How much VA of IPS should you buy

Currently, Load shedding has become a part of our daily lives. The most effective solution to alleviate this suffering is IPS, or Instant Power Supply. It not only provides power to fans or lights in homes, offices, or businesses when the power goes out, but also protects sensitive devices like computers, TVs, and routers from voltage fluctuations.

However, in our country's market, IPS full set machine from various popular brands, including Luminous, Hemko, Rahim Afroz, and Su-kam, are available. Which one is right for you? How many VA (VA) IPS should you buy? How many ampere-hours (AH) batteries are required with it? Now, we will discuss all these issues in detail.

Determine your IPS and Battery needs

How many VA IPS are needed for a home?

The most important thing before buying an IPS is to list what you will run with the IPS in your home and calculate the total watts.

Choose the right IPS (VA) and Battery (AH)

After calculating the load, you need to know about two things-

1. When buying an IPS, it is better to buy an IPS with a capacity of at least 25% more than your total load. For example, according to the above example, the total load to provide power backup for your home is 380 watts. Then the power of the IPS machine should be 380 watts / 0.8 (average power factor) = 475 VA. So, it would be wise to buy a 600 or 800 VA IPS for your home.

2. How long you want the backup will mainly depend on the AH of the IPS battery. So let's find out how you can calculate the approximate backup time using a simple formula -

Backup time (in hours) ≈ [ {(Battery AH×Battery Voltage V) / Total Load (Watts)} ​×Battery Efficiency ]

However, in the case of backup time calculation, the battery voltage is usually assumed to be 12 volts, and the battery efficiency is 0.8.

if you buy a 200 AH battery, you will get backup:

[ { ( 200 x 12 ) / 380 } x 0.8 = 5 hours.

So, buy an IPS battery by calculating the backup time according to your needs.

Common IPS Packages

400 VA IPS

If you have 1-2 fans, 2-3 lights, and a router in your small house/flat, 400 VA IPS is best for using them together. It is capable of taking a load of approximately 150-200 watts. A 65 AH capacity IPS battery is required to operate 400 VA IPS.

600 VA IPS

You can use 600 VA IPS to provide power backup in medium-sized houses, especially 2-3 fans, 3-4 lights, 1 TV, and a computer together. IPS of this capacity is capable of taking a load of 300-450 watts. A 90 AH battery is very effective for 600 VA IPS.

800 VA IPS

You can use 800 VA IPS to run 4-5 fans, 5-6 lights, 1 TV, and 1 computer in a large home/small office. It can take a load of up to 500-700 watts. A 130 AH battery is used for 800 VA IPS.

1000 VA IPS

This is an ideal choice to run 4-5 fans, 5-7 lights, a large LED TV, a desktop computer, and a router together. For long backup, a 12-volt battery of 165 AH to 200 AH is usually used with it. 1000VA IPS is capable of taking a load of 700 to 800 watts.

1500 VA IPS

This is suitable for running almost all the lights, fans, multiple computers, printers, and other equipment in a large home or office. Its load capacity is 1000 to 1200 watts. A small submersible water pump (0.5 horsepower) can be run with a 1500 VA IPS, but it will depend on the model and wattage of the IPS. 1500VA IPS system usually uses two 12-volt batteries (total 24 volts). It can provide long-term backup by connecting two batteries of 165 AH or 200 AH capacity.

2000 VA IPS

This is an effective IPS for a heavy-duty solution. It can run almost all devices in a small office, shop, or home, such as 8-10 fans, 10-12 lights, 3-4 computers, and CCTV cameras. 2000VA IPS can take a load of about 1500 to 1600 watts. It is also possible to run a 1-ton AC or a small refrigerator of inverter technology with it, but before buying, you must talk to the manufacturing company or local distributor to be sure. This system also requires two (24 volts), in some cases three (36 volts) batteries.

However, remember that an AC, refrigerator, microwave oven, water motor, or iron machine should not be run with a normal IPS. These require a very high-power and pure sine wave inverter system.

Finally, it can be said that choosing the right IPS and battery is not rocket science. The main thing is that you need to understand the power backup requirements of your home, office, or business. First, calculate your total load (watts), then determine how long you want the backup. Based on this, choose the right VA IPS and ampere-hour battery. This blog will help you make the right decision and free you from the worries of load shedding.