Need Multiple UPS

[imdandman]

Hi all! Was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction for some UPS - there's so many options and I'm really unsure how to comparison shop.

 

The goal for these is to survive power flashes - not necessarily to have any significant amount of run-time during true outages. Probably just need to sustain all the equipment for 1-10 seconds when the power randomly drops.

 

One thing that has me confused - do I need true sine wave backup power for such short lengths of time? Or is a regular battery backup like this one from Amazon sufficient?

 

I'm going to need multiple UPS, so this is a significant investment regardless. Things I would like on the UPS...

 

1. PC (Power Supply; Full parts list)
2. Second PC (less powerful and usually not in use)
3. Monitors (3x)
4. 65 inch vizio TV
5. Router
6. Modem
7. Ethernet Switch
8. Gaming console (xbox)
9. DVR

Probably a few more things I'm forgetting, but I know right up front I'm going to need 2-4 UPS, so this will be a significant investment.

 

Any ideas? Thanks!

[Radium_Angel]

37 minutes ago, imdandman said:

Any ideas? Thanks!

How many do you think you will need?

Might be cheaper to get one retrofitted to your whole house, rather than individual units.

[vanished]

Do you truly need multiple units (due to being spread out all over the place) or is it just a means to get enough plugs and battery capacity?  If it's the latter I would recommend just getting a higher end single unit.  It will be expensive, but so will many smaller ones, and you'll probably end up with a better system getting a single good one.

[mariushm]

58 minutes ago, imdandman said:

I'm going to need multiple UPS, so this is a significant investment regardless. Things I would like on the UPS...

 

1. PC (Power Supply; Full parts list)    --  ~ 100w when not gaming, ~ 350-400w when gaming
2. Second PC (less powerful and usually not in use) - no idea
3. Monitors (3x)  -- 50-100w each depending on how many inches and brightness levels
4. 65 inch vizio TV -- should be under 100w
5. Router --- probably less than 15-20w
6. Modem --- same, let's go with 20w for this as well
7. Ethernet Switch --- eh, 10 watts? unless it's 10g switch then it's practically nothing
8. Gaming console (xbox) --- should say on the power adapter... i guess around 160-200 watts max when gaming
9. DVR  --- let's say 30w

 

The VA rating of a UPS must be approx. TWO times the amount of power the devices you plug are gonna consume.

So for example, if you plug that PC which consumes up to 350-500w while gaming, it would be best to go with 1000-1500 VA or even higher..  smaller VA rated may work, but such weaker UPSes may react too slow or not be able to provide that much power all of the sudden when switching from mains to battery power.

 

Pure sinewave isn't needed, but it's highly recommended.  Some power supplies simply don't like AC waveforms that aren't pure sine wave, and they'll make weird noises, or may randomly restart themselves.

The PC power supply should be fine, but no idea about the others.

 

You'd want to go with a LINE INTERACTIVE  (not cheap but not very expensive either) or  ONLINE UPS (more expensive).

ONLINE would be best as it powers everything from batteries or regulated power 24/7 instead of just monitoring AC input and switching to batteries as needed. It's usually quite more expensive than line interactive though.

 

Look for UPSes which have 2 or more lead acid batteries which can be easily removed and replaced. You'll find cheap UPSes with only one battery and they may have high VA rating, but that won't help you much if the battery will discharge within minutes.

Make sure there's enough capacity on the battery. Don't get a ups that has a single 7-10 Ah battery.

 

 

[imdandman]

23 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Do you truly need multiple units (due to being spread out all over the place) or is it just a means to get enough plugs and battery capacity?  If it's the latter I would recommend just getting a higher end single unit.  It will be expensive, but so will many smaller ones, and you'll probably end up with a better system getting a single good one.

My PCs are in one corner and the rest of the equipment is in a separate "comm closet" entirely. 

 

I figure in the very least case, I'll need at least two physical units regardless of power output.

[imdandman]

23 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

How many do you think you will need?

Might be cheaper to get one retrofitted to your whole house, rather than individual units.

2-4 would be my guess. Like I said, the goal isn't to last through an hour long thunderstorm or something. The goal is to survive the 1-10 second power flickers.

[imdandman]

23 hours ago, mariushm said:

The VA rating of a UPS must be approx. TWO times the amount of power the devices you plug are gonna consume.

So for example, if you plug that PC which consumes up to 350-500w while gaming, it would be best to go with 1000-1500 VA or even higher..  smaller VA rated may work, but such weaker UPSes may react too slow or not be able to provide that much power all of the sudden when switching from mains to battery power.

 

Pure sinewave isn't needed, but it's highly recommended.  Some power supplies simply don't like AC waveforms that aren't pure sine wave, and they'll make weird noises, or may randomly restart themselves.

The PC power supply should be fine, but no idea about the others.

 

You'd want to go with a LINE INTERACTIVE  (not cheap but not very expensive either) or  ONLINE UPS (more expensive).

ONLINE would be best as it powers everything from batteries or regulated power 24/7 instead of just monitoring AC input and switching to batteries as needed. It's usually quite more expensive than line interactive though.

 

Look for UPSes which have 2 or more lead acid batteries which can be easily removed and replaced. You'll find cheap UPSes with only one battery and they may have high VA rating, but that won't help you much if the battery will discharge within minutes.

Make sure there's enough capacity on the battery. Don't get a ups that has a single 7-10 Ah battery.

 

 

I'm fine with spending the cash on a pure sinewave unit - I'm just not quite sure what to get. I know they can be a fair bit more expensive.

[imdandman]

Bump

[mariushm]

what are you bumping for? Do you actually have more questions or what?

 

if you expect people to give you product suggestions at the very least specify where you live (general area). You'd want to buy them as local as possible due to battery weight.

[imdandman]

23 hours ago, mariushm said:

what are you bumping for? Do you actually have more questions or what?

 

if you expect people to give you product suggestions at the very least specify where you live (general area). You'd want to buy them as local as possible due to battery weight.

Just trying to get some more visibility.

 

Live in Oklahoma City (USA). No Microcenter. Obviously Amazon or other online vendors are an option too.

 

Would certainly appreciate any product suggestions.

[vanished]

37 minutes ago, imdandman said:

Just trying to get some more visibility.

 

Live in Oklahoma City (USA). No Microcenter. Obviously Amazon or other online vendors are an option too.

 

Would certainly appreciate any product suggestions.

The main brands in this space are APC and CyberPower afaik, or at the really high end Eaton, but I'm not sure that would be reasonable.  Personally, for your situation I would get a sinewave unit just to be safe.

 

For the main unit, I'd recommend something in at least the ~1000 W range, though you could probably scrape by with less depending on your typical load and expected runtime.  Remember that for UPS shopping, W != VA, and the VA number will larger and needs to be sufficient as well (though generally speaking this isn't an issue unless you have unusual equipment like a big motor or something).  As mentioned, you probably want a line interactive unit.  Lesser units are hard to find because they're kinda poor, and online units are more expensive and frankly overkill.

 

As for the second unit that's just running stuff like a router, etc. if I understand correctly, any small "office style" UPS should be fine.  A 200 W power strip type should be more than enough.