I would love recommendations on a UPS please. I need 2:
Literally just for Hubitat hub. This is in a centralized open location in our living room. So, ideally, something small that I can hide under a wicker box for aesthetic purposes.
Our network cabinet for our router and Starlink power supply. The Hubitat is hooked directly into the router’s LAN port so can just ignore our 180W PoE. I really need as small of a footprint as possible for this one as our cabinet is getting tight. I’m a bit confused about Starlink. It says the dish Power Consumption is 75-100W, but the Power Supply is 100-240V, 6.3A 50-60 Hz so not sure what size UPS I actually need.
Also, we have a generator, so I only need a small enough run time for generator to kick on so maybe 10-15 min?
It came with wall mount screws, and can be 30+ feet away if you use a long USB cable. It's never failed me.
AFAIK HE doesn't use POE - i've my c7 in a poe switch and it doesn't draw juice. I hear the m3 Aqara hub does POE (and GigEther). You could put the new M3 under cabinet, mount your HE somewhere else and 'matter' it or whatever that takes? just spouting ideas.
i use a larger apc smt ups on my starlink .. but it also powers the large asus router and 4 bay nas. starlink definatly is not using 6a. the most it uses is when the heater is on for winter about 60-80w otherwise uses pretty much 20-30w.
its not just about weather the ups supports it but how long you want it to be able to run on battery power.. if a long time you WILL need a larger ups.
Thank you! This is exactly what I need. Our HE is hardwired through Ethernet into the LAN port of the router (so not PoE), but just wanted a backup for the actual power supply for it. A mini UPS is exactly what I need. Thank you!
We love ours lol. Since we've had it installed earlier this year, we've already had two storms that took power out and it's so nice to still have everything working, not worrying about food going bad, continue WFH, etc.
I forget what the right terms are but you may also want to look for one that levels out the peaks and troughs in the power that can damage electronics.
Look at the "PiPower" a tiny UPS mean for the raspberryPi. It comes in 2 versions, one with 2x18650 cells and another with 2x21700 cells and a much longer runtime. The amazon version has a built in LiPo battery pack
Here's a link
but if you go to aliexpress you can get one where you supply your own high quality lithium cells
I have UPS devices on all of my electronics, for small isolated devices I use APC 550VA UPS devices. The batteries are replaceable when the originals wear out and you can upgrade to LiPO when you do replace the internal battery.
An effective UPS should handle surges and brownouts along with full power loss. In order to handle surges the UPS needs a battery of some size to soak up the excess power not shunted back to neutral fast enough. A 550 VA will hold a hubitat up for hours if needed and it's small enough to fit under a small-ish box, or easily in a cabinet, where mine is hidden.
I'm not completely sure what load I need for our router & Starlink Power Supply. Our router is a Flint 2 with a <20W Power consumption and Power Input of 12V/4A. The Starlink dish has a Power Consumption of 75-100W and its power supply has a Power Input 100-240V - 6.3A 50 - 60 Hz. Would the 550VA UPS be enough? If I go by VA of the Power Input, I'd say no because of the range on the Starlink Power supply, but if I go by Wattage then it's more than enough. I really only need it to run for 10-15 minutes, just enough time for the generator to kick on.
With your newly installed generator I expect it to kick on like mine within 15 seconds. So you really don't need to spend a ton on a UPS IMO. From here form factor and size will play an important role in your decision. I personally have a few of these and like that the plugs are up on the top and they provide more than enough power for the transition from mains to your generator: https://www.amazon.com/APC-Battery-Protector-Back-UPS-BE425M/dp/B01HDC236Q
Note that the higher the VA the longer things will run on battery. There is a 600VA version as well for $20 which IMO isn't necessary if your generator kicks on quickly.
Thank you! This helps in the search. Yes. Those 2 items are in our in-wall network cabinet. It's kinda running out of space so something thin (2" depth) and small is ideal. I'll start my search at 450VA or do you think I could even go less? I assume the smaller the VA, the smaller the size of the unit will be.
The Starlink is a different beast. It chews power, hard. And that's without running the snowmelt heater. I have all of my networking gear (routers, IPS uplinks, etc...) on APC BR1500G with the external add-on battery (BR24BPG). The Starlink will take that down in about 4-5 hours whereas my wIPS's transceiver can run on the same UPS setup for 8-10 hours.
The issue with a Starlink is that it's always using power to track and stay in touch with the moving constellation whereas my wISP transceiver only really draws high power when I send data.
Additionally because the protected electronics at play are far more expensive (also more immediately important), than say a lone Hubitat, I want better surge protection, eg a larger battery to act as a capacitive sink, again to offset what the shunt can't transfer to neutral quickly enough.
Unfortunately proper protection doesn't lend itself to small packages. If you have a fast response generator, I wouldn't worry about the add-on BR24BPG. You might even save a few $$ and go with the non-expandable APC BX1500M instead of the BR1500G.
It depends on how much surge protection you want. If you have your whole house protected from utility surges with something like an EMP Shield, maybe you don't care to have as big of a sink locally at the hardware. In such a case, maybe an 800VA unit will work for you. Keep in mind that UPS units have at least three critical ratings:
Runtime capacity
Maximum output capacity
Effective surge protection
The lowest value of the three (especially the first two) determines the size of the UPS you really want. You may not need long runtime, but you may have to upsize for output capacity. It's not at all hard to overload consumer/small office UPS systems.
Footnote, I used to be a power plant/power distribution electrician. Also have a fair amount of experience designing data centers, including power management.
Thank you for the recommendation!
