I need a UPS - help a noob

[Cpt.America]

Hello everybody!

The rest of my HT components will be arriving either today or tomorrow, and I’m excited to get it all up and running. Since I live in a semi-rural area, which is also semi-prone to power fluctuations/brown outs/black outs during storms and such, I would like to have all my AV equipment run through a nice UPS.

What I want is enough UPS to protect from surges and spikes… and also be able to run my AV equipment for long enough to get off the couch and shut everything down properly. I don’t think I would need more than a couple minutes of power…

So, here are my questions:

1) What “VA” rating should I at least have? 650? 750? 1000? 1300? Thanks!
2) Do I need to go with a well known brand like APC, or are there other alternatives that will work just as well? I can get APCs anywhere (amazon) but also found some other brands over at monoprice.

My Equipment:

Phillips 47" LCD
Pioneer VHX-01 AVR
Oppo player
PS3
ED A3-300 sub

Thanks for any help you can provide guys!

Cpt.

 

[Audioholics]

I'm a fan of APC. If you can't afford their S10 series then at least get yourself something... perhaps one of these:

http://audioholics.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=20/form_keyword=APC Back-ups ES/rd=1/st=query

Estimated retail is around $50. The RS series is a step up, and of course the S-series blows them all away and includes other niceties like Ethernet and cable line protection.

 

[Cpt.America]

So are you suggesting that ANY size/capacity of UPS will power all my equipment for long enough to shut them down properly?

 

[TLS Guy]

So are you suggesting that ANY size/capacity of UPS will power all my equipment for long enough to shut them down properly?

No, you need to add up the VA rating AND the wattage of ALL your components, that will be on at any one time. The UPS must be able to provide the VA AND continuous watts for everything.

The VA rating is different for Watts, becuase of the inductive nature of power supplies. The current is out of phase with voltage, so there is apparent power and true power. The UPS must provide enough current to provide the current required to fulfill the apparent power requirements, and be able to provide the continuos true power in watts.

This whole area is very misunderstood, because the nature of the flow of current in inductive circuits requires an understanding of vector triangle and trigonometry.

However if you follow the instructions at the beginning of my post you will not go wrong.

You should be able to find the VA ratings and continous wattage ratings in the manual and or on the back of the device.

I support the use of APC products. I also live in a rural area and a UPS is vital. In my small system downstairs, surge protectors did not do the job, and had to go to a UPS for that also.

I use refurbed APC smart UPS systems. They have been fine. The crucial thing in addition to power, is response time in the 1 to 3 msec range for sags and peaks. The closer to 1msec the better.

There is more poor information on this topic on this important issue, than just about anything else.

 

[Midcow2]

AV is good; VA rating

Clint's recommendation to use APC is good; good brand.

VA is Volts Amps and roughly translates to watts. However it assumes resistive only impedance and to account for capacitiance and inductance power factor it is best too have higher than total watts by about 30%

Power of your equipment:

240 watts Phillips 47" LCD
390 watts (I know it says 110w x 7 channel but this is you substained power requirment)Pioneer VHX-01 AVR
50 watts (estimate)Oppo player
380 watts (PS# is power hungry)PS3
350 watts ED A3-300 sub

1110 total watts plus 30% = 1443 VA Get a 1.5 KVA and you will be fine.

 

[Cpt.America]

Clint's recommendation to use APC is good; good brand.

VA is Volts Amps and roughly translates to watts. However it assumes resistive only impedance and to account for capacitiance and inductance power factor it is best too have higher than total watts by about 30%

Power of your equipment:

240 watts Phillips 47" LCD
390 watts (I know it says 110w x 7 channel but this is you substained power requirment)Pioneer VHX-01 AVR
50 watts (estimate)Oppo player
380 watts (PS# is power hungry)PS3
350 watts ED A3-300 sub

1110 total watts plus 30% = 1443 VA Get a 1.5 KVA and you will be fine.

Holycrap Thanks for that! I wish I could give you back some info in return! 1500 VA it is! I wish I could put all that mumbojumbo electron speak to use... i just don't understand it all that well. I needed a ballpark figure to shoot for and I sure got it!

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

Cpt.

P.S. I find it crazy that the ps3 will suck more power than a rummbling A3-300 !!

 

[Cpt.America]

What do you guys think of this as a cheaper solution?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10839&cs_id=1083903&p_id=4171&seq=1&format=1#largeimage

 

[TLS Guy]

What do you guys think of this as a cheaper solution?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10839&cs_id=1083903&p_id=4171&seq=1&format=1#largeimage

No idea. It all depends on the response times and the tolerance of where the unit kicks in and out.

This is what I would recommend.

 

[yettitheman]

My choices:

1: APC. Probably the most well known and well tested.
2: Tripplite. They make good units, however, I'm not so sure why our HT850 is picky with power; it tends to shut off sometimes during power discrepancies.
3: Belkin. I know they make power conditioners, but I'm not so sure about UPS.

Just don't get Monster

 

[selkec]

I would not get the Belkin. I have one and its fine unless I plug my panny plasma tv into it. The tv alone almost puts it into overload. I can watch the lights go up on the front of it depending on the quality and brightness of what Im watching. Its fine untill I watch an HD station. Just my 2 cents

 

[Cpt.America]

Thanks for the tip guys... i went with the Powercom 1500va. Specs seem to be right there with the ACP, and its 1/2 the price. I will let you know how it works!