Watt meter to plan for getting a UPS?

Box Brownie

Box Brownie

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Hi all

I have identified this....



For plugging in as needed to monitor, in the first case my desktop rig (including the router ethernet switch etc). The aim as per the subject is get a clearer picture as to how many Watts it draws.

Once known that will help me to decide the capacity rating of the UPS needed :thinking:

So, has anyone else used such a meter and as appropriate which UPS are you using?

TIA:)
 
Save your cash & use the rating plates on them. Broadly the router & switch can be disregarded - the UPS itself will be lossy. The main question is are you trying to keep it up for hours or to cover any reasonably expected outage.
 
hunnymonster said:
Save your cash & use the rating plates on them. Broadly the router & switch can be disregarded - the UPS itself will be lossy. The main question is are you trying to keep it up for hours or to cover any reasonably expected outage.
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A fair comment......

General thoughts:-
Yes, the single items are easy to add up
However, the desktop PC has an 850W PSU and has active cooling i.e. it's fan only runs as demand passes a certain point of output. So a wattmeter could be quite informative as a cyclic monitor.

No, I would not expect a UPS to keep the whole system running for more than a short time and ideally the UPS would be one that is USB linked to the desktop that allows for the PC to shutdown (if unattended) at the time of the power cut.

What I would hope is that the UPS could power the router for a protracted period, come the day when we will be obliged into digital voice with the VOIP phones!
 
Very Web 1.0 site (but so is this ;-) ) but I’ve used https://secure.ups-trader.co.uk/ for my UPS. Got a nice unit with recon battery powering my NAS, server, ONT, router, POE switch, access points etc.

Server monitors it and shuts down the NAS/server if the outage lasts more than 5 mins and then I get hours for the network kit, all from a fairly small “desktop” UPS.

As for your desktop draw, plenty software (I could recommend Linux software but not windows) will let you monitor CPU and GPU power draw, then add some margin for peripherals, rated value for monitor.

Draw is obviously very load dependent, if you want a roofline number just look up your CPU and GPU TDP and that’ll be close enough for this.
 
Oh and for similar money to that wattmeter I got a TP link smart plug that also monitors power usage. Which is handy for other things too.
 
the_accidental said:
Oh and for similar money to that wattmeter I got a TP link smart plug that also monitors power usage. Which is handy for other things too.
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Ah! something to consider ... .

I note a few smart plug versions on the TP website, can you please say which model you are using?
 
I have an APC UPS on my little NAS/Windows 11 server in the celler and it is super low power the big issue is power hungry CPUs and GPUS also even flat screen monitors will need a fair bit of juice, my little rig runs about 20w maximum.
 
My power monitoring one is a HS110 and I have some Kasa branded ones too (with and without power monitoring). They all work with the Kasa app and also with a simple script without needing cloud access.
 
Just get one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B3RQN8QT and save yourself a lot of hassle. It handles my highly unreliable power supply just fine with the big rig and 32" monitor, and on occasion lasted some 15min with juice to spare.
 
Box Brownie said:
No, I would not expect a UPS to keep the whole system running for more than a short time and ideally the UPS would be one that is USB linked to the desktop that allows for the PC to shutdown (if unattended) at the time of the power cut.

What I would hope is that the UPS could power the router for a protracted period, come the day when we will be obliged into digital voice with the VOIP phones!
Click to expand...

It’s been a while but the UPS’s that I have used previously at work turn themselves off once they have turned off connected servers, until the mains is restored.
This means power for things like routers only works if you can physically unplug the server/PC and then turn them back on (they typically have one or two “master” sockets for the server or pc connected to their smart software for shutdown/restart signals, and any others are simply on/off sockets intended for monitors and the like).
 
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