Introduction: WHY Do You Even Need a UPS
An uninterruptible power supply is essentially a large power bank. It prevents any devices plugged into it from immediately getting cut off in terms of a power outage. This is highly useful for high-availability equipment or devices you just want to protect from power surges like your gaming PC. Anything that you don’t want shutting down during a power outage or a short interruption in power, you want to be plugged-in to a UPS and in this review we’ll talk about the nitty gritty choosing a UPS and we start off immediately with finding out how big of a UPS you need.
Understanding Power Draw Requirements
Before diving into the details of choosing an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), it is crucial to understand the power draw requirements of your devices. The power draw is the amount of electrical power consumed by your equipment and is typically measured in watts (W). To determine the power draw, refer to the specifications provided by the manufacturer or use a wattage meter. Take note of the highest power draw among all the devices you want to connect to the UPS, as this will help you select a UPS with adequate power capacity.
You can usually find the power draw of a device in the packaging listed together with the operating voltage and other technical details. The power draw will vary and its heavily affected by the behavior of the devices. For example, appliances likes fans, hair iron, or a light bulb will most likely have fixed power consumption making it easy to predict but devices like a gaming PC wil have highly varied power use and in cases like these, its best to keep the maximum power draw in mind as your basis for computation.
To make things easy, you can use online references like Newegg’s power supply calculator to get a rough average of your power draw for example a gaming rig that’s rated for 600W. For a PC that at least stay powered-on from a UPS for at least 1 minute, the UPS will need to have 1000VA of capacity in most consumer UPS. This gets technical but for now let’s stick with general convention. From there, you can choose from a plethora of UPS out in the market right now.
Explanation of Terms
When selecting a UPS, it’s essential to be familiar with a few key terms. The first term is Volt-Amps (VA), which represents the apparent power that a UPS can supply. Another important term is Watts (W), which indicates the actual power consumed by your equipment. The power factor (PF) is the ratio of actual power (W) to apparent power (VA). It is crucial to consider the power factor of your devices when choosing a UPS, as it can affect the overall power capacity required.
These terms will be present throughout UPS listings regardless of brands but certain may have slight variations. Speaking variations, UPS themselves come in various forms and specs. Consumer UPS can be simply battery blocks with outlets which most likely use quasi-sinusoidal waveform which is a simulated sinewave that’s typical of AC power. Some devices probably don’t mind what type of waveform a UPS has but very sensitive equipment can encounter issues when using quasi-sinewave UPS.
UPS can get more expensive as they become more advanced and true sinewave UPS are just the start as larger batteries, LCD displays, remote monitoring, battery type, etc. can affect how much a UPS can cost.
What to Keep in Mind
Choosing the right UPS involves considering several factors. Firstly as mentioned earlier, determine the runtime you require during a power outage. This will depend on the criticality of your equipment and the time it takes to restore power. Secondly, consider the type of UPS that suits your needs. There are three main types: standby, line-interactive, and online UPS. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Lastly, take into account any specific features or additional functionalities you may require, such as surge protection, voltage regulation, or remote management capabilities.
Let’s take a regular office scenario. In our office we have systems that have a maximum power draw of 320W. As the operation is critical, we need them have at least 5 minutes of uptime during a power outage which means we need something equivalent to 1500W. For general office, something like the Eaton 5A 2200VA UPS we’ve reviewed before will fit the bill and can give enough time to employees to wait until the backup generator kicks-in. The Eaton 5A is an example of a consumer-grade, budget-friendly uninterruptible power supply or UPS which offers high-capacity power backup at an affordable cost. It lacks advanced features like an LCD readout and has quasi-sinewave output.
In another scenario we have a gaming PC rated for say 800W running the latest and greatest RTX 4080 SUPER GPU, a very costly component. Anyone looking to protect their investment would want to keep it save and a good enough power supply may be enough to protect you from power spikes and dips, your power supply may not be enough to protect your from prolonged brownouts or intermittent power. In this case, the Eaton 5A is a good option but some may opt for auto-shutdown features as well as a power readout and more, then something like the APC BR1600SI by Schneider Electric may be for you.
The BR1600SI is the top-end model in APC by Schneider Electric’s true sinewave line and offers advanced features like NAS compatibility, USB software monitoring and auto-shutdown for your computer as well as true sinewave output so your UPS and high-current GPU doesn’t do a number on the PSU conversion.
And while we’re on the topic of power supplies, be sure to check my article regarding common myths about PC power supplies.
Estimating UPS Capacity – How do I know what size UPS I need?
So you may be asking, how many watts do I need for UPS? To estimate the UPS capacity needed, add up the power draw of all your devices in watts. Consider the power factor as well, if applicable. Based on this total power requirement, select a UPS with a VA rating that is equal to or greater than the estimated power draw. It’s advisable not to operate the UPS at full capacity to allow for any potential power spikes or future equipment additions.
If you need to compute for your PC’s power draw, many companies offer power draw calculators. Below are just some examples of PSU calculators:
… or you can just Google “power supply calculator.”
Final Thoughts on How to Choose a UPS
Choosing the right UPS involves understanding the power draw requirements of your devices, familiarizing yourself with key terms such as VA, Watts, and Power Factor, considering runtime needs, selecting the appropriate UPS type, and estimating the required UPS capacity. Its a tricky topic and is more or less purely based on guesses just as much as its anybody’s best guess on when’s the next power outage.
That said, its best to get the best for your situation and save the money when you don’t need it. If you’re only going to power an office PC and a monitor and modem, a budget-friendly option will suffice but for something that dips occassionally or you plug-in different devices, then a higher-end model with LCD read-out could be worth considering, not to mention it may also have auto-shutdown feature as well as power draw logging, etc.
Regardless of what you need, focus on protecting your equipment. Because just like in storage, the value of backup is how much you’re willing to spend to recover data. In power backup, if you’re working on something and the power cuts-off, how much money do you lose? For personal use, its the same but for parts protection? How much are you willing to risk your gaming PC?
If you still need help, let me know down in the comments and I’d be happy to guide you in how to choose a UPS which is right for you.