How to Choose an UPS

The UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) also called “Baterías” in Panama, are devices that will help you not to lose your data during blackouts, they store and provide a bit of power to give you a little more time so you can save your most important files and correctly turn off your devices.

Differences Between a UPS and a Surge Protector

A UPS has an internal battery that can provide power for a few minutes during a blackout or electrical failure. This is particularly useful if you use devices that handle data, like computers, servers or even videogame consoles, because you will have enough time to save your files or create a backup and properly turn off your devices after that. Additionally, a UPS provides protection against electrical fluctuations and power surges.

A surge protector is intended to protect most electronics against voltage fluctuations that could damage them. We recommend using a surge protector with devices that don't deal with data like fridges, TVs, printers, etc.

How to Choose a UPS?

To choose a UPS you must know the consumption in Watts that your devices need, we recommend looking for a UPS with a capacity at least 25% greater than the sum of the Watts of all the equipment you want to connect, for example, if your equipment uses 1000W in total, look for a 1250W UPS.

How Long Can a UPS Battery Last?

There is no “set time” when it comes to how long can an UPS last, it will always depend on the devices you connect to it. To estimate how long the UPS will power your devices during an electrical failure, you will need to do the following:

First, look at the number of Watts (W) that each device consumes and add them all up (we will refer to this number as “Watts Total”). If the Watts are not clearly stated on the product information, you can get it multiplying Volts (V) by the Amperes (A).

Second, find the Voltage (V) and the Amp-hours (Ah) of your UPS’s battery and multiply them.

Now that you know those values, you can use the following formula:

( Battery Voltage x Battery Ah ) / Watts Total = Back Up Hours

Example on How to Apply the Formula:

Let’s say our setup consists of the Dell Optiplex 7000 SFF desktop that uses 65W, 2 Viewsonic XG240R ELITE monitors that together use 65W, and the Linksys AC1200 Dual-Band router which uses around 10W.

If we add it all up, that setup consumes a total of 140W. This is our Watts Total.

We will connect that setup to the Forza SL-801UL UPS that has a power of 480W and a 12V battery with a 9AH capacity. We selected this UPS because it has a 480W power rating which is more than enough to cover the 140W that our setup demands.

Now we apply the formula: (12V x 9Ah) / 140W = 0.77 hours

To get the how many minutes that is, you just need to multiply the result by 60 which will result in roughly 46 minutes of runtime.

For domestic use, we recommend looking for a UPS that can provide between 5 to 10 minutes of power for your setup. For professional use or a personal server, 15 to 20 minutes should be enough.

Conclusions

A UPS is meant to protect your devices and provide power during an emergency for a small window of time so you can save all your data when there is an electrical failure. Keep in mind that when choosing a UPS you must consider 3 key things: how many Watts does your set up needs to function, how many Watts can the UPS provide and measure if the UPS will provide enough time for you to save your data and shut down your devices.

We encourage you to check the UPS section on our page to see all the UPS available in Panama.

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