I’d like to put our new TV on a battery power supply. We seem to have a lot of fluctuations in power in this house and I’d rather not screw the two years of side jobs that it took to pay for that sucker.
Can I use a regular computer backup power supply? I have one of these (new), would that work? APC UPS. Would something else work better?
I’m not planning on trying to run the TV from the battery, just something to cover for power surges and flickers and the little brown-outs we seem to have.
Redtail23, does the TV have an external power supply (like a brick on the cord) or is the power supply built inside the TV and the cord goes directly to the TV?
In what country are you located and what is the mains voltage there?
By the way, many UPS units do absolutely nothing while there is power on the line and only kick in when the mains power fails.
In reality a mains brownout or undervoltage should not cause any harm and only serious spikes or overvoltages can cause problem. You can buy a good filter to get rid of that so you really do not need an UPS unless you want to use it for its intended purpose.
I think the cord goes straight to the TV, but I’ll have to look tonight to be sure.
I’m in the U.S., so main power should be 120V, right?
Really? I’ve seen several discussions that suggest getting a battery for the newer TVs to protect them from power outages if they happen frequently. We have that often (e.g., lights flicker off/on, lights dim then brighten, etc.). Will it hurt anything to run it on a battery for that purpose?
Maybe I’m being paranoid, but it’s an expensive TV that won’t be replaced any time soon.
What’s a good filter for this purpose? I’m in Oklahoma - lots and lots and lots of lightning.
As long as I’m here - so today I’ve been seeing talk about putting the TV on it’s own circuit. Is that really necessary? Would that include having a separate circuit for the accompanying sound system, dvd player, etc., or just separate from other appliances in the house?
You need to find the wattage of the television. Your television will be using 120 volts. Be sure to buy an UPS that is rated for a higher max output than the television.
OK, so I’ll need to buy something, since the battery I’ve got won’t work for 350W.
Would I be better off with a battery due to the power fluctuations? Something like one of these?
Or should I just go with a surge suppressor? Is a surge suppressor different than the filter than sailor mentioned or is that just a different wording? (It’s on a surge suppressor now, but that thing’s ancient and I’m sure needs to be replaced.) Is there some particular specs I need to look at on those?
A friend of mine said the computers at his office often froze because of dirty power so he bought about a dozen UPS, one for each computer and swore that everything was fine after that. Except that the UPS were of the standby type where the equipment is connected directly to the mains and the UPS only starts working when there is a power failure. Maybe there was some filtering and surge suppressing but the UPS was useless and not doing what he thought it was doing. He would have been just as well off with some filtering and/or surge suppression.
Do not underestimate the power of prayer, wishful thinking, unintended consequences, confirmation bias, placebo effect, etc.
It is very possible that filtering and power suppression would resolve your problem but if you truly want the UPS to filter your power then you need one of the more expensive Double-conversion / online types.
Also, besides the cost of the UPS you might want to factor in the cost of the energy it uses.
I lived where the power would die for a couple seconds , sometimes daily. A UPS solved the problem of all my electronics dying during those short interrupts. Some power supplies even allow you to specify the setting at which a low voltage will activate the emergency power. For a television you will be fine with whatever UPS you buy that is rated with enough output wattage. The longer you wish it to run after a power failure the more you’ll pay. Look for how long the unit runs and the wattage.
Surge protectors are rated for the number of joules of energy they will safely ground. The larger that rating the more protection you have against a power surge. A surge protector will not help you on low voltages or power cuts of a couple seconds to keep the television running.
I would suggest you install a breaker box surge suppressor. After doing that at ma’s house the electronics stopped burning out. Last spring the connection from the pole to the transformer across the street was arcing to the pole. It apparently did this during rains. That is what probably was causing surges to the house. To bad problems like this take time to find.
There are also ones that can be clipped into you breaker box. They fit in two slots like a 220 volt double breaker. I think we bought one like this for $50 to $60. I’ve had two portable surge suppressors die during storms over the years.
Buy a good surge protector rather than a UPS. The UPS is really only good as a backup power source, most models come with relatively poor surge protection capabilities and I’ve seen it recommended to use a surge protector in addition to a UPS anyhow.
Here’s a good site that goes over the basics of what to look for:
If the op is describing low voltage then a surge protector isn’t going to do anything. If the voltage is fluctuating then it might damage an appliance but I don’t know if TV’s are one of them. I lived in a mobile home back in my college days and low voltage would affect my computer when writing to a disk and the park had a lot of problems with damaged electrical motors (washers/dryers). I would seevoltage drops in the 80-90 volt range.
A UPS may help but I would start with a call to the power company if voltage drops are occuring.
Good point Magiver. I had read the OP’s statement of not wanting to run the TV off battery and glossed right over the part about having the UPS cover for brownouts/voltage drops. In that case, a UPS is indeed the desired product. The OP would still want a surge suppressor if only to protect the UPS, which would likely blow out in the case of a power surge.
The OP can be interpreted two different ways: (1) As wanting to make sure brownouts do not interfere with viewing pleasure (in which case a UPS may be recommended) and (2) as wanting to make sure the TV is not damaged (in which case surge suppression is what is needed).
Guys, I’m really busy today but I wanted to say thanks for all the response. I see a couple links with more info that I’ll have to take a look at.
It sounds like I definitely need a surge suppressor and I’m totally loving the breaker-box idea - that’s what I’ve been wanting anyway. Does it completely remove the need for individual appliance suppressors? Does power for the whole house fail if it gets blasted? I’ve gotta read those links. Actually, I’d love to have a whole-house battery for the power blinks, but that might be a bit more involved neh?
It’s true that I’m only worried about damage to the TV, not missing a few minutes of a show. It’s just that I’ve had a few appliances mucked up by power drops (if they’re frequent) and I really don’t have the $$ to buy this TV again if something happens to it. At any rate, the battery I’ve got won’t do, so I’ll mull on it some more.
Any idea how much power a gas stove pulls for the electronic ignition and control panel? I think it’s this one. I can’t find the wattage anywhere in the manual (but then again, I didn’t see the info for the TV either). It uses a regular 110 plug but I can’t see the back of the stove. The control board on our last stove cratered after just a few years, so I’m also thinking about a suppressor and/or battery for it. Not to mention being able to light the oven in a power failure. And I already have this battery, see…
Any rate, thanks loads for the info. Y’all are the best!