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All but the most expensive UPSes only supply enough power to allow a computer to safely shut down after a power outage. The better ones will automatically close programs and shut down the computer.
To be able to continue using a computer for any length of time, either a standby generator (and a conventional UPS) or a huge bank of batteries would be needed, both being very expensive.
UPS's can cost a lot of be cheap, well under $100 USD. It is the SIZE, in Watt's that determine the price. I 300W unit of course will run a computer for a shorter time than a 1,500W UPS will of course. There is no 'run time length' standard of course. That depends on how many devices are connected and the power draw. A low power Laptop will run longer on the same UPS than a full scale Desktop with many drives and an older monitor. Also if one keeps a modem, router, all-in-one printer attached, and speaker attached as well run-time will be less.
All you really want is enough time to finish what you have started during a power failure. That complete the task at hand and shut the system down. If you live in an area with frequent short power drops (brown-out) that are of short duration, a UPS might keep you running.
Most do have the capability to shutdown your computer (they connect to the PC with a USB cable and a PC app to monitor the UPS) when the remaining run-time on the UPS is too low to continue much longer.
Irv S.
I don't think you understand my question. Either that or I said it wrong.
Let's say you have a power outage and in a day or two your going crazy cause
there's no TV!! But, that's OK cause you have this card that you can plug into
your computer which not only will it get it running but, it will also get you the
internet!! Now,,,,,,,, does that make since??????????? Maybe it's called an "Air Card" ??
LH, I really don't know what kind of battery that was. It has since long been in the landfill.
In Florida where I spend the winter, I have only seen 1 power outage in 15 years. Even during the storm season (when I am not there), I have not heard of any. Our power lines are under ground. But when I bought the UPS, I did not know that the power is that stable.
In Germany I remember only 1 power outage in all my life. And that was when half of Europe was without power.
There are various types of lead acid batteries. Some are designed to handle brief, deep discharges at a high rate of current, such as automotive starting batteries. Others can handle low current discharges but can be more deeply discharged at frequent intervals, such as marine batteries designed to run electric trolling motors. Golf cart batteries are designed for frequent, deep, high current discharges (they are also heavier). Golf cart batteries also can handle floating on a trickle charge better than most other lead acid batteries.
One could make a super USP by using two or more golf cart type batteries (they are usually 6v so they need to paired in series to get 12v), a 120v to 12v converter to keep it charged, and a pure sine wave inverter to convert the 12v back to 120v. The inverter and converter are standard RV (caravan to you all on the other side of the pond from me) equipment. One just needs to be sure the inverter is pure sine wave instead of modified or stepped sine wave (many power supplies will work only on pure sine wave). The converter needs to protected by a good, RV type EMS (Electrical Management System) that provides surge and spike protection and will shut off the incoming 120v if it goes too low or too high (these are expensive, at least $350 US, not some $50 cheapie).
To use as a UPS, the batteries would be fed by the converter (it needs to be large enough to handle all of the load being connected to the "UPS"). The inverter would run off the batteries. The electronics being connected to the "UPS" would be plugged in to the inverter's 120v output. By running all the time on battery fed inverter power, the electronics will always have an uninterupted source of power, no matter how often or frequently the incoming 120v may be interrupted.
Depending on how big the batteries are and hw much load in put on the "UPS", a setup like this could run for hours. However, one will pay through the nose (and other body orifices) for such a setup. I plan on doing something like this when I move into a travel trailer since much of the equipment will be already there.
Static transfer switch
A static transfer switch uses power semiconductors such as Silicon-controlled rectifiers (SCRs) to transfer a load between two sources. Because there are no mechanical moving parts, the transfer can be completed rapidly, perhaps within a [ quarter-cycle of the power frequency. ] Static transfer switches can be used where a reliable and independent second source of power is available and it is necessary to protect the load from even a few power frequency cycles interruption time, or from any surges or sags in the prime power source.
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