indirect sound, then you have a problem

Ofcourse, when the power goes out, up comes the fan, and you get 50+dB, but thats to be expected...

For me, the sound is too annoying.

None load: 27Watt power usage ( and no, its not charging the battery, as its already 100% ). This is one thing many people forget about.

Also tried a duo off Trust UPS's... Well, lets not talk about those anymore shall we

Anybody have any opinion on Cyberpower?

They have a few types of UPS and they specifically advertise their ( www. cyberpowersystems .com/products/ups-systems/browse-by-category/avr-series-ups )AVR series as the silent running type.

I use an APC Smart-UPS 1500VA for my home PC and it's pretty damn silent. Once every two weeks or so it does a self-test which seems to involve switching to battery power momentarily and running the internal fan for a while. That's the only noise I get from it, and IMHO it's worth an occasional click then some fan noise just to know it's still effective.

The exception to this is during an actual blackout... when it makes a loud beeping noise every few seconds and seems to run the fan on full speed until a minute or so after power is restored.

I live in the sticks and we seem to get reasonably frequent small power cuts - maybe off for 5 minutes every couple of months and off for 30 minutes once or twice per year.

My UPS keeps my PC, router, etc going strong for roughly 45mins before it initiates a shutdown. I no longer feel worried during firmware flashing and that sort of thing - it's a great piece of kit.

An update on my XS900 (BS900R):

After 25 months of operation, the always-on fan decided to take a turn for the worse. New noise that comes and goes at random times. Sounds like something is slightly coming in contact with the fan blade for a while, grinding along, and then gets kicked away. Can't get to the fan to see what's going on without taking some extreme measures.

Started the Warranty process today. Good news is:
- APC ships the replacement unit to you in 2-3 days. You then return your defective unit in the provided shipping container.

Bad news: I pay the return costs. 30# of battery being shipped across the country = $30.

Bad news #2: The replacement's fan has an awful whine. <sigh>. Looks like it's headed for Craigslist and will be replaced with a diff model

I recently bought an APC Back-UPS XS 900 and the always-on fan is driving me nuts - it's not even in the same room where I work! I wish I had seen this thread before I made the purchase at Circuit City... I have since purchased the ES 750 from Newegg and it is dead silent. There is some buzzing when on battery power but that is far more tolerable than the always-on fan of the XS 900.

Just got my Smart-UPS 1500VA and the fan runs all the time.
Loud enough to drive me bonkers... I know it's probably the best UPS to use, but I think I'll put it in my other room for my file server.

Sorry to hear that, but it doesn't match my experience. Do you use a lot of load on it, in high ambient temps? My fan seriously never kicks in until it's running on battery. Usually one of the green 'load' lights is lit - sometimes two or three - and my room temp is about 20-23degC.

I replaced my painfully noisy/whiny APC XS 900 (aka model BX900R)with an ES 750. The ES750 is dead silent when on-line and charging the battery. Low buzz when it's off the mains and providing battery power. The ES line appears to be fan-free. The 650 and 750 provide cable modem surge protection as well as for DSL/landline.

I have 2 APC Smart-UPS:

SUA 750i: 750VA deadly silent, no fan, no wine; I can't hear it at 2 feet. Audible only when on battery.

SUA 1500i: 1500VA, fan always on 24/24 and 7/7 at a guestimate >30db/1m.
If I remove all the load, the fan goes on.
If I turn it out, the fan goes on.
If I unplug the power line after turning it out, the fan goes on the same.
I must unplug the battery too to stop the fan.
Unusable in a living room.
I am wondering if it is defective and I can ask for a replacement, instead of throwing it away...

HI all,

just joined as wanted to mention a couple more to be added to the DO's and DON'T lists.

DON"T (I have heard them yesterday/today)

MGE Nova 1100VA - cheap and cheerful, but VERY noisy as fan always runs.

MGE Ellipse MAX 1500VA - fairly noisy fan which always runs.


DO (I have these and know they're silent)

OPTI-UPS 1500C ES - absolutely silent (no fan).

MGE Ellipse ASR 1000VA - absolutely silent (no fan).



So I've now just ordered the Ellipse MAX 1100VA as recommended by andyb, looking forward to it being quiet!! I do note that the Ellipse MAX 1500VA says underneath that the output is not sinusoidal, but not an issue for me.

Cheers
TiggerK

APC ES 700va is quiet when not in use and the same can be said about Aiptek VI 2000va but that one has a fan and when it's powering the machines it sounds like a vacuum cleaner. That's a minor nuisance with the beeping cacophony though.

Well I've had my SMARTUPS 1000 for a couple months now. The only noise is the buzzing/coil noise from it, but that can be very annoying when the room is completely silent outside of the ups. I notice the buzzing can be louder or quieter, probably dependent on the electrical system in the house itself. I've never found a UPS that did not have buzzing so far, but it is definitely something that is drowned out by any other noise. I'd say this and the APC RS900 have a similar buzzing loudness.

I have had the apc back ups pro somethng since 2004. silent. runs even my monitor and modem. I like the warning of a click or short buzz. It tells me of a surge, else I wouldn't know. I do not stare at the ups waiting....
I would buy the same brand again. even the 500va of old numbers sustains the biggest today.

I guess it's my turn to resurrect this topic.

You list the APC Smart UPS 750 in the DO list, I assume it's the regular version (SUA750I) and not the XL model (SUA750XLI)?


EDIT: nevermind. From the answers I reckon that it's the regular version. Sure it's cheaper but the XL model's battery lasts 3x/4x longer!

If the listing in first post can be updated, by all means include the CyberPower Intelligent LCD Series GreenPower UPS CP1500AVRLCD under DO.

All the Intelligent series UPS units have a silent mode and should perform as this one does relative to no noise in normal mode. Yes, that is correct, the unit is silent in normal mode. When the power goes off, the fan kicks in and of course makes some noise. However, the Silent mode mutes all alarm beeps except if you go down to 5 minutes of remaining battery life--but you can configure it with software downloaded from their website, latest edition, for the unit to shut off with 6 minutes left and never hear a beep. Of course, you can also shut it off manually before reaching the 6 minute mark.

I was considering the APC 1500 model, but I didn't like the automatic self-test done every two weeks that makes a noise for I was told a few seconds. Now that does not seem like much, but I don't want to be startled by unexpected noises. The CyberPower unit lets you do the self-test manually--the APC 1500 does not.

This CyberPower unit definitely belongs in that listing on the front page for DO.

I had the same problem. I finally got a fault F08 (Fan Fault). It seems that they have a manufacturing problem with the fan.

Return your unit to the store you bought it from or call APC to get a warranty replacement.

The fan should only turn on in very high ambient heat conditions or when it's on battery (again that causes higher than normal heat conditions).

Good luck.

I have an apc smart ups 2200va rack mount model with the AP9617 management card. This is new to me as my former units were no where near this caliber. I was pretty excited to see something like a 45db spec published for noise on this unit because for me that is usable in my bedroom. The noise really isn't bad except for a slight high pitch squeal that drives me nuts and no way I can sleep with that. So I am wondering if there is a way to shut this thing down every night and have it automatically power up in the morning at a certain time. I currently have my desktop power up through the bios setting at 9am M-F so I can remote desktop into it when I get to work. With the ups now I have to turn it off and remove it from the wall outlet and then hit the off button again to have it totally turn off and stop making noise. However, it appears after turning off and with it still plugged into the wall the squeal noise goes away and it is only the white noise from the fan and such.

Anyone have experience with these units and have any feedback as to an approach I could take to make this quiet at night? Only other option I have is to move the unit to another room and route one hell of a hefty extension cord to a power strip in the bedroom but that is a really crappy approach and then draws all the power from another rooms circuit which I don't really have the overhead on.

I've had a APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA with LCD since last year and it always generates a low, subtle hum. It vibrates a bit near the read of the warm unit when I put my hand on it. The fan only comes on during power outages and self-tests. But now the USB connection gets lost intermittently for a few seconds: a known issue that can be fixed under warranty. Although I'll wait for the snow to melt from trees and electrical lines before sending in that heavy buzzer!

So APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA (BR1500LCD): quiet yes, silent no.

I have that same Back-UPS LCD and mine is almost completely silent. I am quite pleased with it. Ended up switching that with my rack mount APC Smart UPS 2200VA that I commented about above. Put the Back UPS in the bedroom for all the computer stuff and then temporarily using the rack mount UPS in the home theater room.

Also, I commented above that my Smart UPS 2200va had a bit of a squeal to it that would keep me from sleeping if used in my bedroom. Apparently this may have been from a power strip I plugged into it for more outlets for low power devices. Seems that thing gave off the high frequency sound and I noticed it when switching out the ups. Still, the Back UPS is far quieter than the smart ups model I have.

Also of note, you can get a network management card in the Smart UPS and I have the AP9617. There is a ton of config you can do in it but it was a PITA to figure out how to assign and IP address to the card and get it to work. You have to first access it through a terminal program, type '33333' and then enter user and pwd and then go through the menus to set an IP. Then use their device IP config mgr to access the card by IP. Then use powerchute to configure everything. To make matters worse APC uses all proprietary pin outs on their cables incuding an obscure 10 pin rj45 to usb cable. This administration is quite confusing, time consuming and the proprietary cables are BS money making scheme. Still, happy with the final result.

I just build a watercooled fanless computer, and it's totally SILENT.

But I had no UPS for it... and I had a spare 1 year old APC SUA1500 Smart-UPS at work... My GOD! this thing is SOOOO noisy beside a fanless computer! It's one of the new model with the fan always on. I can hear the fan from 50' away!

Ambient temp is 17 celsius, so the SUA1500 is really cool to the touch, and really cool inside. So the crazy loud fan is spinning for nothing. APC are willing to exchange it for ''free'' (making me paying for shipping a 60 pounds monster is their definitiion of a ''free'' exchange), but the other will still have the same fan, and always on... APC did confirm that ALL the new SUA1500 have the ''always on'' POS Adda fan. So silent PC buyers beware!

So my question is this. Is it really complicated to change the fan in there? or to just unplug it? There is ''danger'' written everywhere on it and in the user manual... is it that dangerous to open it?

Did someone ever opened one of those? Standard 3 pin fan connector? I have a spare and SILENT S-Flex 80mm fan and would like to replace the POS Adda fan in the SUA1500.

Does anyone has a picture of an opened SUA1500?