Beat the Eskom blues
Load shedding can wreak havoc on a small business or in your home office.
Eskom grid stable, for now, power cuts to cease from Saturday. Image iStock
Uninterruptible: enough time to save work and power down
The Vertiv Liebert itON is an economical UPS – for uninterruptible power supply.Image supplied
What is it?
The Vertiv Liebert itON is an economical UPS – for uninterruptible power supply – that promises “full-featured power protection” for home or small office computers and electronic equipment.
It is classified as a line-interactive UPS, meaning it automatically redirects the battery’s current path from charging mode to supplying current when power is lost.
How much is it?
Retail pricing starts at around R1 200 for a 1 000va unit, going up to R2 000 for the 2 000va unit.
However, prices vary significantly from outlet to outlet (no pun intended), so shop around.
Why should you care?
Eskom has gone back on all past assurances, and made load shedding a constant threat to continuity of small businesses and efficient functioning of homes.
Major power generation units keep tripping, supposedly due to “unforeseen breakdowns”.
Of course, these were foreseen for the past 20 years, as various Eskom managements used backup equipment to shore up shaky infrastructure without replenishing it so they could preserve their bonuses.
We will live with that legacy for years to come, and have to prepare for constant outages.
Efficient Group economist Francois Stofberg estimates load shedding cost the economy R8.5 billion, or 0.3% of gross domestic product, in 2019.
You don’t have to add to that loss.
What are the biggest negatives?
It has no physical metering or monitoring interface on the device, aside from a LED light.
That makes it a rather stupid device at a time when smart machines are the norm.
The LED light flashes in various sequences to indicate low battery, overloads, faults, and the like.
Good luck figuring it out. Managing the device from a computer requires software to be loaded from a CD, supplied with the device.
Who still uses CDs?
Depending on model, it provides only about four to seven minutes of power.
There are few better incentives for switching to laptop computer.
What are the biggest positives?
It has four outlets for plugs that protect anything from computers and servers to printers and switchboards, from power blackouts, fluctuations and surges.
There is zero “transfer time”, so if power fails, critical loads are switched over seamlessly.
If you can get past the CD installation, power to multiple devices can be controlled via independently programmable sockets. It is easily serviceable, with replaceable, hot-swappable batteries.
After full discharge, battery recharge time is four to six hours to 90% capacity.
The battery-run time gives one a chance to back up current work, and shut down systems safely.
It is one of the most economical solutions in its class. It is heavy, but compact and can lurk under a desk.
Arthur Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram on @art2gee
