Quote me on UPS options to keep basic power alternatives available for working from home

[-=AlteredNeon=-]

I have spent thousands on UPS’s in my home to assist in load shedding.
I have 5x 2Kva UPS’s in my house that has died, none lasts longer than 6 months. I keep on purchasing 2Kva UPS’s and end up throwing them in the bin.
Sadly, all I see is RTC Rectron Cr@p that never lasts.

I’m willing to spend up to 20K, I am in an estate, so noise is a problem with generators. Maybe I can get a quiet generator in my garage.
Or a battery backup that does not die on me.
Is there anyone out there that can assist me in getting a viable option.
All I need is some knowledgeable person to come out and see my setup and quote me on various options.
I have no knowledge around these things at all, I don’t want to be taken for a ride, and will pay what is due.
I am willing to pay for a call out, but also would like references.
I am willing to pay R1000 for a call out and quote, but as stated above will need references which I will peruse first.

Anybody Out There ?

I am in Burgundy Estate, Milnerton Western Cape.

Thank You.

 

[Cactus]

2400VA Mecer Inverter + 2x 100AH Batteries Trolley (8 HOUR BATTERY LIFE) KIT - 1440W (150-200 cycles) - GeeWiz

2400VA Mecer Inverter + 2x 100AH Batteries Trolley (8 HOUR BATTERY LIFE) KIT - 1440W (150-200 cycles) for sale online at the Best Prices! Door to Door and Overnight Delivery

www.geewiz.co.za

You need to take care of the batteries, else it won't last! Lead Acid does not like to be drained. You can upgrade the above to a lithium battery, which will push it up to 17k.

 

[Speedster]

Nothing too wrong with the inverters, but stop getting lead acid batteries! LiFePo4 is miles better

 

[xumwun]

Nothing too wrong with the inverters, but stop getting lead acid batteries! LiFePo4 is miles better

If you can find stock of them

 

[Lupus]

Your first issue was buying UPS for long term outages, you'd need an inverter with deep cycle batteries

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

I have spent thousands on UPS’s in my home to assist in load shedding.
I have 5x 2Kva UPS’s in my house that has died, none lasts longer than 6 months. I keep on purchasing 2Kva UPS’s and end up throwing them in the bin.
Sadly, all I see is RTC Rectron Cr@p that never lasts.

I’m willing to spend up to 20K, I am in an estate, so noise is a problem with generators. Maybe I can get a quiet generator in my garage.
Or a battery backup that does not die on me.
Is there anyone out there that can assist me in getting a viable option.
All I need is some knowledgeable person to come out and see my setup and quote me on various options.
I have no knowledge around these things at all, I don’t want to be taken for a ride, and will pay what is due.
I am willing to pay for a call out, but also would like references.
I am willing to pay R1000 for a call out and quote, but as stated above will need references which I will peruse first.

Anybody Out There ?

I am in Burgundy Estate, Milnerton Western Cape.

Thank You.

UPS is designed to alert you with an annoying loud beep that ESKOM is in it's ****
Therefore backup your Word document and Excel file and safely shut down your Windows computer.
A UPS is designed to allow 15 minutes of interruptable power for you to achieve this. Fact


Fast forward to load-shedding. You need an inverter. Not an UPS

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

2400VA Mecer Inverter + 2x 100AH Batteries Trolley (8 HOUR BATTERY LIFE) KIT - 1440W (150-200 cycles) - GeeWiz

2400VA Mecer Inverter + 2x 100AH Batteries Trolley (8 HOUR BATTERY LIFE) KIT - 1440W (150-200 cycles) for sale online at the Best Prices! Door to Door and Overnight Delivery

www.geewiz.co.za

You need to take care of the batteries, else it won't last! Lead Acid does not like to be drained. You can upgrade the above to a lithium battery, which will push it up to 17k.

Agree, but the charger is not lithium based so it needs a 'drop in lead replacement battery'

 

[joshuatree]

Mini Ups for fibre&router e.g Omnipower Ratel or Gizzu.

 

[Corelli]

OK this isnt an elite, but all I could find short notice.

Battery like upto 17 hours 15 minutes.

Search results for: 'shop hp laptops hp business laptops hp probook x360 convertible 435 g7 ryzen 5 laptop 2' | HP Store

HP Store South Africa | Get HP Laptops, HP Printers & More

www.hpshop.co.za

Macbook air is about 15 hours


And so youre not left in the dark....

ECOLED EMERGENCY LIGHT BULB LED DAYLIGHT 7W ES

The ECOLED EMERGENCY LIGHT BULB LED DAYLIGHT 7W ES is self-charging and stays on during load-shedding or other power outages.

www.brights.co.za

They work in normal sockets, check screw in or bayonet.

This is for the router and fibre box... you may need dc extension cables

Takealot

Yip not bad for data

Telkom prepaid uncapped mobile data launched — from R229 per month

Telkom has launched two new uncapped mobile broadband services, available on a prepaid basis.

mybroadband.co.za

These mobile routers works well

HUAWEI Wi-Fi & 5G CPE - HUAWEI South Africa

Explore the latest technologies in routers with Huawei, including HUAWEI mobile router, 5G router, 4G/5G mobile wifi, 5G CPE Pro and so on.

consumer.huawei.com

Upto 6 hours battery life but charges via usb so a powerbank should be fine

As for UPS. Nothing beats an APC

APC SRT96BP Smart-UPS On-Line External Battery Pack (3kVA)

undefined undefined APC, UPS, Power Protection and UPS, Accessories, Computers

www.loot.co.za

But a UPS Is only to allow you to shut down

Past this if you do prefer a desktop then get a mac mini or HP Elitedesk. The latter can run at 65w, whereas a normal desktop is 250w+ Depending on the chipset the gaming isnt bad.

But then we're looking into energy efficiency, and if you own the place and can get into your ceiling insulate it with 135-145mm isothem (leave gaps where lights) Not so cold or hot then.

Chuck out any plasma and get LED tvs instead (way less power), check your pc monitor and go for something less power too), and then desktop mini.

And switch your whole apartment to LED (like 7.5w in passage and 9.5w elsewhere) - cool white.
Or get emergency bulbs (you can always just plug it into actual lamps as backup from total darkness.)

Remember though with any UPS, its not how powerful it is, but how efficient it runs. Same with a pc, powersupply etc.
You can find them Brights Plattekloof or Brights near Makro. Remember to get a Brights card, its further discount.

 

[Corelli]

All that will happen with a laptop, it will dim a little and keep chugging along, while a desktop you have to panic.

Also nothing beats sitting in bed watching a movie on your laptop when youre done working.

Or you could get a mini projector with battery built in

LG CineBeam LED Projector with Built-In Battery, Bluetooth Sound Out and Screen Share | LG South Africa

Get more information on the LG PH510PG. Click for pictures, reviews, and tech specs for the LG CineBeam LED Projector with Built-In Battery, Bluetooth Sound Out and Screen Share

www.lg.com

 

[Corelli]

UPS is designed to alert you with an annoying loud beep that ESKOM is in it's ****
Therefore backup your Word document and Excel file and safely shut down your Windows computer.
A UPS is designed to allow 15 minutes of interruptable power for you to achieve this. Fact


Fast forward to load-shedding. You need an inverter. Not an UPS

A Good UPS can keep you online for quite some time with extended battery packs.

Best he get a laptop with long battery life, is 15-17 hours. He wont need a UPS or inverter then.

 

[Cactus]

Agree, but the charger is not lithium based so it needs a 'drop in lead replacement battery'

Noted. The "upgrade" is on their site, so I assume it would be an LA replacement.

 

[Cactus]

Bluenova CPS 1500-1.4k 1.5kVA-1.2kW 1.4kWh Power Station

Product FeaturesCore Integrated Hardware 1.5kVA / 1.2kW Pure Sine Wave Inverter incl. 40A MPPT Solar Charge Controller. 1.4kWh LiFePO4 Battery. Battery display panel & isolator switch. Integrated distribution board. Other features Pre-configured for UPS applications. Solar-configurable via...

www.sustainable.co.za

This also looks pretty decent and should work for you, though Sustainable is one of the more expensive places to buy from, so shop around

 

[Dan C]

A Good UPS can keep you online for quite some time with extended battery packs.

Best he get a laptop with long battery life, is 15-17 hours. He wont need a UPS or inverter then.

I'm I missing something, but the OP never mentioned anything about keeping a PC alive during the outage.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

A Good UPS can keep you online for quite some time with extended battery packs.

Best he get a laptop with long battery life, is 15-17 hours. He wont need a UPS or inverter then.

I have modified many UPS's in my life to run for many hours.
I know the drill

 

[Ninja]

Also nothing beats sitting in bed watching a movie on your laptop when youre done working.

literally everything beats that

 

[RonSwanson]

I have spent thousands on UPS’s in my home to assist in load shedding.
I have 5x 2Kva UPS’s in my house that has died, none lasts longer than 6 months. I keep on purchasing 2Kva UPS’s and end up throwing them in the bin.
Sadly, all I see is RTC Rectron Cr@p that never lasts.

I’m willing to spend up to 20K, I am in an estate, so noise is a problem with generators. Maybe I can get a quiet generator in my garage.
Or a battery backup that does not die on me.
Is there anyone out there that can assist me in getting a viable option.
All I need is some knowledgeable person to come out and see my setup and quote me on various options.
I have no knowledge around these things at all, I don’t want to be taken for a ride, and will pay what is due.
I am willing to pay for a call out, but also would like references.
I am willing to pay R1000 for a call out and quote, but as stated above will need references which I will peruse first.

Anybody Out There ?

I am in Burgundy Estate, Milnerton Western Cape.

Thank You.

I fully empathise with your situation, because I faced a similar one about 3 years ago. Unlike you, I never went for point solutions (like RCT UPS), because it was clear to me (at the time) that they were built for a different use case, and generally of poor quality, in fact downright dangerous. It also did not make sense to me to keep throwing good money after bad.

This may seem like irrelevant questions, and I apologise for that, but regarding your property, do you have roof space for solar panels? Is it a full title home? Have you ever considered solar power, and if not, why?

The reason why I ask that is because Burgundy Estate seems like a bit of a mix of full and sectional title homes. If you own a full title home, the 20k that you decide to spend today could perhaps be spent more wisely if solar were an option, and choosing quality components that would solve your immediate problem, but at the same time also be a "building block" in a design that envisages energy independence, would be first prize.

 

[RedViking]

OP you might need to clarify if the UPS's are inverter UPS or just normal UPS (you have 15 minutes to switch your PC off) type.. Also have the UPS's died or just the batteries. Can't you just replace the batteries? There is a common misconception that when the batteries died in a UPS, it is the UPS that died.

Either way, you need something built for purpose, a 2 or 3 KVA Inverter + Deep Cycle Lithium Batteries + optional Solar Panels.

Check out Power Forum.

 

[AlphaJohn]

I have spent thousands on UPS’s in my home to assist in load shedding.
Sadly, all I see is RTC Rectron Cr@p that never lasts.

I’m willing to spend up to 20K, I am in an estate, so noise is a problem with generators. Maybe I can get a quiet generator in my garage.

Thank You.

UPS = Short term solution (Primary used for switch over between primary and alternative power)
Inverter = Long term solution (Alternative power source)

Primary
1st asses how much power you consume or need to cover and for how long. if its 100-600W look at options bellow if more you might wanna look at proper installed units.

Portable Modified sine wave
Mecer 12v or 24v <-- most people on the forum seem to opt for these ones see this thread
Ellies 12v or 24v
Geewiz 12V or 24V

Portable Pure sine wave
Synapse

Some places sell prebuilds with trolly and batteries included, but my strongest recommendation is whatever option you pick you must go for LiFePO4. The LA crap is only good for a year or 2.

Batteries
Lead Acid (R2000-R3000) for 250 Cycles (Can only use 50%)
AGM (R3000-R4000) for 300-600 cycles (Can only use 60%)
LiFePO4 (R5000-R8000) for 2000-3000+ Cycles

Hubble have and S series that have been field tested & recommended by a couple of people on the forum
Mecer also have stock LiFePO4's but I cant recommend them as I know next to nothing about them.

If you want an installed solution the field opens widely as well as options and best advised to get an installer to quote.

Personally I use
1 x Mecer 24v (R2000)
1 x 24v SAKO 100AH LiFePO4 (R11000) Still in testing
1 x DIY Trolly (R400)
and can run 450-500W sustained for 2:30 hours without even breaking a sweat
450W = 5 LED's, 58" TV, Media PC, Game Console, WiFi, Fibre, NAS & Alarm)

 

[Lupus]

UPS = Short term solution (Primary used for switch over between primary and alternative power)
Inverter = Long term solution (Alternative power source)

Primary
1st asses how much power you consume or need to cover and for how long. if its 100-600W look at options bellow if more you might wanna look at proper installed units.

Portable Modified sine wave
Mecer 12v or 24v <-- most people on the forum seem to opt for these ones see this thread
Ellies 12v or 24v
Geewiz 12V or 24V

Portable Pure sine wave
Synapse

Some places sell prebuilds with trolly and batteries included, but my strongest recommendation is whatever option you pick you must go for LiFePO4. The LA crap is only good for a year or 2.

Batteries
Lead Acid (R2000-R3000) for 250 Cycles (Can only use 50%)
AGM (R3000-R4000) for 300-600 cycles (Can only use 60%)
LiFePO4 (R5000-R8000) for 2000-3000+ Cycles

Hubble have and S series that have been field tested & recommended by a couple of people on the forum
Mecer also have stock LiFePO4's but I cant recommend them as I know next to nothing about them.

If you want an installed solution the field opens widely as well as options and best advised to get an installer to quote.

Personally I use
1 x Mecer 24v (R2000)
1 x 24v SAKO 100AH LiFePO4 (R11000) Still in testing
1 x DIY Trolly (R400)
and can run 450-500W sustained for 2:30 hours without even breaking a sweat
450W = 5 LED's, 58" TV, Media PC, Game Console, WiFi, Fibre, NAS & Alarm)

On this, I've got 2 of these

Takealot

And I'm happy with them, fan only goes on every 10 minutes while running batteries and while charging. I will be replacing the 120ah lead with a 120ah lithium once stock of those actually come out, so far running on one of those is my 58" TV, DSTV decoder, Xbox One X and with the 58" TV and One X hitting 180w tops on the 120ah battery it seems to cover 3 hours no worries, on just the TV and Netflix we managed 4 episodes of the witcher and it hadn't even moved a bar, they also do start moaning as soon as it hits 50%, unlike the Mecers.
Also pure sinewave is better for things like laptops and PCs, can even run my standing fan from it , which the Mecer uhmm can do, but it's not great.