I’m planning to install an A/C in my room this summer and I just realised that the only 16A socket in the room (actually meant for an A/C) is occupied by my APC Easy UPS 2200VA. This UPS comes with a 16A plug so it probably draws similar power, documentation says 1200W.
Now I’m worried about running both the AC and the UPS at the same time. Is a multiplug a good option? Should I make the electrician split the wire? What other options do I have?
The irony is I probably don’t even need all this wattage, it was a stupid purchase. All that’s plugged into it is a 27” monitor, a router, and a 3700x+1060+650w psu PC. Am I naive in assuming that since the load on the UPS is low I can get away with running it alongside an AC with a multiplug?
Actually there is a 10A socket nearby. Is it possible to plug my UPS there? If the only problem with it is that it will charge slowly I’m okay with that.
Provided the socket is wired with adequate gauge wires, it should be alright to connect both. There would ideally be a 16-20A MCB for this circuit, so if at all it gets overloaded, the MCB should trip.
Secondly as you stated, the actual load of your PC would be much much less, so it shouldn’t be an issue. The UPS is just rated for a higher load.
However, I’d rather not use a multi-pin, but get an electrician to install a second socket+switch installed for the AC or PC. At that time verify that the internal wires are of adequate gauge and there is properly rated MCB for the circuit.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong but if the document says it recharges its battery at 1200W then that’s how much it will consume while charging, no matter what your PC specs are. (or is that what you are already saying but worded differently?)
Anyway ACs are efficient now a days and considering UPS won’t be charging all the time I’d say its fine. When you say multiplug do you mean those individual ones or like an extension board? Better to get a good quality extension board. My older Hitachi 1.5 ton AC used to draw so much power than it will melt heavy duty power plug after a few months. Initially I thought it was due to bad contact pins in the socket but changed the socket a few times as well. In the end dad suggested we should just install a MCB at the location, ugly yet a safe solution. That was the case with non-inverter AC with low star rating so it consumed a lot of power, my point is to get a 5 star inverter AC if possible.
Yeah I was skeptical when OP said that because even inverters with big batteries don’t draw that much power from wall while recharging but I went with it. Now that you mention it a 1200W draw into a small battery such as of an UPS would make it so hot that it will melt lol. I guess OP is worrying too much. They can also buy a digital energy meter plug if they want to know exact readings, shouldn’t cost more than 1k INR.
My only worry is that when lights go out and come back, both appliances could run at full load at the same time. I’ll have to be vigilant about turning the AC off while the UPS charges up, which is a headache I don’t want to take.
I think for now I’ll switch to the 10A socket with a converter plug (is that even a thing?) and see if things are stable, as someone else suggested. If there are any issues I can fall back to 16A and figure things out before buying the AC.
No worries, I’m the same. Anyway I used the help of chatGPT and it says the power draw from the socket while gaming + charging will be 450-500W at most, I gave it your PC config and the UPS model for reference. Add that your AC’s power draw which shouldn’t be more than 1.5kW that brings it to just 2kW. Very average power draw for 16A socket (assuming the wire gauge used is according to it).