Bigfella237
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- Mar 14, 2015
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- Far South Coast of NSW
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What's everyone doing to protect the electricity source to their security systems?
I have a 3kVA (2700w) APC rackmount UPS that powers everything I have computer-wise, including the NAS, the router/WiFi AP, and the PoE switch (which in turn powers the cameras), as well as my 3D printers (blackouts really suck when you're almost at the end of a print).
With everything running that's good for about ten minutes, which is just about enough time to shutdown/turn off/pause everything that can be, but at night when it's only powering the surveillance system, it's good for an hour or so.
It also alerts me on its smartphone app if there's an outage, and allows me to monitor supply voltage, load, etc. remotely and in real time.
I've also got a 10kVA generator that I plug into the house, but I'm looking at solar "battery wall" options now as well (Feed In Tariffs are **** when you're only generating during the daylight and drawing back from the grid at night).
Even without solar panels, there's some "battery wall" systems now that charge off the grid at night (at off-peak rates) and protect your entire house from power cuts, but that's an expensive option. The generator is a bit of a PITA (because I need to be home at the time) but a lot cheaper.
No doubt there is some kind of auto-start system I could add to it but then I'd need to build some kind of enclosure and leave it outside, and it only gets used once a year or so (touch wood) so not so difficult to drag out of the shed and kick in the guts when needed.