how much UPS

[FallenMystic]

Greetings all,

I've been digging through the forum/web and I can't come up with a decent answer so I come here to ask the experts...

I'm running a Corsair HX620 with the hardware in sig; I've recently had to put an AC unit in the office and when it kicks on I get brownouts; my old UPS used to handle it/not give me any problems. Now it's shutting down my system so I'm assuming that:

A. the AC is drawing more juce now that we are in the hotter months and
B. the addition of the second Vid card has put me over the draw limit.

What I'm looking for is a calculator or advice on how big of a UPS to get, the formula I've found is

(X watts * 1.67= VA) and according to the usage I'm looking at getting a 1000+ VA UPS, which seems a bit much; so I ask you folks, what would you recomend?

Many thanks,
Fallen

 

[axan]

well i had similar setup and it used to draw something around 400W so you would need 850VA+ ups for it. Remember you don't want to stress the ups to the max, don't load it more then 80%

 

[FallenMystic]

Thanks chief; I'm hoping to dig around this weekend to see what I can find. I've noticed that my current UPS can only not handle it when the AC kicks on from a cold start, (aparently the power draw is enough to sap the circuit.) But if it kicks on from a running/non powersave mode it can handle it... so for now I just have to keep the room frosty... Which is fine for me and the PC but the wife isn't real fond of that.

 

[Hades16x]

IMHO a larger ups isn't the solution, its a quick fix. Depending on the btu of the unit, it can require a hefty amount of amps.

We put an AC unit in our guest room, and after a while we realized that it actually needed and used its stated 15 amp draw at wall. It would trip the breaker just turning on sometimes.

What I did to solve it was I ran 20 amp wire, I forget the gauge, and installed it on its own breaker.

That's the solution, although its a pita.

 

[FallenMystic]

IMHO a larger ups isn't the solution, its a quick fix. Depending on the btu of the unit, it can require a hefty amount of amps.

We put an AC unit in our guest room, and after a while we realized that it actually needed and used its stated 15 amp draw at wall. It would trip the breaker just turning on sometimes.

What I did to solve it was I ran 20 amp wire, I forget the gauge, and installed it on its own breaker.

That's the solution, although its a pita.

Yea that is an option, (though at this point a bit of a distant one,) my house isn't that old, (built in '95,) but the wiring doesn't make a damned bit of sense; there are 4 bedrooms upstairs, (one is the office,) and it seems thus far like the 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms are on 2, (maybe 3) circuits, all are 20 Amp.

I'd like to trace out the whole thing and re-wire it but its currently cost/time prohibative unfortunatley; what I might end up doing is moving my part of the office to the basement; (I've got a 17 person LAN set up down there,) with everything broken out/wired my way; but then I'll get the 'I never see you' from the wife. She has typical aversion to basements/man caves.

 

[Hades16x]

No I understand, its a PITA, but you're basically getting yourself a co generation system, since its going to be switching on and off so much.

Mine was annoying as shit since I had to go through about 100 foot of floor, then go out through about 13 inches of wood, to the outside of the house, up two floors and back through. If you can accomplish that without needing a freaking drill press and a huge bit that broke 4 times for the distance, it should be cheap and easy.

Wire, 50 bucks. Electric box/supplies, 15 at most. 12 pack for you and your buddies, ~15 or less.

Total money: ~70.
Getting drunk and playing with powertools: Priceless.