What does your computer really need? AVR or UPS?

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According to InternetWorldStats.com, in 2012, 2,405,518,376 people were using the computer (either laptop or desktop computer). This is at 34.3% of world’s population and I bet that you and I are one of these huge figures. Why am I saying this? I just want to point out that a lot of people are using computers and this powerful gadget doesn’t cost a dollar, it costs hundreds of dollars. And dollars can’t easily earn. It needs hard work. 

Do you want your computer to last only for a couple of months? Where it takes you six or more months to earn the dollars you need to buy it. I think no! You want to last your computer at its maximum life span. With this I strongly suggest the device called uninterruptible power supply! You may say that you already have AVR or automatic voltage regulator, but I say to you that they are two different worlds! Two different applications! So what do you need? Let’s have the tale of the tape between the two.

AVR

An AVR is designed to automatically maintain a constant voltage level supply to your computer. They stabilize the voltages used by your computer so that micro components will be protected from oversupply of voltages.

What it does is to simply provide the electronic load (in our case the computer) the proper or correct voltage it needs for operations.

UPS

An uninterruptible power supply is a device that serves as a backup power source when the mainline cuts off. During brownouts, the UPS helps the computer to still run for a couple of minutes more for you to save your work and properly shut down the unit. It’s energy comes from the installed battery inside the UPS. It also provides and maintains the stable and correct voltages and currents that the load needs. In short, an uninterruptible power supply is an AVR that has additional feature of providing an emergency energy source when the main line cuts off. 

That’s it! I know that this is just a short head to head battle between the two electronic devices. But this short post clearly says that what you really need is an uninterruptible power supply. Here is how uninterruptible power supply can save your business!

TAGS: UPS, uninterruptible power supply

Uninterruptible Power Supply Q&As

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We often hear a lot nowadays the device so called UPS or uninterruptible power supply. Just for a breather, UPS is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source typically main power, fails. For a newbie, I know that there are a lot of question marks that are now floating above your head. Below are the beginner’s questions regarding UPS and we provide answers for your sake.

Q. What is a UPS?

A. UPS is an abbreviation for uninterruptible power supply; it is a back-up battery for a computer or other electronics system in the event of a power failure (blackout) or other electrical line problems. In the occurrence of a blackout, for example, your computer would continue to draw power from the UPS thus allowing you to save your work and shutdown your system properly without data loss or interruption of service.

Q. What provides the power when the main supply fails?

A. There is a battery inside the UPS and it is the one who takes over and produces fresh alternating current via an inverter. Though these are usually lead-acid batteries, the acid is in the form of a gel and the batteries are sealed and require no maintenance.

Q. How long the batteries will last?

A. It depends upon the specification of the batteries. On larger equipment (around 5kVA) you can often specify 10-year design life batteries.

More over battery life depends upon a number of issues, particularly temperature and the number of what so called “deep charges” experienced. Battery life is halved every 10 degrees C temperature increase above its specified operating temperature (usually at 25 degrees C).

Q. What is a power surge? 

A. Power surge is a rise in voltage that goes beyond normal levels, potentially overloading any active equipment.

Q. Are there any types of uninterruptible power supply?

A. Yes there are two types of UPS. The most common type is the AC/AC, where the energy source is the AC line (wall outlet) and the output is the same voltage through an inverter. The second type is the most efficient one –AC/DC, where the UPS delivers the DC voltages needed by the system.

After reading this, I hope that the questions marks in your head are now gone. UPS really is a great help for our electronic apparatus. I have one at home bought at Panther and it is great! Grab yours too!

More on UPS:

Uninterruptible Power Supply: Perfect device to save your business!

Why Mom was right about UPS?

Did You Know? 6 Interesting Facts about Uninterruptible Power Supply

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When we heard facts, what specific things come into our minds? Hmmmm you’re smiling huh?

Today I’m listing some cool facts you might not know about UPS or uninterruptible power supply or uninterrupted power supply.

First here is a brief overview of what is UPS.

UPS is a special device, usually located between computers (or any digital equipment) and a wall outlet to prevent data loss in case of a power loss or surge. Actually this is some kind of a backup power supply that provides protection for our computers and serves as a battery backup  that helps saves our data by keeping the machine running without any interruptions like over-voltage, brownouts or blackouts. It also provides protections from power sags, surges and spikes.

And here is what we are waiting for - the cool facts about UPS.

1. The world’s largest UPS is the 46-megawatt Battery Electric Storage System (BESS), located in Fairbanks Alaska, powers the entire city and nearby communities during outages. I can’t really imagine how huge this UPS was. I hope every region will have the same kind.

2. John Hanley patented the very first UPS and called it as an “Apparatus for Maintaining an Unfailing and Uninterrupted Supply of Electrical Energy”. Can you repeat that? Or should we still use the term UPS rather than this one? I bet couple of bucks you stick with UPS!

3. No one can claim that he invented the UPS. It is a combination of many theories and studies that took years to be complete. So don’t believe someone saying he’s the inventor. He probably didn’t know what he’s saying!

4. UPS can be as small as a notebook or as huge as a room. The difference is basically depends on the amount of equipment being protected and how much battery backup time is needed. The smallest weighs 1.5 kg and has dimensions of 195 x 142 x 45mm. The largest is that BESS (stated above).

5. UPS has an option to alarms when certain error occurs. This is very helpful option for us to be notified that there is something wrong. Prevention is better than fixing.

6. The first UPS were of rotary design. It uses the inertia of a high-mass spinning flywheel to provide short-term ride-through in the event of power loss. The flywheel also acts as a buffer against power spikes, surges and sags. Just like the other stuffs, UPS also starts from analog technology.

Interesting right? No doubt that we really need uninterruptible power supply for our gadgets appliances and other stuffs, for them to be protected and to last longer. Hopefully you have fun reading. I hope to hear from you.

Until next time! Grab your UPS now!

Go up for Uninterruptible Power Supply!

Have you witnessed flickering lights in your home or office, computer freezing up or restarting? Then you may be suffering from a power supply problem!

Does it matter? Definitely YES!

A lot of us don’t realize that the power provided to our home or office is at times irregular and not always at 220 volts (110v to others) supply. 220v (110v) is the ideal voltage but sometimes it goes way above 240v and under 100v (both for 220 range).

This is when UPS gets up!

What is UPS?

UPS is an acronym for Uninterruptible Power Supply. It is a power protection device that will regulate the incoming power to desired and acceptable values. It will also supply a limited amount of power when there is no supply of power from the main source.

The basic operation of UPS is that it will sense if the voltage is not good enough or within tolerance. If that is the case, it will automatically go to the battery power until normal power returns. This is how UPS protects the devices connected to it, to further avoid overloading and short circuits.

A good example of application is your Personal Computer. The UPS will regulate the power to your computer. In the event of a power failure, UPS will alert you that there is no power, or for some high end UPS, it will either, Shut your PC or keep it running.

This means that anything you are working on can be saved and then shut your PC down. It also means that in any event of power failure or surge, your PC is protected from damage.

Other advantages of using UPS are:

• It will protect you from uncertain data loss
• It will serve as an emergency power supply
• It will protect voltage sensitive devices from bad electricity
• It will provide power surge protection
• It maintains your device’ battery life

Hopefully these are helpful to you as an electricity consumer and given you enough information that stress out the importance of using a UPS to your devices. By using this you can keep your devices running smoothly and safely from power problems mitigating any damage. Go UP for UPS!

This article is brought to you by Panther.ph