Which model and kind of UPS do you use (if so)?

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Hi!

Everything is in the title.
In order to make my Storj setup more reliable, I want to install an UPS.
I know there are 3 kind of UPS: Online, Line Interactive or Offline.

If you are using a such device, which kind do you have? What model and brandh did you choose? How much did you pay?

Thanks!

2

Whole house UPS: Borri B8033 40kVA (on-line, 3 phase). I paid ~1500EUR for it used with used batteries. A set of batteries (at least 60x 12V/12Ah) for it costs more than that though.

Then APC Smart-UPS 2200 and APC Smart-UPS 3000 - both are line interactive. I do not remember how much I paid for the 2200, it was a long time ago (I bought it used, the UPS itself was made in 1998. I got the 3000 probably 10 years ago, but also do not remember how much I paid for it. Both UPSs take 4x 12V 18Ah batteries each.

The whole house UPS serves additional purposes. It makes it possible to use a generator and not worry about power quality (sometimes line-interactive UPSs or server power supplies do not like the voltage or frequency from the generator. It also drops the voltage to 220V, so my light bulbs last longer. I can have unbalanced loads (up to ~10kW on one phase) without tripping the main breaker, because the UPS distributes the load on the input evenly.

Some advice:

  1. Normally, a line-interactive UPS is enough most of the time and it uses lass power (double conversion is less efficient). What makes the UPS last longer on battery is the battery capacity, not necessarily the UPS power. Usually a more powerful UPS means bigger/more batteries, but not always.
  2. It is better if an UPS periodically checks its batteries and report the result. Otherwise you may forget to do so and find out that the battery is dead during an outage.
  3. You should get a UPS that makes it easy to replace batteries. You do not need to buy batteries from the UPS manufacturer, regular ones will do just fine, as long as they are good quality (currently my favorite is CSB EVX and XTV series)
  4. Battery life greatly depends on temperature, so a UPS that runs cold (or has a fan to cool itself) would require fewer battery replacements over time.
  5. You should get a UPS that has some monitoring capability (USB, serial or LAN), to be able to shut everything down cleanly if the battery is almost discharged and to just be able to monitor it (and get notifications).
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