I am looking into getting an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to power my laptop and cell during power outages. This is after deciding not to get a power generator. I just need to maintain communication (via cell phone) and to have enough power in case I need to look up crucial data stored on my computer. Has anyone looked into this? Is this viable? Pros and cons?

I haven't been able to figure out from the UPS specs how long my computer or my cell can run on a given model. For example, let's take a UPS with 1500 VA and 1000 W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102104). My computer eats up 15.5 W with the display on. How can I estimate how many hours I can run my computer on it? My cell phone battery is 1500 mAh 5.6 Wh. How many times can I charge it? Do UPS batteries decay over time? Sorry if this is an elementary question.

Thanks!

Da Bing

If possible, ask what date the UPS was made. It should be written somewhere in the documentation. A SLA battery should not sit very long without a charge.


For the cell phone, you might want to consider a portable battery like the Brunton Inspire. I use it when traveling and camping. I have a small (700mA) solar panel that charges it up if I'm out camping. Pretty handy.

I've got an APC BX1500G UPS powering my modem, router, and iPod Touch charger. According to APC, it's a 1500va and 865w system. Total draw on it is 44w, which gives me 92 minutes before it shuts down.

I don't know how exactly one would calculate power draw from one of these things, but if you're only drawing ~18 watts with your phone/laptop and the UPC your using is 1000w vs. my 865w unit, than, at the very least, you should be getting a bit better than the hour-and-a-half I'm getting.

APC has a product selector tool to help in selecting the appropriate UPS/Capacity.

http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm

Enjoy,

Paul

Bingley,

Take the model, and look at the battery- in this case, googled "CyberPower PR1500LCDRT2U battery"

the battery in it is a 12 volt, 7 Amp hour battery battery
So Watts= volts * amps, so 7*12= 84 watt/hours available in battery.

Your Pc uses 15.5 watts per hour.
You cell phone battery holds 5.6 Watts when full

So in the best of all possible worlds, yous PC could run up to 5 hours. ((((84 divided by 15.5- 5.38)))

OR, you could charge your cell 15 times (84 divided by 5.6)

Or some combo of the 2....

One word of warning. A number of UPSes will not re-power after you have shut them down when the power is out.

In other words, the power goes out, the UPS kicks on, everything is good, you decide to shut down your laptop, but then later when the power is still out you want to turn the UPS and everything back on and... The UPS will refuse to turn on.

Also, make sure the alarm can be silenced. :-)

-john

Agreed. A big portable battery + solar panel would be pretty optimal:

http://www.tekkeon.com/products-mypowerall.html

-john

The 2 UPSs I have (both APC), simply have a 12v sealed lead acid battery in them. I see no reason why you couldn't simply hook up a larger 12v battery to them to get a longer life on battery power. I don't know how well or if it could charge a much larger battery, of course you could simply avoid that by charging the battery when power comes on with another battery charger. You would still need to make sure the power supply gives you enough wattage to properly power your devices, but you wouldn't have to buy a giant one just for the extra battery life.

I also checked, these will turn on after being turned off with no power (obviously can't speak of any other brands).

APC actually makes a piggy back battery for their larger consumer model that doubles the run time.

I second the recommendations of being able to turn them on without AC power, and DEFINITELY the ability to silence the alarm. If you may be running unattended equipment, make sure the equipment and the UPS can communicate with each other so that servers and the like may enjoy an orderly shutdown. Never, ever, plug anything into a UPS that has a high transient load, including anything with a motor (including all species of pumps and compressors) laser printers and floor buffers. Yes, the cleaning crew at a former employer took out a UPS and killed the server it was protecting by plugging in a floor buffer. My suggestion is to put child proofing electrical outlet plug covers in each unused outlet, and follow that up with a sign reminding people that you will commit unspeakable acts upon their bodies if they so much as look at your UPS crosseyed.

Runtime degrades as batteries age. Budget to replace your battery or batteries no less often than every five years. If you need to have 90 minutes of runtime, buy at least 50% more (135 minutes) with 100% more being better.

The only brands I would consider for myself are APC and TrippLite. My experience with their consumer grade gear is limited but positive.

Disclosure: I've sold both brands before, however my current employer sells neither.

I have kind of a redneck system for running smaller stuff like that during power outages. I have a deep-cycle marine battery, small charger (2 amp) and a 300 watt inverter. I think my total cost was about $160 but that was a few years ago. That's been enough to run laptops, charge phones, and even occasionally run a 12-volt fan during outages lasting a day or two. The charger is underpowered for a battery that size and needs days to recharge it. In a pinch I could jumper-cable the marine battery to a running car to charge it quicker. (The battery has also been handy to go the other way and jump start a car.) The inverter is also too small for a few things I'd like to run but it was a bargain at the time. I'd get a decent generator but I'm cheap and our neighbors and nearby family both have good ones.

I have a similar battery-based system, but it's a bit more portable and can usually be had a bit more cheaply:

Portable Car Jumper Battery

I don't have this particular setup; just wanted to link an example. In a nutshell, get one of these car jumpers and either an inverter (90 Watt should be enough) or get one that has an inverter built-in. It will power your devices for a good long while, you can also use the inverter in your car cigarette lighter (mind you don't drain your car battery), and you can usually recharge this system from your car when the power is out for a long period.

I used a setup like this during Irene's aftermath to charge my cell phone and recharge my laptop battery as needed. It also has enough oomph to run a lamp with CFL bulb and a small fan.

I have a Xantrex Powerpack 400. Two 120V/60 Hz outlets and a 12V outlet for your car. Charge from the wall outlet when you have power or from your car when you don't.

I have that same powerpack and keep it charged with a 30-watt solar cell set in a south-facing window. Free energy!!
-Blast

I keep it plugged into the wall. The solar charger I have for it is a foldable 25W from SUNLINQ that I keep for emergencies. A small solar array that I can use continuously would be a good investment. Thanks.

Good choice. My ongoing experiments indicate that a 20 amp-hour batt is the minimum practical size.

I hope you guys using solar (PV) panels are watching the voltage closely or using a charge controller. It's quite possible to fry these batts with a 2A+ (30W) input -- don't ask me how I know, I don't wanna talk about my dumb-ass lapses.