Awesome UPS Solution

I found this awesome UPS solution for us Smart-home junkies. I have used regular APC Ups's in the past and the run-time is always terrible considering the low power of the devices plugged into it. The UPS always has to put out 110v which gets converted via the the device's transformer, so alot of of waste.

This thing should get a pretty good run time with a few lower powered devices plugged in like Router, Hubitat, Lutron Hub etc.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WLD32RP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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That's cool but during the last hurricane & outage, I realized almost nothing works. Lights are out, garage door dead, ceiling fans off. I only need HSM to function,and for that a single 18650 battery works for ~8 hours. I no longer have a router that runs on 12V. I wanted a whole house generator but couldn't justify with our small number of outages

Yea I agree...most of my home automation stuff wont work with power out. But this will keep Router, Modem, Hubitat, Konnected working. Which is pretty significant.

I also looked at whole-house generator after I was out of power for 5 days last month. But it's about 6k. For 6k I could stay at a hotel for 30 nights plus throw out all the food in my fridge 5 times.

I might actually do a portable generator and add a transfer switch so I can have some lights + fridge + A/C. That would run me like $2500 i think.

Oh the other main thing I plan to put on this is the Dome Water Main shutoff I just bought. So if power is out, my Zigbee leak sensors could still trigger water shutoff.

That's what we have, so let me add ... and drag it outside every other month to run it for 30-60 minutes to keep the engine running well. Replace battery, and oil as needed...

I have done way more maintenance on mine in the 6 years I have lived in this house (generator came with the house) than I have every used the generator for real. The only time we did start it for power in the house, the grid came back on before we got it hooked up.

However being a big Murphy's Law believer the second it breaks or I decide to get rid of it, I'll need it. So time for more maintenance!

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The best way to guarantee you will never need a generator is to purchase one.

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Been using it for a few months now and it works great. For whatever reason, we have power blips that would wreak havoc on the hub. Small price to pay for some peace of mind.

would love one of these they look perfect but there is nothing in europe like it :rage: you guys get all the good stuff :slightly_smiling_face:

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Everyone I've ever known who owns a snowblower spends more time maintaining than using. And when they DO need it...i hear them outside cursing. :laughing:

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And here it is in-use. powering Konnected + Dome Water Shut-off.

The other side of this closet has all my network/smarthome stuff. In looking at the items the only ones that need battery are cable-modem, network switch (with PoE) and hubitat. So I might just be leaving that stuff on the standard UPS.

Not sure if you are still looking but it seems they are available now.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08FBB4Q8V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Have a security panel with back up so not anymore but looks like a good option.

If the power is out, don't all your mains power Z-Wave and zigbee switches and plugs that act as repeaters also go down so your Z-Wave and zigbee mesh is compromised and even though some Z-Wave and zigbee sensors are battery powered, they don't have repeaters to connect to anyways?

that is why you should put a few ring repeaters around. they work on battery as well.
dont know any zigbee battery repeaters however.

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I mostly have zigbee stuff nothing is battery powered. All the security stuff is done via konnected so is also on a security backup.

You're correct. they all do.
I have it mainly if there is a blip for say, 10 seconds. My hubs do not power down and may, haven't had it yet I must admit, corrupt the database.
Also with my internet router on it, if I have a power failure, I can receive a notification that the power is off. Is it worth it, you bet.

2 weeks ago we were on holiday in the Dominican republic, we're from the UK, power off notification came in. After an hour things were not back. Phoned neighbour who said power was on in the area. Got her to go round and check and the main trip had blown for some reason.
She closed it again and all was OK.

Can you imagine coming home to a tank full of tropical fish all dead and 2 freezers with all the contents thawed out. Yuck, the smell doesn't bear thinking about.
Also, and this is the biggy, the WAF has gone through the roof. Win, win. :grinning: :grinning:

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