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Batteries are Cheap, Backup power is expensive

Dear Audiophiles,

To make a long story short I need to make sure my Internet devices stay on even when power is down for 24 hours, which on the South Carolina coast is realistic. 

I have an APC UPS 600VA which I though would do the job but it actually lasts less than 2 hours.  So I have been crunching the numbers and have really been surprised at how expensive an APC UPS is per minute of run time vs. modern battery based generators and DIY solutions. 

An APC UPS can be anywhere from $1.50 to $2.50 / minute of run time while an EcoFlow Delta for instance is around $0.50 to $0.75 / minute.  Not only is the EcoFlow cheaper but just has ten times better run times.  A single 1 kWh unit will keep my data closet running close to a full 24 hours.  I have too many devices in there which consume ~ 50 watts.  50 x 24 = 1,200 

I did in fact purchase a Delta 2 with back up battery for other reasons than the data closet, but when doing the research I also investigated DIY backup solutions and came across the idea of using a Renogy inverter/battery charger + 2x 12V LiFePO4 batteries.  It’s even cheaper than the Ecoflow but requires much more effort to set up.    I’ll do a full write-up on that soon. 

What have you done to back up your home devices?  

erik_squires

Showing 1 response by oberoniaomnia

oberoniaomnia
187 posts
 

@dinov +1 Same here. I think it is a Cumings natural gas generator with 50A/120V = 6kW. For brownouts and the 5–10s between power out to generator auto-on, a few small APS do the job.

OP @erik_squires : Re UPCs, also consider battery degradation. At work I had a couple of Desktop PC-size UPCs (120 and 240V) to protect our scanning electron microscope mainly from brownouts. Batteries need to be replaced every 5-10 years. For one they cost, and in one case the batteries ballooned and I had to cut the case to get the batteries out. Between installation and full failure, the battery performance degrades, so if you really want to make sure your back-up lasts for the desired time, also factor in lowered battery capacity with time, or schedule regular battery swaps.

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