My mistake.

Finally found the online UPSes on APC's site.

Was selecting Home User on the front page which of course limits the model lines visible to the user.

The APC Smart-UPS RT line of UPSes are all online type devices.

Heh. I figured you were looking at the "consumer" stuff rather than the "geek section." 8-)

I've probably purchased close to a million dollars of APC gear over the last few years and I can't report a single failure. That doesn't mean it hasn't happened...just that none of my people has deemed it necessary to tell me. 8-) We pre-emptively retire/upgrade batteries after 3 years though.

If you've got the $$$ and you want to over-engineer a bit, I'd suggest finding a used APC Matrix. I'm very happy with mine and it could probably supply all the current needs for my home in a power outage. 8-)

Cheers,

Heh, well with a name like BloggingITGuy I gotta go geek all the way.

Yeah, the two or 3 failed APC units that I've come across were all much older than 3 years, if my memory serves me right.

Where do you have your Matrix? Is it part of your home theater setup, or does it sit in the garage or an attic or something? If memory serves, those things are pretty big and probably fairly loud. Would imagine you have it tucked away where you don't have to hear or see it?

Anyhow, I'm probably going to go with the Tripplite SU2200RTXL2Ua.
http://www.tripplite.com/products/product.cfm?productID=2950

Can get them online for like $600 after shipping.

It's in the basement and I've got some 10/3 SJO cabling coming up through the floor to a breakout box behind my audio gear. There are 2 independent 20A circuits. I feed the amp from one and everything else on the other. Input power to the Matrix comes from a spare 30A 220V dryer outlet.

The matrix weighs in at several hundred pounds when it's populated with batteries. 8-) The noise level is negligible. It's dead silent as long as it's got input power. When you lose main power, you hear a bit of fan noise and faint transformer buzz.

I had a few 2200VA APC rackmount units that I was going to use for this purpose, but the batteries turned out to be suspect and the dreaded "expansion of the goals" happened....and the rest is history. Let's just say my wife is a very patient woman. 8-) The flipside is that when we had an extended power outage during the last big nor'easter in CT, we had stereo, cable TV, VOIP phone service, and even a microwave all running off the Matrix for the better part of a day. One of these days I'll spring for the kit to just wire it into the main power panel of the house and then get some extended runtime batteries so it doesn't freak out with loads from the fridge and the well pump.

Cheers,

Very sweet, wish I could do the same, but don't have the cash to do it and the fact that I'm renting the house I'm currently in makes it that much harder.

Have been thinking about getting a quote from an electrician to get a dedicated 20amp circuit installed in the "home theater" room though. Would all depend on cost and whether they could do it without punching holes in walls and stuff.

Oops...I meant to say that I would go with the 1500VA model and not the 2200.

Still haven't made up my mind though. Still looking for deals on ebay and weighing my choices.

If it's a short run and you've got exposed rafters in your basement (or wherever your main panel is), it shouldn't be horribly expensive (a few hundred bucks) to run a 20A line.

Cheers,

OK, so I got a used Tripplite 1500VA UPS on Ebay for like $145 after shipping.

Like I feared, the fan in the unit is pretty noisy, even across the room.

Going to have to figure out a good way to either slow down the fan or replace it with a more quiet fan.

I ended up just disconnecting the fan and now no noise.

Lack of active cooling probably won't be a problem unless the unit has to go to battery power.

What I'll probably end up doing is either buy a lower speed fan or most likely buy a fan speed controller by Zalman like a Zalman Fan mate.

Anyhow, should work very well for my needs or for others who are looking for some sort of power regulation.