Alternatives to power home security system due to AC failure

techteacherhs

New Member
What recommendations can be made to power a home security system in event of an outside power line failure? Examples include weather conditions or power company generator failure. I own a Vista 21 IP. I know the control panel battery is use to power a sounder or other related devices.
 
I believe that the control panel battery will carry your entire security system but for a limited period of time. If you need to protect for extended periods of time you might like a whole house generator.
 
Mike.
 
Get another enclosure and add a big battery in it. I can't imagine a Vista 21 uses that much power. You should be able to go several days at least. 
 
I would suggest to do the math
 
Note that this is not a rhetorical answer.
 
Use a piece of paper and a pencil doing this longhand.
 
Write a column of all of the devices drawing power from the panel.  Add them up on the bottom of the list.
 
Whatever battery size it is being utilized; write down the amp and hour number on a piece of paper.
 
Typically as stated above the battery is labled with amp and hour.  Big ones have higher numbers.
 
Cypher the battery values with the load to get the time after a power failure ~ basic math using the firmware in your noggin.
 
Some interesting basics.
 
ETotal = ENormal + EAlarm
 
ET = INtN +IAtA
 
Where I is electrical current in amperes, t is the time in hours and E is energy in units of amp-hours.
 
Pete has it right. If you want to calculate how long a battery will operate the system you have to calculate the total amperage that the system draws.
 
The hard part is doing the research to learn the power usage of the control panel and each device that is attached to it. Then add these amperages together and multiply times the hours that you need the system to run on the battery.
 
For instance if the system and all of it's devices draw a maximum of 1 amps and you want the battery to operate the system for 1 hour then the multiply 1amps x 1hr which = 1amp/hrs. A 1AH battery will run a 1amp system for one hour.
 
From that you can simply multiply the 1AH battery times the number of hours that you want the system to run. 4AH will run 4 hours, 8AH will run for 8 hours and so on.
 
there is a catch though. The control panel needs to be able to charge the battery in a reasonable amount of time so you are limited as to how big a battery you can use by the charging capacity of the control panel.
 
Nothing is ever simple, Mike.
 
I will be adding a USP United Security Prducts USAD2001 automatic voice dialer. I will be connected to terminals 4 & 5. The standby mode is 28ma typical and dialing mode 100ma max. The battery is a Genesis NP4-12 1v , 4.0 amp hour sealed lead battery.
 
techteacherhs said:
I will be adding a USP United Security Prducts USAD001 automatic voice dialer. I will be connected to terminals 4 & 5. The standby mode is 28ma typical and dialing mode 100ma max. The battery is a Genesis NP4-12 1v , 4.0 amp hour sealed lead battery.
Any particular reason you chose that panel?  Its not very DIY friendly and there probably are better choices unless you are going to pay someone to monitor its proprietary Internet signals.
 
I chose that panel so I can be directly contacted if there is a problem. If I am not in the vicinity someone can be contacted at or near the site. For my needs I feel the monthly monitor fees are not worth the cost. I am not worried about someone cutting my phone cable since all utilities are under ground. The setup of the USAD2001 fits my needs. I read several positive reviews on it from Amazon and two on U Tube. I do not use a smart phone.
 
If you're looking for overkill, this would do it, with plenty to spare for refrigerators, etc:
http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall
In many cases it seems like it might be a viable alternative to an NG standby generator.
 
I'm curious as to how much power it would lose to self discharge over the course of a year.
 
techteacher, have you also considered, that if your power is out your modem/router/switch must also have a backup source of power or you wont be contacted by your system.  Makes that Tesla batt' look better!
 
NeverDie said:
If you're looking for overkill, this would do it, with plenty to spare for refrigerators, etc:
http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall
In many cases it seems like it might be a viable alternative to an NG standby generator.
 
I'm curious as to how much power it would lose to self discharge over the course of a year.
 
That looks like the future of power backup systems. I've never heard of it before this.
 
Mike.
 
NeverDie said:
If you're looking for overkill, this would do it, with plenty to spare for refrigerators, etc:
http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall
In many cases it seems like it might be a viable alternative to an NG standby generator.
 
I'm curious as to how much power it would lose to self discharge over the course of a year.
It isn't designed for long-term storage. You charge it up until the time you need it or at least in the last 24 hours when rates are low.
 
Back
Top