Under perfect circumstances, you’d always be able to rely upon your wall socket to provide a continuous, perfectly regulated power. Unfortunately, this is far from the reality of reliance upon utility power.  But, a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) can help by performing three vital functions.  First, a line-interactive or double conversion UPS conditions the incoming power from the utility company and filters out irregularities to give you clean, consistent power. Secondly, it provides power to cover for intermittent sags or short-term outages. And finally, it enables seamless power so you can perform graceful, planned shutdowns in the event of a major outage that will last longer than several hours.

Why invest in a UPS?

 #1 – Utility Power isn’t conditioned.

So what exactly does that mean? It means that the power coming in from the utility company isn’t a steady supply that stays within a prescribed range with a steady A.C frequency close to the rated value with a smooth voltage curve waveform. By law, utility power isn’t required to be conditioned, causing variations that are significant enough to cause issues.

#2 – Utility Power isn’t 100% reliable

While the US enjoys a relatively high reliability rate, issues from the power company alone can translate to a likely average of 3 – 9 hours of down time a year for a business. That doesn’t factor in outages due to weather, accidents or other factors such as vehicle accidents or faulty equipment.

#3 – Even a short outage can be burdensome

Even a mild power outage can trigger an event that causes significant recovery time. Every minute is critical when resources such as computers, servers, medical equipment or industrial equipment have to be brought back online from an unplanned shutdown.

#4 – The more high tech equipment is, the more sensitive it is

Electronic components are evolving every day and are more vulnerable than ever to power problems. Constantly transferred and synced information on high-density servers, power anomalies result in more risk to equipment.

#5  –  Availability is Key

IT systems going down usually result in something near panic in a lot of enterprises due to their reliance upon these systems and equipment. The entire business is compromised when these systems are non-functioning.

#6- Downtime is costly

In conjunction with #5, downtime causes a loss of revenue that for some businesses can number in the billions. Some industry estimates believe that in the US alone, losses of 200+ billion dollars a year can be attributed to outages and other disturbances.

#7 – A generator only works when the power goes out

While generators are life-savers when the power is out, they do not provide any protection against additional power disturbances or issues and usually they do not kick on in enough time to allow for a graceful shutdown of equipment, which means that they do nothing to protect equipment during a hard loss of power.

#8 – A surge suppressor/protector isn’t enough

Similar to #7, a surge protector can take care of some power surges, but they do not provide any protection from under-voltage (‘brown-out’), variances in power or any other power problems.

How do I choose the right UPS?

Choosing the right UPS can seem like a scary proposition, but eComp has got you covered. We proudly represent Eaton Power Management and have access to some of the best equipment and service install technicians in New England. We can even provide you with a free site visit where we can help you calculate your UPS needs and make recommendations on the best product for your business, small or large. Whether you need a desktop solution, or robust solutions for a server environment, call eComp today at 1-508-881-8399 to speak with one of our power management experts, or use our contact us page for more details.