12,000 Watts of electronics. What UPS's and Generator should we use?

[Anonymous user]

Hello we have computers and printers that at max load (all printers printing at the same time):

Total Amps: 207.05

Total Volts: 11,880

Total Watts: 22,793.40

Realistacally normal load would be around:

11,755 Watts / 106 Amps

We are wanting to buy a generator and ups backups that work with the generator and don't keep switching back for forth to battery power...

Any help?

Thanks!

[BillP]

So are you looking for one large facility size UPS and generator or multiple UPSs for individual rooms/stations along with a large generator for the facility?

[Anonymous user]

Think you need to provide a little more info. Also, clarify what you mean when you say 'total Volts: 11,800' since that isn't really a voltage you would normally use for a load.

What is your input voltage? Do you have single phase power (120 volts) or do you have three phase (120/208 or 277/480?)

Is this stuff in a single area? Or spread out?

For your UPS:

You can look at a single UPS (something between 12-16kva) or a series of smaller units (3kva)

Something like a Symmerta 16kva (SYA16K16P) will work just fine. It provides 16kva of power (about 14,000 watts) and has removable batteries, power supplies, etc.

For smaller units, a smart-ups 3000 work well.

For your Generator:

This depends a great deal on your input power. Most commercial buildings have three phase power (look for something that says 208 volts or 480 volts). Most home's have 120 volts single phase. In any case, you will need some sort of automatic transfer switch that can monitor your input power and start your generator and transfer load in the event of a power loss....

It also depends a great deal on the type of fuel you want to use. Typical installations use natural gas or Diesel. Diesel generators have the advantage of having an independent fuel source, but have to be refueled. Natural gas never run out of fuel, unless your fuel source is disrupted due to a disaster that would typically cause you to lose power in the first place (such as a hurricane).

Give us a little more info on what you are looking to do, where you live (region) and what your currently have at your facility.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

I would highly recommend contacting a local APC partner (not a reseller like Staples or chain store) and get an APC systems engineer to help you with the consulting on this. Things get a little more complicated when printers are involved - their electrical load goes up and down dramatically as they do print jobs. Usually, it is not recommended to have printers on UPS's because of the wide load swings cause issues .. Eg it causes the UPS calculated run time to swing wildly throughout the day and automated graceful shutdowns Eg powerchute that are based on available runtime calculations are impacted.