Once upon a time Jeremy Sullivan shaped the electrons to say... > A whole home UPS? MZ, any reservations I had in regards to your > ?bergeek status are hereby allayed.
They're actually not that expensive, comparatively. Think of all the electronics in the home these days - aside from the obvious stuff like A/V gear and computers, just about ever stove, refrigerator, washer, dryer, microwave, etc, has a computer inside. They're just a vulnerable to spikes and dirty power. Trying to put UPSes on everything is difficult if not impossible, and would be very expensive. Also consider that many modern furnaces won't run without electricity for ignition and control, so the power out means the heat is out. A whole home system conditions all the power in the home. It isn't going to keep the lights on for that long, and you certainly don't want to be running the washer or something off of it when the power is out, but it will let you ride out short outages. The main advantage is clean power - no spikes, fluctuations, RF noise, etc. Plug-in UPSes are very limited in their surge protection. They can only protect as well as their ground connection - and if the plug is more than 10 feet from the earth ground, the protection is almost gone. A whole home system is connected directly to the earth ground, providing the maximum surge protection against lightning strikes, etc. It is also more convenient than having bulky UPSes scattered around the house. I have three in my living room, three in the office, and two in my bedroom. Since they're coming down in cost, they're gaining popularity with homes full of modern devices. Especially in areas with power issues such as brownouts. -MZ -- <URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org> Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me. "A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-852-2171 <URL:http://www.megazone.org/> <URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/> Eris
