I have a home network setup (modem, router, nuc) that draws around 50watts. While I understand a UPS is usually used to provide time for a gracefull shutdown, I am more interested in how long a UPS can provide power to my home setup in the event of an extended power outage.
I’m browsing various UPS brands and they commonly list available VA and W. How do I determine which of these models has larger battery capacity to keep my devices up for longer? Is it simply, the larger VA and larger W number, the larger the battery capacity? Since i’m not running many concurrent devices, I want to measure total duration under light load.
Given my system pulls around 50watts, whats the best way for me to determine how long a UPS can run given the specs listed on the product page? Do I need other variables to calculate runtime? Such as Power Factor? I can’t seem to easily find watt-hour battery capacity for most UPS.
I don’t want to purchase a large 3000VA, 2700W UPS if it doesnt actually have a longer runtime than say a 1500VA, 1500W UPS. How do I compare the two?
Answer from eslite on community.spiceworks.com
I see a lot of UPSes, but for typical use with a server, I'm only seeing about a half-hour of runtime on it.
Basically, I have enough for me to run around the house and safely shut everything down with some degree of cushion. I'd prefer something that I'd feel comfortable running for a while without power. We occasionally get power that goes down for a half hour to an hour. Are there any affordable UPSes (read less than $500) that can run for 4-6 hours on a similar load?
Ideally, I'd be looking for a 110V UPS that can use (possibly multiple) automotive/marine type batteries.
When you start to get into the thousands of dollars, a whole-home generator with automatic switch (and a small UPS to filter/deal with voltage fluctuations) starts to make more sense than a giant UPS.
How do I find which UPS has the longest runtime capacity for home use?
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I have a home network setup (modem, router, nuc) that draws around 50watts. While I understand a UPS is usually used to provide time for a gracefull shutdown, I am more interested in how long a UPS can provide power to my home setup in the event of an extended power outage.
I’m browsing various UPS brands and they commonly list available VA and W. How do I determine which of these models has larger battery capacity to keep my devices up for longer? Is it simply, the larger VA and larger W number, the larger the battery capacity? Since i’m not running many concurrent devices, I want to measure total duration under light load.
Given my system pulls around 50watts, whats the best way for me to determine how long a UPS can run given the specs listed on the product page? Do I need other variables to calculate runtime? Such as Power Factor? I can’t seem to easily find watt-hour battery capacity for most UPS.
I don’t want to purchase a large 3000VA, 2700W UPS if it doesnt actually have a longer runtime than say a 1500VA, 1500W UPS. How do I compare the two?
plenty of UPS runtime calculators on the web.
however take them all with a pinch of salt.
if you want to run off grid for any period of time
you will need a generator.
This has become a recurring issue… In the telecom world, there are often situations where long runtime (1, 2, 5, or even 10 or more hours) would be required or ideal. In many cases this is a safety issue as phones can be a lifeline in industrial environments.
When you run a typical sizing enquiry, many tools - like APC for example) will recommend a 1000VA UPS, and will claim that it should provide 500+ minutes for a 100Watt load (the load might be less than this - a POE switch for a half dozen phones could be as little as 60 watts).
Unfortunately in practice the UPS often shuts down exhausted after an hour or so.
One of my thoughts was to consider replacing the standard lead acid batteries with something better suited for long / deep discharge… as long as the charge current handling characteristics would be similar to a lead acid battery this might work?
Does anyone have any specific experience or recommendations?
Generators are NOT an option - in some cases these systems are in industrial environments - even if they are in office environments, the idea of running a generator for 100W of power is totally impractical. Central generation is not possible as there normally is no practical way to isolate / dedicate the power to the POE switches which are often distributed to locations close to the phones.
Any ideas / suggestions / discussion / experience welcome.
Thanks for your time!
Mitch
For my home server (mostly file server, some services) I’ve been using a Cyber Power PR1500LCD UPS, I can confirm that at 120watt load it will run for a little more than 3 hours, which surprised me because like you I’ve become accustomed to vastly under performing UPS systems from folks like APC (used to be my go-to brand honestly).
They have larger models as well, up to 3K I know so I believe you’d be able to get 6 hours or more at 100watts load, I’d recommend checking out their higher end UPS systems.
I’ve tagged Naomi and Craig from Cyber Power, I know both are active here and helpful, I’m sure they can help you find the right system for your needs.
@naomi-cyberpower @craig-cyberpower
I am in need of a UPS solution that doesn’t quite fit the typical scenario of desktop/rack battery backups…
Rather than keeping a full 200+ W computer on for a couple minutes while a generator comes on or the computer shuts down, I need to keep a router alive for up to 24 hours.
This is part of a fire safety requirement. The fire alarm is wired to use the internet service line; there is no phone line to the building. The fire alarm itself has a battery that is spec’ed to last for 24 hours, but we need to keep the router and fiber box alive for that time as well.
The router is a SonicWall TZ470, and although it will have a switch attached, the alarm will be directly connected and will be the only other device that remains powered in the case of an outage, so the load will be very low. I’m not sure what the fiber box is, but it’s got a 5W power supply.
After a few weeks of measurement, it seems the router and fiber box together use about 275Wh per 24 hours, with minimal contractor network traffic (so likely lower in an actual power outage).
Everything I can find online about traditional UPS systems show runtimes in the 10s of minutes and ratings in the hundreds of watts. I really only need like 30W rating, but enough capacity to last 24h. When I enter that into APC’s system builder, it recommends a $3000 multi-unit system, which is way overkill. It seems that these systems, while they can provide high instantaneous loads, cannot sustain a trickle for very long, or the data sheets are not accurate.
The only thing I’ve found is the Goal Zero Yeti 400 Portable Power Station (or the 500X which uses Li-ion instead of lead acid). The product page actually claims to be able to get 20+ hours out of similar wattage devices.
Would I be fine with a basic APC/CyberPower/etc, lead-acid, 6/8 outlet desktop UPS? Or should I just go with the Goal Zero which specifically claims to do what I need? Or is there another product that might work better/cheaper?
P.S. r/homelab was the most relevant community I could think of, but if there is a better place to ask, please let me know.