Determining UPS size required?

Guvnor

Hi Guys,

I am stuck at the minute trying to decide what type and rating of UPS to purchase.

I notice there is wattage and kva.

I will be connecting maximum at any one time:

Dell 23in monitor
Dell XPS 430 (8gb ram, 64bit, 2.66mhz)
HP Laptop (2gb ram, 2mhz)
HP Scanner
HP A3 laser printer
Eircom Router
One desk light

Just curious as to what size I should opt for? The above probably uses less power than I think.

Ghost Train

shouldn't put laser printer on a ups

would say that ups isn't really practical for working without power for very long. More about giving you time to shut down safely or protect from power surges. Tested a 500kva there a few weeks ago. On a small server it gave around 5 minutes for the battery to drain

One apc page you should find charts for sizing the ups you need

Guvnor

Hi Ghost Train,

Thanks for that mate.

Why is it a bad idea for the laser to be connected?

It was/is more for protection against surges, just felt that a ups would be a good thing also.

I was looking for one with the safe shutdown software as well.

I'd buy a proper whole house back up generator if staying connected was 'that' important. Thankfully we rarely get blackouts - twice in 4 years. The UPS/Surge was more for the spikes in supply etcetera.

Will check out the apc site mate.

Capt'n Midnight

most important thing is how much uptime do you need ?
getting a UPS twice as big as the minimum will give you a lot more uptime

go to www.apcc.com and look at the on line calculator there to get VA sizes AND uptimes
any brand UPS with the same size batteries will give approximatly the same up time

ratings on cpu etc will be Maximum ratings so may be using a lot less than that
bit late now but Aldi/Lidl did power meters for a tenner that would have given you real numbers


if performance isn't an issue laptops have a built in UPS and use a lot less power, something to consider in the future as the cost saving on the UPS might make the difference betweeen a different spec ups.

Note if there is a large outage / ESB stirke then the ISP may also be down too

biko

Guvnor wrote: »

Why is it a bad idea for the laser to be connected?

The issue with a laser printer is the enormous inrush current they create when they print. This will overload many UPS's.

Check out http://www.apcc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm It will help you choose. You can also ring them on the contact page.

Capt'n Midnight

A laser also consumes 500W-1000W when it is actively printing = the heater in the fusor. many times more than everything else you have put together. It's like a kettle when it's on it uses a LOT of power, but you only have it on a few minutes a day.

BrokenArrows

Guvnor wrote: »

Hi Ghost Train,

It was/is more for protection against surges, just felt that a ups would be a good thing also.

if surge protection is your main objective just get a surge protector, alot cheaper.

Capt'n Midnight

some very cheap ups do not have surge protection

Guvnor

Thanks for all the advice guys - it's a great help!

Great info on the printer as well - good to know that the ups can provide a surge only socket or two for the printer.

Now I just have to find the cheapest place to purchase one of these items - any ideas?

unnameduser

2000VA UPS here from ccity - €150 + VAT. Just ordered one yday.

Guvnor

Thanks mate!

Let us know what you think when you get it.

These Mustek any good? Is it fair to compare them to apc or similar?

unnameduser

just got it today. €200 inc VAT and delivery.

I wont be using it properly until my new server arrives but check in with me in a few days and I'll let you know how I find it.

Given the huge difference in price between mustek (cheap) and APC one would presume that the quality is totally different. Only time will tell i think.

Guvnor

Hi Mate,

I read some suspect views about APC and apparently Mustek are a pretty big company and been in business for about 20 years or so IIRC.

Will check in on Monday for a full and detailed status report mate!:D:D

Guvnor

Morning mate,

I am not usually this efficeint at remembering things but had computers on the brain after one of them died over the weekend!

Would be interested to hear what you think of the mustek!

Capt'n Midnight

Guvnor wrote: »

Hi Mate,

I read some suspect views about APC and apparently Mustek are a pretty big company and been in business for about 20 years or so IIRC.

Will check in on Monday for a full and detailed status report mate!:D:D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Power_Conversion

In 2007, Schneider Electric acquired APC and combined it with MGE UPS Systems to form Schneider Electric's Critical Power & Cooling Services Business Unit, which recorded 2007 revenue of $3.5 billion (EUR 2.4 billion) and employed 12,000 people worldwide.

APC do UPS and air con for server farms and such like at the opposite end of the scale to mustek who make consumer scanners and more recently cameras and more recently still UPS's

still mustek would be a better brand then the likes of Belkin and smaller APC UPS are quite expensive for what they are

unnameduser

havent hooked it up yet guvnor as i am still putting the new backup server through testing. will touch base with you when all is working. will give it a good test to see how long it runs for under a high load.

The Guvnor

Thanks a lot mate, really appreciated!

The Guvnor

Hi again mate,

Just wondering how you are getting on with the Mustek?