Advice - UPS or Inverter

H

Hofburg

Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2019
Messages
23
Reaction score
3
I require a small (preferably UPS) unit for my living room. Need power during load shedding for 40" TV, PVR, DVD Player, Speakers - 3 hours. Have been given conflicting advice regarding the benefits of Inverters over UPSs and vice versa. Please advise.
 
Arthur said:
Inverter + battery + battery charger = UPS
Click to expand...

You still need the ability to switch automatically in less than 10 milliSeconds.

If you are happy with stuff going down and then connecting automatically, yes, then fine.

One thing that has become apparent to me, searching in SA, UK, USA, Germany and China, is that small (ie <= 1000w) Pure Sine Wave UPS's are extremely rare.

I have only found one (1000w) in China, and it has a 50 milliSecond switchover, which is too slow. It is also of dubious quality, but I may get it to play around with it.
 
Last edited:
Jola said:
You still need the ability to switch automatically in less than 10 milliSeconds.

If you are happy with stuff going down and then connecting automatically, yes, then fine.

One thing that has become apparent to me, searching in SA, UK, USA and China, is that small (ie <= 1000w) Pure Sine Wave UPS's are extremely rare.
Click to expand...

I realised that. Wonder why?
 
RedViking said:
I realised that. Wonder why?
Click to expand...

Yes, I also wonder why, 1000w UPS PSW is ideal for a desktop, and will also run a fridge and freezer. Either desktop, or fridge/freezer.

I would have expected it to be the sweet spot, and that it would be a competitive product.

But, no ! Why ???

There is this :

https://www.gumtree.co.za/a-other-e...g-and-power-outages/1004615819480910433044409

But the switchover time is a bit slow (50mS). May be ok for the fridge, but your PC will reboot.
 
Jola said:
Yes, I also wonder why, 1000w UPS PSW is ideal for a desktop, and will also run a fridge and freezer. Either desktop, or fridge/freezer.

I would have expected it to be the sweet spot, and that it would be a competitive product.

But, no ! Why ???

There is this :

https://www.gumtree.co.za/a-other-e...g-and-power-outages/1004615819480910433044409

But the switchover time is a bit slow (50mS). May be ok for the fridge, but your PC will reboot.
Click to expand...
There is something like this https://sinetechstore.co.za/shop/al...ead-acid-portable-compact-long-backup-system/ apparently around R11-R12K.
 
Inverter for the win but if your budget is kak go for a UPS like i have and live with the beeping annoying sound every 20 seconds :)
Plus a UPS won't get you through entire load shedding if you're watching TV and stuff unless you modify it with extra batteries.

Long story short just go with an Inverter
 
Hofburg said:
I require a small (preferably UPS) unit for my living room. Need power during load shedding for 40" TV, PVR, DVD Player, Speakers - 3 hours. Have been given conflicting advice regarding the benefits of Inverters over UPSs and vice versa. Please advise.
Click to expand...
 
I really couldn't cope with the annoying sound and large size of most units. They look ugly in limited space. Many thanks for information that Inverter + Battery + Battery Charter = UPS. Are there no smaller silent units on the market?
 
Hofburg said:
I require a small (preferably UPS) unit for my living room. Need power during load shedding for 40" TV, PVR, DVD Player, Speakers - 3 hours. Have been given conflicting advice regarding the benefits of Inverters over UPSs and vice versa. Please advise.
Click to expand...

Your answers are in what we have said.

Pure Sine Wave UPS is what you really want, but not available. See above.

Modified Sine Wave UPS (Mecer 720w) would do the trick, they seem to work OK with TV's and DVD player. With one battery (100Ah, 12v) 3 hours, with two somewhat longer.

If you want Pure Sine Wave, you will have to go for an inverter, which requires a separate charger, and manual enabling/disabling.

Caviat : If your TV is a plasma the battery life will be much shorter.

40" LCD TV uses about 110w, 40" Plasma TV uses about 270w

Note : After last weeks load shedding, most stores are out of stock.
 
Last edited:
Hofburg said:
I really couldn't cope with the annoying sound and large size of most units. They look ugly in limited space. Many thanks for information that Inverter + Battery + Battery Charter = UPS. Are there no smaller silent units on the market?
Click to expand...

I have no experience with this unit or company but maybe worth checking out?

https://sinetechstore.co.za/shop/al...ead-acid-portable-compact-long-backup-system/

If you don't want buzzing noise when on battery you need to look at Pure Sine. But so far all the units I checked out is above 10 or 12K.
 
Jola said:
Not quite :

Inverter + Battery + Battery Charger + High Speed Switching Circuitry = UPS
Click to expand...
Some inverters have all this functions and a simple mode switch:

A difference in each mode for my inverter:
UPS mode: 185V-265V
Inverter mode: 105V-275V

When switching power source is implemented, it is something, you should also expect from the inverter: accepted utility AC voltage range. Inside the range device is working in standby. Outside the range it switches to a backup mode.

When I want to topup the fridge, to power a water pump in the borehole, I slide a switch to the inverter mode position.

A common (and practical) clasification is as follows: Inverter is a box without internal battery, UPS is a complete set with a battery. But purporse of the device is also indicated in the name.
 
Last edited:
Jola said:
Yes, but I want my fridge to work with a Pure Sine Wave device while I am not at home.

Inverter can't do that, requires manual activation.
Click to expand...
some expensive fridges have DC motors, wont need pure sine wave for that
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X