# Battery backup for desk top



## mae-ling (Dec 9, 2011)

What you are looking for is an UPS unit. It plugs in the wall then your computer and other stuff plugs into it.


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## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

A UPS is rated in watts it can supply for a few minutes. Total up the wattage for your computer, monitor, your cable or DSL modem and any other network components and buy a UPS that can handle about 30% more than that. It's only going to run for a few minutes. I have mine start the shutdown after 2 minutes with no power. That gives me time to save files etc.


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## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

jimn01 said:


> A UPS is rated in watts it can supply for a few minutes. Total up the wattage for your computer, monitor, your cable or DSL modem and any other network components and buy a UPS that can handle about 30% more than that. It's only going to run for a few minutes. I have mine start the shutdown after 2 minutes with no power. That gives me time to save files etc.


Thanks. I run 2 monitors but don't really care about the modem. One monitor says 55 watts, one says 31.2 watts and the computer says 300 watts. So I assume I'm good with 400 watts? And I assume the more I spend the longer they stay on? 

As I indicated my main concern is the occasional 2 second mystery outage DTE "blesses" me with. :smartass:


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

The UPS needs to be able to handle the total wattage of your system. If you want it to stay on longer then you need bigger batteries.


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## supers05 (May 23, 2015)

You don't have to connect your monitors to the ups, as they don't have files to lose. I do on my setup, but I also have 2kw/h worth of capacity. (my system will run for about 1.5 hours on that) Usually when people here ask for a UPS, they aren't willing to spend a ton of money. Letting your screens die is one compromise. Set your computer to hibernate after 30sec or so, (depending on runtime) that why you won't lose any data if your power isn't restored in time. 

Cheers!


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## MT Stringer (Oct 19, 2008)

Lots of choices from reasonable to expensive.
http://www.newegg.com/UPS/SubCategory/ID-72

Actually, the cost is pretty cheap when you consider what you might lose in a power dip. That's what we called it at work - anything less than three seconds. That is the way it is at my house, just a temporary interruption of power.


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## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

thanks for all the advice and feedback gentleman (and/or ladies?) :thumbsup: 
I think I might get two. One to power the 300 watt computer and one to power the 2 monitors, which upon further review each are 45 watts not the 55 and 31.2 I indicated earlier.


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## coderguy (Jan 10, 2011)

craig11152 said:


> thanks for all the advice and feedback gentleman (and/or ladies?) :thumbsup:
> I think I might get two. One to power the 300 watt computer and one to power the 2 monitors, which upon further review each are 45 watts not the 55 and 31.2 I indicated earlier.


They will always come with a few pass-thru ports. You could do better financially with a single nicer one and plug one of the two monitors into one of the pass-thru ports.

You can also get one and monitor the load capacity, if you are near it consider a second one. Most of the newer ones have nice displays and a usb port - they can be set to simply safely shut down the computer for you.


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## fuzzmanks (Oct 24, 2010)

I wouldn't bother with getting a second UPS for your flat panels (FP). I have two FP's (24" and 19") hooked up to my UPS. When my power goes out and if I want to maximize my battery run time, I move any open windows in my smaller FP to the other FP and power off the smaller FP. 

You may want to reconsider plugging your modem and router into the UPS. If you are in the middle of a project that is using the internet, you would want to finish that project before shutting down your system during an extended outage. 

I'm using a 11 year old APC 750VA / 400 watt UPS. When this UPS was new I could get 45 minutes out of the battery using one 19" FP monitor, mini-tower, and modem. After 4 years my battery would last only 10 minutes. I replaced that battery in 2008 and this one is still going strong and I can get about 35 to 40 minutes out of it. Normal life of a UPS battery is 3 to 5 years...depending on the quality of your power and how long you run on the battery power during extended outage.


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## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

I bought a unit at Costco last night for $99. A CyberPower with 810 Watts. 
Got both monitors and computer hooked up now. It says I have about 40-50 minutes of run time. If I close out the internet and both monitors it jumps to a little less than 3 hours. Don't know how accurate those numbers really are. 
Good point on the modem/router. But that is in another room and I will buy another UPS rather than rearrange things. 
I day trade stocks and wouldn't want to lose my connection with an open trade. 
99.9% of my power outages, which are rare, are 2-5 seconds, just long enough to have my computer go dead and have to reset the clock on the oven and microwave.


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## kars85 (Jul 22, 2015)

Some models of UPS allow you to install software on your computer to gracefully shutdown when the battery is depleted. You'd have a usb cable included if your unit supported it. :thumbsup:


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## novicejr (Jul 29, 2013)

I've had a CyberPower 1350AVR for several years and it's great. I would get one bigger one instead of two. Mine can power my desktop and monitor, plus modem and router, and only uses about 10% of the capacity I think. If the power goes out, I turn off the computer and monitor and then the modem and router will run almost forever so we have wifi for our smart phones and laptop.
If you're not in a hurry, UPS usually go on sale for significant discounts. I can't remember how much mine was, but it was on sale. Also, I think the batteries only last for a certain number of years (whether you use them or not) but I just lost power last week and this UPS worked just fine.


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## supers05 (May 23, 2015)

novicejr said:


> I've had a CyberPower 1350AVR for several years and it's great. I would get one bigger one instead of two. Mine can power my desktop and monitor, plus modem and router, and only uses about 10% of the capacity I think. If the power goes out, I turn off the computer and monitor and then the modem and router will run almost forever so we have wifi for our smart phones and laptop.
> If you're not in a hurry, UPS usually go on sale for significant discounts. I can't remember how much mine was, but it was on sale. Also, I think the batteries only last for a certain number of years (whether you use them or not) but I just lost power last week and this UPS worked just fine.


2-5 years depending on use and model. I've changed my batteries twice already, but need to buy more again. (i have 3 ups boxes) The batteries are a whole lot cheaper then a new box. It's more pronounced the larger the ups. Mine are 1440VA, which last a significant time even with my computer still running. With just the modem /router it's something like 2 weeks. Lol. 

Cheers!


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