How long will a UPS last?

[DrBoxedWine]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

I doubt you will see a several day outage in denver. I use vortechs and thier battery backup. Gives me about 24h.

A heater will eat up a UPS. It is a good idea to have a standby generator. They are cheep.

It's definitely possible i'm being paranoid. I remember as a kid going for a couple days without power in the Detroit area, but i guess that was also probably 20 years ago. We haven't lost power here for more than a few hours.

Thanks again everyone.

[tkeracer619]

It could happen but I think living in Denver the odds are minimal. We get hit enough with big storms that the electrical grid seems pretty robust. 4-6 hours would be more common and maybe longer once per 20 years... I asked around here and nobody recalls losing power for 24 hours. Nothing like hurricane country.

[DrBoxedWine]

Originally Posted by tkeracer619

It could happen but I think living in Denver the odds are minimal. We get hit enough with big storms that the electrical grid seems pretty robust. 4-6 hours would be more common and maybe longer once per 20 years... I asked around here and nobody recalls losing power for 24 hours. Nothing like hurricane country.

Good to Know! Sounds like my battery pumps are good and maybe an inverter for the car in a worst case scenario. Thanks!

[tkeracer619]

You're welcome. I plan on installing a whole house natural gas unit at some point but I am in no rush. A small backup generator or inverter fits most peoples emergency plan. I've never actually had to use either.

[origreefer]

Originally Posted by slief

Glad to help. It was a fun test. Generators are always better than battery power. People on the east coast where there is lots of snow and those in hurricane areas are a different story. Outages can obviously be very long in which case there is no substitute for a decent generator.

Generators suck! I've gone thru 3 of them, first one seized after a 7-day outage, second brand new one started leaking gas after 1 hr of usage into another 7 day outage) "Yes sir, it's under warranty, we'll have it back to you in 3 weeks". Another time couldn't get gas. There IS a substitute, a more efficient one as well. After all my issues with Gens, I installed a solar system with large battery bank. Now, when I lose power (about 4 times a year) I plug my whole system into nice quiet cheap power. Not just powerheads, the whole system which draws 3.1 amps total. My battery capacity is 400 hours at 8 amps, so if I ran just my tank I could go about a month, and this is without recharging via the panels. My suggestion for those who want back-up is to go the deep cycle battery/inverter route. No panels needed, just keep battery on a trickle charger till needed. Side benefit is you can make coffee and watch TV too!