UPS: Uninterupted Power Supply

[brk-lnt]

Originally Posted by Argie's Wife

One thing about APC - you can register your product and depending on which APC product you've purchased, they will insure your computer or server and/or UPS.

Now, what would I need to plug in my coffee maker so it would work during a power outage?

The average coffee maker draws about 800 watts. Without getting into a deep EE discussion, watts are volts X amps, while the average UPS uses a "VA" (volt amps rating) which takes into account the fact with AC power different kinds of devices behave differently than they do with DC power.

For simple mostly resistive loads, like light bulbs and coffee makers, the two are interchangeable. For more complex loads, you apply a power factor correction, which is typically .7 or 70%.

For the common UPS, assume it can power a pure wattage device that equals 60% of it's VA rating (eg: a 1000VA UPS can power a 600W pure resistive load).

So, for your 800 watt coffer maker, you need a ups sized at 800/.6 or 1333VA. Round that up a bit for safety so, you'd probably want a 1500VA UPS, with enough battery to run it for the average brew cycle of a coffee pot (~5 minutes).

There are a few options, but you're looking for something like this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...864&TId=2&SF=1

So, for about $340 you can brew one pot of coffee during a power outage.

[Argie's Wife]

Originally Posted by brk-lnt

So, for about $340 you can brew one pot of coffee during a power outage.

If you had to live with me when I'm coffee-deprived, you'd consider it money well-spent.