Dash has sold and serviced APC UPSs for almost 20 years. Here's a lesson we learned early: All batteries are not the same.

As part of our UPS activity, we became a master distributor for BB-Battery. We selected BB-Battery because it was one of three brands we frequently found in APC's professional grade UPS products*. APC carefully qualifies its battery manufacturers and Dash found out why.

There are many brands of batteries being sold for UPSs. Many of them are of poor quality. One indication of poor quality is in the lifespan of the battery. The best batteries last 3 years or more in typical UPS duty. The worst can fail in a year or less, may overheat, may split open and leak acid in your UPS. We've repaired many UPSs that had acid leaks. We've never seen a BB battery split open or leak acid.

If you are replacing your own UPS battery, you won't want to do it again next year. You want the longest life battery you can afford. If you're careful, you'll find that the best battery brands are frequently only 20%-30% more expensive than the worst brands. But if the best battery lasts three times as long, it turns out to be the most economical of all, even if it cost a little more. (But it will take you three years to find this out.)

We invite you to call us with your questions about batteries for your UPS. You can see some of our batteries and learn more about batteries at our other site, dashbatteries.com.

* APC has low-end UPS products selling in Sam's Club, Frye's, MicroCenter and other retailers. These use lesser-quality brands of batteries and have a much higher failure rate. These are not APC's professional "Smart UPS" grade UPSs.