Thank Goodness for Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Voltage Regulators

[James Steele]

Well it's a pretty warm day here and I have all my studio setup in the larger of two bedrooms in my house. Everything is no doubt on one 20amp circuit. I don't necessarily like the idea of that, but don't have the budget to bring an electrician in. (I've half-way considered when I'm working, running a heavy duty extension cord down the hall from another circuit when I'm working! LOL)

That said, it's working, even with a window AC unit going. I can hear my TrippLite Voltage Regulator relays kicking in here and there to do makeup voltage. And I actually heard a "beep" from my Uninterruptible Power Supply meaning that for a split instant it went on battery I suppose. I have critical things like drives and my Mac Studio connected to the UPS so I never have a loss of power during something like an OS update or other disk write that might really hose something badly.

Well... that's all... just saying that I'm glad for those devices. At some point, when I can afford it, I'll need to see about getting an electrician to tap off the nearest *other* circuit which isn't loaded too heavily and run it to my studio room so I can divide the load a bit better.

[HCMarkus]

I also have my cable modem, router and WiFi antennas on UPS power. Keeps things from getting dull if the power goes out.

[James Steele]

I also have my cable modem, router and WiFi antennas on UPS power. Keeps things from getting dull if the power goes out.

Yeah... that's a good idea. I'd need to get another unit as those things are in another room out of necessity.

This is the one I bought a year ago: https://a.co/d/b8Ak9iI

[mikehalloran]

I consider them essential. We are making the transition to solar at both our houses and including backup batteries in the plans. Should have been done by now but there’s a huge demand and progress is slow. Although not quite finished (waiting on two city inspections), the batteries are online and have made it so there were no outages at either house this summer once installed.

We are leasing the solar equipment rather than buying. Though not as great, there is still a noticeable savings. With the lease, the solar company is now responsible if there are any problems including battery replacement when necessary during the next 25 years.

[HCMarkus]

We are leasing the solar equipment rather than buying. Though not as great, there is still a noticeable savings. With the lease, the solar company is now responsible if there are any problems including battery replacement when necessary during the next 25 years.

Mike, I'm sure you have thought it thru, but I have friends who leased solar and ran into issues when needing to sell their home.

I installed my own system eight years ago (before time of use metering, when batteries became an essential part of the system.) Installation on a single-story building was relatively simple, but I researched the project for a good two or three months before, with a neighbor's help, getting down to the physical labor. It was up a running after about 24 man-hours of work. After the tax credit, the system paid for itself in a little over three years. I still send some money to the power company every year, but the bill is a lot smaller than it would be without the solar panels on top of my studio.

Anyway, whatever you do, I think you will enjoy some savings. And it is sure nice to have batteries for your whole home when the power goes down! I've got to fire up the generator.

I'm looking forward to the day I have an electric car that works as a Home UPS.

[mikehalloran]

We are leasing the solar equipment rather than buying. Though not as great, there is still a noticeable savings. With the lease, the solar company is now responsible if there are any problems including battery replacement when necessary during the next 25 years.

Mike, I'm sure you have thought it thru, but I have friends who leased solar and ran into issues when needing to sell their home.

I installed my own system eight years ago (before time of use metering, when batteries became an essential part of the system.) Installation on a single-story building was relatively simple, but I researched the project for a good two or three months before, with a neighbor's help, getting down to the physical labor. It was up a running after about 24 man-hours of work. After the tax credit, the system paid for itself in a little over three years. I still send some money to the power company every year, but the bill is a lot smaller than it would be without the solar panels on top of my studio.

Anyway, whatever you do, I think you will enjoy some savings. And it is sure nice to have batteries for your whole home when the power goes down! I've got to fire up the generator.

I'm looking forward to the day I have an electric car that works as a Home UPS.

I thank you for your concern. Here in the Silicon Valley, the ability to transfer the leased equipment to new owners is a major concern. Reassurances from the large companies on that happen within the first few minutes of the sales pitch. Let's just say that we heard enough cautionary tales from friends and relatives.

Climbing on the roof at my age and with my current disability can never happen.

Anyway, we are already seeing savings over $150 mo. at one house and more at the other.