What is a UPS and why is it so important?

The distribution of energy in Brazil does not occur in an ideal way, with several noises and impurities in the supply. Faced with the privatization of distributors, problems have increased across the country, with daily reports of blackouts. A parallel market strengthens, the energy regulating devices are sought after for protection against damage to devices due to electrical current. In between stabilizer and line filter, the most effective is the UPS. Learn now the types available and which best fits your needs.

No interruptions

The concept of UPS is in your name: “no break” translates to "no interruptions". It differs from the surge protector and power strip by ability to guarantee the operation of appliances in power failure. Depending on the model, it can be extra minutes or even more than an hour, so hopefully there will be enough time to save the work and shut down the machine properly, without a sudden interruption.

Currently, companies are betting on putting more protection elements between different price ranges. Therefore, for less than 300 reais, it is possible to get a device that is safe against overload, undervoltage, overvoltage, short circuit and voltage surges.

How to choose a UPS

The first step is calculate energy expenditure (in watts) of your appliances. It will be decisive to know the power (in voltamperes) of the UPS. If the use will be for a PC, the cost of the parts is calculated, added to the monitor and accessories. OuterVision's online calculator can collaborate.

The result in watts should be converted to voltamperes. It is necessary to know the power factor of the appliances. O FP of modern computers is between 0,6 and 0,7, so we consider 0,65. The formula is as follows.

VA = Watts / FP

Let's use the example of a 390 W consumer computer. The calculation is 390 / 0,65. It's 600 VA. However, it is not recommended to buy a exact value, as it will provide a very short life and the power consumption of the PC may increase with new parts or accessories.

It is recommended to add 30% of safety to the voltage of the device. That is, for this computer of 600 VA of consumption, a nobreak of at least 780 VA of power is sought.

UPS types

The basic function of the UPS is to be a battery to devices in the power outage. There is three categories available that meet different demands, going beyond the basic function.

Offline or Standby

Offline UPS, also called standby, and the cheapest category. It is common to see this model being used in places with poor energy. It is not recommended to connect an offline UPS to complex and sensitive devices.

The first disadvantage is Offline UPS delay to be triggered after power outage. These are milliseconds that can damage connected devices.

Another disadvantage is the supply of energy in square “waves”. Offline/standby UPS has voltage spikes, because the energy is distributed in a non-gradual way. It is common for sound equipment to have transmission failures, while other devices may not even turn on.

Fortunately, the square wave format is abandoned by the market due to its inefficiency for the modern consumer.

Line Interactive or Line Interactive

More advanced than offline, the interactive line UPS features activation only in the event of a power outage. However, this UPS will always be using energy to ensure battery power.

Line-interactive UPS does not solve the power-on delay problem, but the time is shorter compared to offline models. The best advance of this UPS category is the presence of a automatic voltage regulator (AVR), acting on voltage fluctuations.

We turned our attention to the power supply of the interactive line UPS. Generally, this category emits energy in sine wave, but it is very close to the square waves of the offline UPS. In this case, the waves are steps, providing smoother variations between the peaks. Even so, not suitable for stereos, which may damage the hardware. The same alert is given to computers, as the source will work harder to maintain stability and other parts can be stressed, resulting in a decrease in useful life.

On-line

The online UPS is always supplying power through the battery, after an advanced filtering procedure. The objective is to distribute purest energy possible.

This is only possible due to the sine wave method, perfect in its shape, without variations. It is used by server companies, hospitals, security, record companies, etc.

Its only downside is its cost., both in purchase and maintenance. Because the battery is always in use, the battery life is the shortest among the categories. Constant battery replacement is required.

Beware of the promise of a false sine

The market has manufactured sine wave supply UPSs, despite not being part of the online category. It is very necessary to pay attention to these models. If you want a sine wave, do not buy a device with a description of “approximate sine wave”, “modified sine wave”, or any other denomination that is not “pure sinusoidal”.

Now that you have the theoretical knowledge to analyze a lot before buying UPS, be sure to check out the Showmetech's official store at Magazine Luiza! There you will find all types of UPS at the best prices on the market.

Sources: Aquila electro e BZ Tech