Re: Home UPS recommendations
On Fri, 2024-02-09 at 22:28 -0500, Felix Miata wrote:
> hw composed on 2024-02-10 03:18 (UTC+0100):
> [...]
> > Well, having batteries shipped over from the US would probably cost
> > more than a new UPS.
>
> They are made in China. Surely there are UK sellers.
It might be cheaper to ship them from China than from the UK.
Apparently there's some kind of agreement in place that makes shipping
stuff from China (or Hong Kong) cheap --- but I don't know if it
applies to UPS batteries.
> The URL was simply provided
> as a representative of specifications of a very common SLA battery for UPS type.
>
> > That rules out Liebert, Cyperpower and Triplite due to uncertain or no
> > availability. That only leaves Eaton.
>
> Those from the above URL are the same spec batteries used in many APC models.
Maybe, maybe not. I couldn't get replacement batteries for the UPS
from HP not only because HP was so ridiculous as to tell me that I
could pay for a support ticket to get a price for the batteries, but
also because the replacement batteries I could get had smaller
contacts. Since I didn't want to take the risk of burning down the
place because the smaller contacts might have melted under load, I
decided to get a new UPS.
It wasn't too bad because I had only payed 65 for the UPS, and the
batteries lasted about 3 years. I hate having to trash a perfectly
good UPS just because the batteries aren't available, and shame on HP
for being so environmentally friendly as to make and sell one-way
UPSs. That kind of thing should be illegal.
But it was a lesson about battery availability.
> > Does Eaton provide their own Linux software and/or do they accept
> > monitoring results from other software like nut (assuming that apcupsd
> > won't work for Eaton UPSs)?
>
> Mine are all connected to a multitude of devices more to protect the
> hardware from a lousy power source. I don't try to use the
> software. When power fails, I shut things down when the outage lasts
> more than a few seconds.
Well, I need the UPSs monitored so the computer(s) can shutdown
properly.
> When you live on a power grid, extended outages are much less common
> than when on or near waterfront or political boundaries. Most of
> Florida's population has no out-of-state neighbors to share
> utilities with, making its grid more fragile. Being the lightning
> capital of the world doesn't help either.
Did they put the power lines into the ground water or something like
that?
> > > Here in FL, replacement battery life averages under 30 months, no
> > > matter the battery brand. OEM batteries have averaged more like 54.
>
> > How is that? Do you have frequent power outages that stress the
> > batteries so much?
> The nature of the beasts is that their use generates heat. These batteries don't
> like heat. The cooler they can be kept, the longer they can last. My thermostat
> temp setting in heating season is 78F, in cooling season 82F, and cooling season
> is much longer than heating season. In climates where heating season is most of
> the year and tstat is kept below 65F, I'm guessing likely they could last a decade
> or more.
At least you have some cooling. Basically nobody here has that,
though it's probably becoming more widespread because it gets warmer
all the time, and it's unbearable in the summer. Electricity is
insanely expensive here and keeps getting more expensive all the time.
> Battery orientation within the unit probably makes a difference, and
> even more, separation, with worst orientation side-by-side with no
> air space between. It's not easy to learn about such specs prior to
> purchase. UPS makers seem to want to keep battery specs top secret,
> out of marketing materials, even from manuals.
Hm, if the OEM batteries actually lasted 5 years and if what you say
is true, they must have been some awesome batteries. That UPS takes
two batteries which are tightly packed, and they can get very warm.
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