Power Outages

[John of PA]

We are getting clobbered this week with power outages. I have the large expensive (cost over $ 200. at Staples) UPS backups (by APC). With one at my PC, one at my printer, and one at my copier fax. I was dissapointed that my PC only help up for an hour before dying. How have your experiences been. Have you had good results with any other brand name other than APC? Half of our town is out and it could be 2 days before thier up (It appears Exelon got caught running out of transformers, as a storm blew out hundreds of them).

[dyne]

battery back-ups

I have used several APC battery backup devices over the years. I recently purchased
the least expensive one at about $40.00, which works well. I started with more expensive
ones but they only last 2 or 3 years and the batteries fail. I have not been able to
find replacement batteries but admit that I did not look very hard. My units will only power my computer for a few minutes but this is sufficient as I simply turn the computer off when we lose power, which happens often here. The one gripe I have is that there is no warning when the batteires in the unit goes bad. I wish it would beep or give a warning in some manner. I had the batteries in one unit go bad recently and it gave no warning.
Has anyone had experience in finding replacement batteries and was the cost of
such prohibitive ?

[Lion]

APC UPSs

I've used backup power packs from APC for several years and for several computers. Only once did I have to replace the battery; think I mail-ordered from APC. So, it must've been cheaper than replacing the unit. By the way, my failing battery caused the unit to beep at intervals (and maybe even a light came on...) to alert me to the need to get a new battery. Don't know how long they run; I've used them mainly to give me time to save and exit when the power goes out. Although, one early one we let run the computer in power outages so we had a "nightlight" from the computer screen to find our way through the house! I've used their PowerShut (sp?) software to close programs and shut down the computer, but haven't installed it yet on my newest computer. I was on their mailing list for years, so remember seeing big units designed to keep businesses up and running during power failures in their catalogs. Check their website for a unit that meets your specifications if you have frequent and prolonged power outages. And, look into generators.

[BOB W]

BATTERY Backup..

serve 2 functions. 1 is to supply power for a short time in order to close out operating equipment with a normal shut down and 2 to filter electrical spikes during normal operation and when power comes back on. Spikes will do substantial damage to appliance and equipment.

The only way to accomplish continued operation is with a generator. Gasoline generators will only provide power for as long as you have gasoline available. Gasoline typically will run for 6-10 hours on a tank of fuel, depending on how high the demand of the appliances and equipment are. The other choice is natural gas or propane type generator. Natural gas generators will run forever. Propane generators will probably run for a week or more depending on the size of the propane tank (100 lb or 500 lb ) before they will need to be refilled.

I have a "Generac" whole house natural gas generator (15kw) which automatically starts when electricity goes out (13 second delay). The cost of this type can run in excess $8,000 fully installed.

[John of PA]

Thanks

Thanks for all these insights. My main problem is when the power goes out and I stepped out for a while, so the PC keeps running and just dies. I like the idea of intalling the software to perform an automatic shutdown. I may look into that. I do look forward to, as time goes on, technological improvements to these APC units. I notice just looking on the shelf at Staples that every year they get better and better (# minutes till shut down). So they should be right where I need them about when I retire. Generators? I'm hoping a Fuel Cell type unit comes out, I'am holding out for that. Again, probably not until I'am retired. Thanks again.

[BP.]

Hey, JOP, it's your "neighbor" over in West Brandywine. I was wondering how bad West Chester was hit. Hammered here. Wed AM had to cruise for 10 miles looking for an open Wawa for some coffee. Hope your fave java joint was open. Cheers!

[John of PA]

Wawa's open!

BP,
Nice to hear from you. I have been told that the Wawa's (a very well run and popular regional convience store chain, who also has the cheapest gas around, currently at 3.15/gal.) actually are one of the top prioritites by the utility crews becasue thats were the crews stop for their well deserved coffee breaks, plus so many people depend on Wawa for gas, milk, etc. Today (Sat) we had another outage. It lasted 25 minutes, and my UPS backup from Staples worked fine, my computer kept running for the 25 minutes. I have the APC 1500, one of their more expensive units.