About Power Fallback
Power Fallback is an independent reference for uninterruptible power supplies, battery backup and power protection. Our aim is simple: help you keep important equipment running, and keep it safe, when the power misbehaves.
Why this site exists
Buying and running a UPS looks simple until you try it. Spec sheets mix VA and watts, runtime charts rarely match real life, beep patterns differ between brands, and the advice found in forums is often right for one setup and wrong for the next. Meanwhile the consequences are real: corrupted NAS volumes, furnaces that won't relight on a stepped waveform, batteries that swell quietly in a hot closet.
Power Fallback brings that knowledge together in one place, organized around the decisions people actually face: what to buy, how big, how to set it up, what to do when it alarms, and when a UPS is the wrong tool altogether.
What we cover
- UPS fundamentals: how the technology works and how to read the specifications.
- Sizing and runtime and batteries: the math and chemistry behind how long backup lasts.
- Power quality and surge protection: the problems a UPS solves and the ones it does not.
- Use cases: device-specific guidance from routers to gas furnaces and medical equipment.
- Troubleshooting, installation and software: practical procedures for owners and administrators.
- Calculators and reference data that show their assumptions.
Who writes it
Articles are researched, written and maintained by the Power Fallback Editorial Team, drawing on electrical engineering principles, published standards (IEEE, IEC, UL, NFPA), manufacturer documentation and established field practice in IT and facilities work. Every page follows our editorial standards, shows when it was last updated, and lists its key sources.
Independence
We do not accept payment from manufacturers or retailers to cover, rank or recommend products, and no manufacturer reviews our content before publication. Brand pages are orientation guides to product families, not paid placements. Where we compare brands, we compare documented features and design approaches, and we say where the right answer depends on your situation.
Our limits
We publish general, educational information. We cannot see your wiring, your equipment or your local code. For work inside an electrical panel, new circuits, hardwired UPS systems or generator connections, use a licensed electrician. For life-sustaining medical equipment, follow the device maker's and your clinician's guidance and register with your utility's medical priority program where one exists.
Get in touch
Spotted an error, have a question we have not answered, or want to suggest a topic? Visit our contact page. Corrections are handled under our corrections policy.