UPS battery backup question
 

So i have a question i hope you guys can answer.

Best buy has a few ups backups on sale and i wouldnt mind getting one.
Murphys law.... knowing my luck power will go out the moment everyone leaves for work and nobody will be home for.... 9 hours. We have a generator and spare battery backup we can plug stuff into. And multiple battery air pumps.

I want something I can have a single powerhead (5w) plugged into that will keep that 1 item going until people get home from work and somebody can deal with plugging stuff into other things.

Now ive looked at various brands and not all list how many watts they are, but they list the amount of energy in a surge they would protect from. But many of these are only saying they will run for 15 minutes.... enough time to save your computer documents and shut down the computer properly. And they talk about software and what not.... will these backups still work for 1 or 2, 5w hydor powerheads? Will they run them for hours? Or will they shut down in minutes even if the battery isnt drained? I guess i just dont fully understand how they actually work. Dont want to end up buying one that only works when its connected to a computer with software. I want one that keeps running my powerheads when the power goes out.

Heres a few i was looking at.

http://m.bestbuy.ca/?lang=en#/catalo...227&lang=en-CA

http://m.bestbuy.ca/?lang=en#/catalo...821&lang=en-CA

http://m.bestbuy.ca/?lang=en#/catalo...845&lang=en-CA

The second and third one are about 300watts of backup power.

There are runtime charts on both these sites. Both are about 20watts for 120 minutes.
I use one similar to the APC for some pumps. They work standalone without a computer/software.

The second one http://www.apc.com/shop/ca/en/produc...prod_store03-2

The third one http://www.tripplite.com/energy-savi...ort~ECO550UPS/

So something with 300w can only power a 20w item for 2 hours?

Ugh this is far too confusing.

I need one that will last 8 hours for a 5w powerhead.

If 20 watt will last approximately 2 hours then 5 watt should maybe last 8 hours doing some rough math. The charts don't show that exact but I would think its possible easily. I had an apc backup (don't know the rating, got at Costco) run my computer and LCD TV during an outage for a couple hours. I don't think it was that big of one.

Theres just so many mixed reviews on time frames on these things
I think I will try and give some 1-800 numbers a call tomorrow and ask the companies themselves.

Or you could get a decent sized UPS system to protect and back up your computer stuff, and then use a long extension cord (if it not close to your tanks) to keep your tank pump running during an outage. A 10W power draw (2 of your 5W pumps) should last 6 or more hours with this one.
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...999aefb993en02

Not a big discount, but free shipping right now.

I don't usually have to worry about my laptop dying ;)

Tank isn't even remotely close to the computer at my parents place either, never mind nobody in that house uses a desktop computer anymore. And I think all the powerbars are those Monster surge protector ones anyway.
I just want to cover my ass if the power goes out while people are at work.
Just permanently have 1 powerhead plugged into a UPS so when it does go out, it keeps going.

I have no issue spending $150 on a backup.
•1325 VA/810 W capacity
•Half/full 10 minute / 2 minute runtime

Part of my brain wants to say that a 5w power head would use 5w an hour, so a 810w UPS should power a single 5w powerhead for days.... But obviously that's not how it works lol.

Heres a calculator from APC. I put in 10w for 12 hrs and it came back at 1500va. In reality from using some of these it very well could run for a fair bit longer.

http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/CA/en/home/load

I have a spare on laying around somewhere, im going to put a small load onto it tonight and see how long it will run. Im kind of curious now.

No, that's not quite how it works... haha. It goes by the battery capacity not the UPS output power capacity. With this UPS, it will give 10 min running at 400 watts (1/2 power), so at 10 watts should give 400 min or 6+ hours.

But if you don't have a desktop, agree that this is overkill and paying for additional capabilities you don't need. Also note, that surge protection is not UPS power backup.

What you really need is a battery inverter power pack like these. I have two that I use at our lake cabin with solar power and take them home for the winter to back up my tanks during an outage. They have much higher battery capacity (more like a car battery) and can run my tank pumps for a day or more (have had to do that in the past).
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mo...l#.VoBDrVKLDak

I bought mine (older versions) about 10 years ago (and they are still good) during fall clearance time for less than a 100 bucks (way cheaper than this one).

And a cheaper alternative might be to get a booster pack (on sale now) and just leave it plugged in (auto trickle charge) all the time.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mo...l#.VoBFDVKLDak
And use it with this inverter.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/ca...l#.VoBFmVKLDak
Should be able to find these cheaper elsewhere, too.