Or, if you’d like your equipment to stay powered up for 15+ minutes, select a UPS with a watt rating around 4 times that of your devices. Just enough to cover a power flicker or to allow you to shut equipment down properly in an extended outage. If you end up picking a UPS rated slightly above that number in watts, you’ll get a few minutes of runtime. If you’re up for doing some math, get a general idea of how many watts your equipment needs. Manufacturers list rated minimum run times on their spec pages, but due to different testing processes these aren’t always accurate. They vary from brand to brand, model to model. I wish run times were easy to tell just by looking at the watt ratings. Drop down to 1/4 or less of the watt rating, and you’ll end up with 20 minutes or more of run time. If the battery backup is running close to maximum load, you’ll only get a few minutes of time on battery power. Here’s a visual to make better sense of run times. Just how high of a wattage should you go with? That depends on just how much run time you think you’ll need. However, most people want their equipment to remain powered up for more than just a few minutes in a power outage.Īvoid going with a battery backup rated for “just enough” power. To be extra safe, you can do a little math and make sure the combined wattage is no more than 60% of the VA rating. If you buy a 500VA UPS and try to power a 1200VA device from it, it won’t stay powered up.Īs long as your devices have a combined wattage below that of the UPS, they can be powered.
In the case of either rating, these numbers tell you the maximum load the battery backup can handle without shutting down. The Watt rating is easier to size by, but the VA rating is the one usually shown in product names and advertising. I’m convinced this is because the VA ratings are bigger numbers and so they look more impressive. UPS’s are often listed with their VA rating first and foremost. VA: This rating is probably less familiar for you. Every device in your home operates within a certain watt range and that can help you pick which UPS to go with. For instance, light bulbs have a watt rating – 60W for a standard incandescent bulb. Watts: You’re probably used to seeing Watt ratings on a number of household items. Bigger numbers mean more powerful batteries. You’ll see two ratings listed – Watts and VA (volt amperage).
There are a lot of features separating different Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS’s). Quick Pick: CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD if you need plenty of power & run timeĪMAZON PRICE & REVIEWS Watts vs VA – Picking the Right Capacity In this guide, I’ll break down what to look for in a UPS and if you should go with APC or CyberPower. Over my years of working in IT, I’ve set up more battery backups than I can count. The power cuts out for only a second, but it’s going to take you minutes – if not hours – to get back what you were working on.
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