Importance of an “Uninterruptible Power System” (UPS)

For building owners, saving on use of electricity is a popular topic. However, the importance of ensuring that the power supply be dependable and clean can be overlooked. Power sags, surges and outages can occur at any time and are capable of damaging expensive electrical equipment. Designing a robust power protection solution is a key requirement for any building and this protection system would be incomplete without an uninterruptible power system, or a UPS.

A UPS conditions incoming power to smooth out sags and spikes that are common on the public utility grid. It also provides power to make up for sags or short-term outages by meticulously selecting and drawing power from the grid, battery sources, backup generators and other sources.

There are numerous reasons why we should use a UPS to protect our power supply. Losing power for as little as a quarter of a second can cause events that may interrupt computerized equipment for hours.  Utility power is said to be 99.9% reliable, meaning there is a likely chance of experiencing 9 hours of utility outages each year.

With today’s technology, our storage systems, servers, network devices and other computer systems use components that are so small that they falter and fail under poor power conditions more than ever. A generator can keep systems operational during an outage but they take time to start up and do not protect from power strikes and other disturbances. Surge suppressors help with power strikes but do not protect against power loss, under-voltage and brownouts. Using a UPS can help to achieve high availability of power while simultaneously reducing power costs, which was not an option a few years ago.

We especially recommend using UPS components for all whole house control systems along with surge suppressors for the most complete protection of equipment.