Should you invest in a UPS if you already have a stand-by Generator?
What is a UPS?
UPS, uninterruptible power supply, is a device that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or main power fails. A UPS differs from a portable or stand-by generator because is not a power generating device. Instead a UPS uses energy stored in batteries, supercapacitors, or flywheels to provide near-instantaneous protection from power interruptions or surges. The typically run-time is usually only a few minutes.
How will a UPS benefit my homes stand-by generator?
When the power goes out, you want a backup plan. That is why many invest in a stand-by generator. While stand-by generators offer long-term protection in the event of a power outage, they cannot offer protection against many of the common faults in power systems. Only a UPS can provide that level of protection. A UPS not only offers the advantage of supplying power to the loads continuously, no matter what, they go beyond this by taking alternating current from the utility and converting it to direct current, then back to alternating current, eliminating practically all power disturbances, including transients, noise, and voltage fluctuations. This allows for smoother energy to be delivered to you devices and evens out surges and gaps that can directly benefit your electronic equipment, specially your computers, data cents, telecommunication equipment or other electrical equipment where an unexpected power disruption could cause injuries, fatalities, serious business disruption or data loss.
Will any UPS work?
Typically, UPSs and stand-by generators aren’t extremely compatible. Many UPSs don’t have everything it takes to smooth out a generator’s power into what is desired. Often the UPSs will be able to handle the voltage variations a generator will throw at them, but not the frequency variations. But this can be easily solved by contacts a professional electrician to help you pick the right UPS and making sure that it is compatible with your generator. Another importance factor to note is making sure your UPS is sized correctly with your stand-by generator. For examples, the generator has a kVA that’s roughly 75% higher than that of the UPS. The seemingly straightforward task of sizing generators for use with UPSs is actually quite complex. It is best to contact a licensed and professional electrician and generator dealer to help you determine the best match.
As long as you make sure that you invest in a UPS that is compatible with your stand-by generator, then pairing these two can seriously improve the usable quality of power you’re getting from your stand-by generator and help protect electronic equipment.
If you are interested in investing in a UPS, please contact Transworld, Inc. Electrical Contractors and one of our professional and licensed electricians will be more than happy to ensure you are making a wise investment.
