Power breakdowns and outages are possible anywhere and are even common in some places. These issues often lead to damaged equipment and even greater losses to businesses. You would not want a sudden shut down even at home.
This is where an uninterrupted power supply comes to your rescue. They provide emergency power to your systems when the main input fails. These power backups are available in three fundamental types viz. offline, online, and line interactive UPS by Eaton.
UPS is also considered as near-instantaneous protection from power interruptions, giving you enough time to complete your job or at least shut down the system properly. These can save you from plenty of losses provided you choose the right one according to your needs.
This guide provides you with a detailed description of the three basic types to help you make an informed decision.
- Offline UPS: Power protection at entry-level
An off-line UPS is also called a standby UPS. The load is connected to the main input supply directly. The backup comes into play only when the main input supply fails.
Specifically, the load does not go through the inverter output and is directly fed from the main. This makes the power storage units such as batteries and inverters offline concerning the load. Nonetheless, these units are connected to the main to ensure that they are fully charged to provide backup during power failure.
Some of the benefits that offline UPS offers include:
- These are highly efficient as the charger is not constantly used.
- Offline UPS is easy-to-use.
- These are one of the most affordable options.
- Line-interactive UPS: Power protection at intermediate level
The line-interactive UPS keeps the inverter in line but keeps the battery’s DC path on the normal charging mode. They redirect the path to supplying the current mode whenever there is a power interruption in the main supply.
In these smart devices, the battery-to-AC inverter always stays at the UPS output. When the main supply is on normally, the inverter changes the battery with its reverse operation. However, in the event of an outage, the transfer switch opens. It redirects the current flow from the battery to the UPS output to deliver power backup.
Major benefits of a line-interactive UPS are:
- These are highly reliable for power backups.
- The smart operation makes them highly efficient.
- You get reasonable voltage conditioning.
- These consume lower electricity and have a lower operational temperature.
- Lesser number of components makes them simple to install and operate.
- Online UPS: The absolute power protection
These UPSs use a double conversion method for operation. First, they accept AC input and rectify it into DC which passes through the power storing batteries. UPS then converts it back to AC to supply functional power to the connected equipment.
The input AC charges the battery which in turn powers the inverter connected to the protected devices. In case of a power failure, the rectifier just dorps of the initial circuit and the charging does not happen. While the inverter draws the power stored in the battery and keeps a steady supply to the powered devices.
In the case of power restoration, the rectifier starts charging the batteries and resumes most of the load. Some key beneficial features are:
- Small size and lightweight
- High voltage conditioning
- Delivers with a medium-cost per AV
- Highly suitable for communication, banking, telecom, transport, and other industrial applications
