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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 tomrk

tomrk
100 posts
 

@erik_squires

I use battery backups on all my electronics because they have good surge protection and when the power flickers, they protect expensive equipment from damage.

I have a backup generator that kicks on automatically after 30 seconds of outage, but generally whole house generators have relatively dirty power, so the battery backups continue to provide low voltage protection as well as surge protection.  If you want to spend a bit more money, you can use true sine wave battery backups.

The only downside is the batteries do need to be replaced in all of them from time to time, but if you’re a little bit handy, 3rd party batteries can be had for a fraction of APC replacement battery costs.

Having your own power is an interesting idea and I love it except for one thing: You are now responsible for fixing it when your home power generation  fails. And while you can hire people to do that for you, in an emergency, those people may not be available for weeks.  So you need to think about the maintenance of voltage converters, batteries not first year or second year, but when it’s 10-15 years old.

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