On Fri, 4 Feb 2005 22:42:02 -0000, Mike wrote:

Unfortunately my freezer begs to differ :-) Things got a little
frosty.

If your freezer warmed up to such an extent that the temp rose at more
than 1C/hr then there is something drastically wrong with it or it's
very old and it may well pay to get it replaced. The average freezer
will normally still be cold enough without power for 12hrs or more
provided you don't open it.

Running a fridge/freezer of a normal computer UPS might be tricky. The
induction motors used need 2 to 3 times their running power to start,
this may well cause the UPS to trip due to overload. Then of course
with big batteries the up time isn't very long. My 700VA UPS can
supply 150W (about that of fridge) for 20mins at best.

A small (2 to 4 kVA) generator out back is the easiest solution but be
aware of the all the implications of connecting a generator to your
normal house wiring. Requirements for fail safe isolation of incoming
mains supply, earthing arrangements etc.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail