Could you help me out with Uninterruptible power supplys?

Question

Within the last year I purchased a CyberPower 550VA UPS and had my 40" TCL Roku TV hooked up to it.  When the power went out, it ran my TV for a whole hour.

Here's a few questions: What is the power draw of a 40" TCL Roku TV, just watching local television?  Would a TCL Roku TV have less power draw than a 28" tube TV?  If so, how much of a difference would there be?

The reason I'm asking is because if that UPS ran the TV for a whole hour, what would be the next size up for a UPS that could run the TV for 2 hours?

L · Accepted Answer

I agree with spacemissing - especially since UPSs designed for computer or network device back-up beep every so often to tell you that they are not on commercial power.

Search YouTube for making "portable power". I made a few "solar generators" that allow me to run different groups of equipment in case of emergency power outage.

One group has the computer network stuff (router, network switch, 2 computers, three 22" monitors and a couple of other low power items) for a little over 6 hours without recharging.

Another group is the TV, security DVR + 8 cameras + monitor + network switch. This uses the same 100 amp-hour lithium (LiFePO) battery model as the above group and provides about 5 hours battery time.

The third one has two 100 amp-hour LiFePo batteries and is designed to provide power to a residential refrigerator during a power outage overnight.

All three can be recharged using commercial power with auto-switchover or with solar panels. They beep only when the battery is less than 12 volts. One of them is being updated to recharge using solar + wind (in addition to commercial) power. Their power inverters have fans that make some noise... They are LiFePO batteries and there is no hydrogen gas produced.

All three are installed in their own large rolling toolkits with their own power inverter, multimeter, fuses, batteries, etc., so they are portable, too. The solar panels are external - anywhere from 200 to 400 watts for each solar panel array. My wife thought I was nuts until we were hit with rolling power outages during the recent wildfires in California... and the solar panels on the roof of the house are grid tied and not part of this "parallel battery back up power system".

Before this, I had a couple of CyberPower 1500 VA computer back-up systems. To answer your question directly, a CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD or CP1000AVRLCD would nearly double your power-uptime (1000 watts) but are the incorrect battery back-up tool for your stated, intended, use.

spacemissing · Answer

Uninterruptible power supplies are not intended to operate equipment for extended periods.   
Their intended purpose is to allow enough time after a blackout to safely shut down a computer, 
and then the whole affair should be switched off until line power is restored.   
             
THAT is THE answer, and you should act accordingly.

Could you help me out with Uninterruptible power supplys?

2 Answers