Long-term (hours+) solution for power outage: PBX, lights, and computers

[Bruce Dawson]

The biggest headache I've had with the larger UPS' is their batteries.
They seem to last only a few years, so I've dumped my APC Matrix UPS in
favor of running multiple smaller UPS (with cheaper batteries) and a
generator.

All the larger UPS solutions I've run into clearly make their money on
their proprietary batteries. For a "centralized" solution, I would
recommend getting a couple of ProSine 3KW inverters and lots of
deep-discharge batteries - the more batteries, the longer you'll stay up.

--Bruce
PS: The ProSine inverters run a coupla grand each. However, they do
provide a true sinewave (and last nearly forever).

Ted Roche wrote:

> A client suffered a five-hour downtime recently, and has been looking
> for a reasonably priced solution. He's working out of leased office
> space, and a generator or major structural changes are unreasonable.
> He happened upon:
>
> http://www.sentrypowertechnology.com/
>
> And they offer 6 KW and 12 KW units.
>
> The client would like to keep a half-dozen computers, LCD screens and
> a laser printer or two running for a 4- to 6-hour period. Anyone have
> experience with a solution that would work? Things to look out for?
> For example, each computer has its own small APC UPS, so there would
> be two sources of battery power in series. It's possible the generated
> AC would not be stable enough in voltage or frequency to keep the
> UPSes from tripping on and off. I know this is a problem with the
> smaller, less-regulated generator units.
>
> Is there a good solution for a small office? Of should he be looking
> for a 10K VA UPS?