How to select ideal UPS – Kleynhans

Regional director for Africa, Indian Ocean Islands and South Caribbean at APC by Schneider Electric, Mr. Carl Kleynhans, has outlined how best to select an ideal Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), especially in Nigeria.

According to him, in a country like Nigeria, where power problems are common, companies require specific power protection features to help ensure uninterrupted computer availability.

“Based on this, it is important that organisations and computer users in general select the best uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to protect themselves from the damage to hardware and lost data that can be caused by a power outage,” he said.

Mr. Kleynhans said that in choosing an ideal UPS is easy to do only if consumers are ready to follow expert prescription.

For him, the first step a potential user must take is to walk around their home or office and list the equipment that would need to be protected by the UPS, remembering to include monitors, terminals, external hard drives and any other critical equipment.

“The next step is to look on the back of each piece of equipment for a nameplate that lists its power requirements in amps. For each item, the number of amps that will be plugged into each UPS must be calculated,” he asserted.

This figure, he pointed out, must then be multiplied by 120VA. The result is the VA requirement you’ll need your UPS to supply.

For example, a computer is 2 amps, the modem is 0.3 amps and the monitor is 1 amp, totaling 3.3 amps, that is, 120VA x 3.3 amps = 396VA.

He advised that if the components were measured in Watts, then the user must multiply the number of Watts by 1.4 in order to get the accurate VA figure.

“You can then select the UPS product with a VA rating that supports your VA total or is higher,” Kleynhans said.

ITRealms Online recalls APC by Schneider Electric, a global leader in critical power and cooling services, provides industry leading product, software and systems for home, office, data centre and factory floor applications.

And through its unparalleled commitment to innovation, APC delivers pioneering, energy efficient solutions for critical technology and industrial applications.

In 2007, Schneider Electric acquired APC and combined it with MGE UPS Systems to form Schneider Electric’s Critical Power & Cooling Services Business Unit, which recorded 2008 revenue of €2,6 billion and employed 12,000 people worldwide.

APC solutions include uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), precision cooling units, racks, physical security and design and management software, including APC's InfraStruXure architecture, the industry’s most comprehensive integrated power, cooling, and management solution. Schneider Electric, with 114,000 employees and operations in 100 countries, achieved sales of €18,3 billion in 2008.

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