On Thu, 27 Feb 2014 18:44:00 +0000, tony sayer wrote:

What he said. We live in the middle of nowhere, too, on the end
of
many kilometers of overhead distribution. I bought a big UPS.

Because it's a very good alternative to a generator - particularly
as
it can be "always online".

As long as you don't put much load on it ...

That would be tricky with a "whole house" UPS but one could install a
separate maintained ring and use "chinese"(*) plugs and sockets so
that the kettle/hoover or WHY can't be plugged in.

Also too much load could be the in rush from a motor causing the UPS
to trip out. The in rush from a CRT monitor was enough to trip the
little (750 VA) UPS I have.

... and expect it to run for very long..

That depends on the battery capacity but yes you need *BIG* batterys
to supply 1 kW for any great length of time.
Unless it a very large capacity one. Prime power generation even from a
cheapie genny is a much better bet. UPS's are for just that maintaining
IT type power while the PC does a shutdown..

Our genset is 2 kVA runs the fridges, freezers, CH system etc no
problem. I have 2.6 kVA UPS but no batteries for it. One day I'll
equip it with 4 100 AHr or bigger deep discharge batteries. If the in
rushes don't trip it it would be a bit more convient than the genset.
The latter does have the advantage that a trip down to the garage for
25 litres of red will keep it going for over a day.

(*) Looks like a normal 13A plug but the L and N pins are oriented
vertically and the earth horizontal. Not sure they are still
available or the version with a round earth pin and L/N in normal
orientation.

--
Cheers
Dave.