UPS needed (I think)

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Snapkop

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Hi,

I have a home office setup. Last week we had a whole morning without power. This prevents me from working and I had to sit idle until the local Munic decided to restore power.

I need to find a cost effective way to ensure we stay online with about 3 PC's (Imac, 2 laptops) and a router whenever the power is off. Can anyone suggest a solution. Do I look for a UPS or a Generator and integrate it into my house power supply?

I know nothing about UPS hardware, if this is a possible solution can you please recommend a product and give me a estimate of cost.

Thanks
 
What you are actually looking for, is an inverter setup.
Generally a UPS will only provide you with power for 5-15minutes, depending on the battery size and the amount of power you're using.
 
froot said:
What you are actually looking for, is an inverter setup.
Generally a UPS will only provide you with power for 5-15minutes, depending on the battery size and the amount of power you're using.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's right, unless you go with extended battery packs, etc.

You probably don't want it integrated into the whole house, if you only need to supply a single office, that's the approach I'd take. Integrating it into the DB board adds a whole lot of expense. A generator can also be a good solution, but you will still need something to stop you from losing your work when the power goes out initially.
 
Your power consumption is relatively low, so a 1500VA UPS should handle the 3 machines + router for about 20 minutes.

Thereafter, with the mutterings that are coming out of Eskom, I'd consider a generator running direct to the office.
 
The UPS is really only to give you time to save your work and shut down the computers.

You will need a UPS and a generator or a UPS and solar panels with batteries and an inverter.
 
Beachless said:
The UPS is really only to give you time to save your work and shut down the computers.

You will need a UPS and a generator or a UPS and solar panels with batteries and an inverter.
Click to expand...

Correct, towards using a UPS for when it trips. But that would be a line-interactive at the very least.

A generator will work, but it's rather expensive to run. Can easily cost up to R20/h.
 
Installed 1 rack mount ups last year with 2 extra batteries. Cost about 30k or so but it gets 6-8 hours running 2 comps, 2 printers, adsl, router..

Destroyed my hands on then, flip it they are super heavy!
 
Thanks all, I might not need a UPS at all then. The two laptops will run of battery power (which will act the same as UPS). The nature of the work done on the Mac will allow it to be switched on and off without losing too much work.

I will go for the generator route then. Anything specific I need to look out for when going shopping? I do not want to damage my existing hardware.
 
I was down from 8AM yesterday until just after 7PM. Also work from home in a home office.

My 42U rack has one of these http://www.mplay.co.za/mplay/Intelli_Power_Backup_UPS/Tedelex_intelli_power_4_Backup_UPS.html on the bottom shelf. Powers an Asus RT-N66U, ADSL modem, 8 port switch and a quad core Xeon 3.2GHz server. Keeps this lot up the entire day.

My PC is on a UPS. When the power goes down I have enough time to commit my work to source control and shut down my PC. I then switch to my notebook which has 4 hours battery. When the battery nears depletion I plug it into the Tedelex and charge it up again.

My iPad and S4 are also charged up on the Tedelex when power down.
Plus the kids come charge their phones on it.

I am going to get another one for my PC as it should see me through the day without needing to revert to notebook.

I have 2 spare deep cycle batteries that I want to hook up to the tedelex to boost up time. Should give me 2 days on my rack equipment then.

Once the above is done I am going to look at some solar panels the help charge up the batteries a bit while power is off.

I basically keep working through the day when we have power problem which is the aim. I have a generator but that is only used if power is not back up by the evening. That I stick into a wall socket and power the entire house (excluding anything with a heating element).

Last year I put up a 300L solar geyser to reduce the dependency on Eskom for hot water. And yesterday afternoon had a gas hob fitted.

Things not so bad when power goes down now. Minor inconvenience.
 
Hi There,
The UPS issue is more or less resolved so in terms of keeping the power flowing you need to get an alternate source of supply.
Generator is the quick answer but they are not the quietest devices around and can cost a packet to run.
I would look at a solar driven solution. I have seen some which would provide you with enough power to probably run the office permanently off the Eskom grid. These guys may be able to help you.
 
Yeah, You'd need more than just a UPS.
also there is no guaranty that when the power goes out you will still get internet via telkom, more often than not the exchange power also goes down, so you'll need an alternative for that as well. (Just saying)
 
Thanks, I will get quotes on Solar solution but I assume whenever you batteries are involved the cost goes right up.

Keegan, point made and I thought about it. I probably need a 3G backup as well.

Luckily the power is not out often. So maybe a small generator to run this small load will be in order
 
Keegan said:
Yeah, You'd need more than just a UPS.
also there is no guaranty that when the power goes out you will still get internet via telkom, more often than not the exchange power also goes down, so you'll need an alternative for that as well. (Just saying)
Click to expand...

Exchanges have banks of batteries to keep the lines up, I believe it is part of their service contract with government. And when the batteries are starting to run low, there are typically generators that can be brought online too.

I've never had service interruptions on my ADSL line when the power has been out.
 
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