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When it comes to finding the ideal backup power solution for your facility to minimize the effects of a power outage, there are more fantastic choices than ever. Never before have so many options existed at once which allow you and your facility to meet their exact needs in order to achieve your financial, operational, safety and patient outcome goals.
Between the power and affordable entry point of both gas powered and diesel powered generators, the rapidly growing segment of battery backup power, even a plethora of options at your favorite big box retailers targeted at providing your administrative teams backup power for their computers and other crucial systems—exploring quality power protection options has never been easier.
Though, for as abundant as the options are in these times, with a great number of choices also comes the challenge of parsing information, receiving organizational feedback and ultimately needing to sort through it all. That is what this section of our learning center is all about.
Without diving too dep into the minutia of each option, here we will quickly lay out the pros and cons of the most popular options available on the market today, Gas Power, Battery Power and the aforementioned big box store consumer oriented UPS power supplies—as they are also battery powered, but present much different use cases than a true rechargeable generator, allowing you to decide for yourself which best fits the needs of your facility primarily based on the factors of Initial Price, Recurring Costs, Power Delivery and Power Storage.
Pros and Cons of Gas Powered Generators
PROS
- Low Initial Cost – When seeking an emergency power source for a healthcare facility Gas powered generator units generally have a lower cost to entry for how much power they are able to provide. However one must still consider installation and possible permitting costs which will vary by locale.
- High Power Output- While taking up a relatively small amount of space gas powered generators can deliver enormous amounts of power — in many cases enough to power an entire healthcare facility, though these would be much larger systems.
- Power Storage Capacity – Due to their fuel source being externally stored and being widely available gas generators can run for essentially as long as you have the fuel to power them. Obtaining fuel could be potentially challenging if the outage is caused by a severe weather event or something of the like and due to volatility of fuel prices predicting the cost of operation could prove difficult.
CONS
- High Reoccurring Costs – because gas generators use internal combustion engines very similar to the ones found in automobiles, they require regular, potentially expensive maintenance and repair. Additionally, because fossil fuels are being used to power them running a gas generator costs your facility money every time it runs. Also, gas can and will expire when being stored. So, even when idle a gas generator costs money to operate—as fuel will need to be regularly replaced.
- Delayed Startup – Though this will vary depending on the brand of generator used and how it is installed, some backup generators can take up to 15 minutes to engage and power your facility, leaving a large gap in service. This could potentially cause severe harm and or distress because your facility wont be able to function until the generator fully engages, often anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.
Pros and Cons of Battery Powered Indoor Generators
PROS
- Low Maintenance & Repair Costs – Because each component of a battery backup system is a solid-state one, that means they have:
- no moving parts
- no excessive heat caused by internal combustion
- and very little maintenance needed
Their replacement interval every 4-6 years and costs ~20 percent of the total cost of your system. However, this cost could decrease over time as battery manufacturing worldwide increases and prices begin to decline. - High Power Output – Due to the wide availability of high-quality, powerful inverters the amount of power able to be output by a battery backup unit can easily match or exceed that of a gas powered unit, though when approaching the power needs of an entire building, battery power does become a less attractive option as the amount of space necessary to build a system large enough could become an inefficient use of space.
- Power Capacity – With advances in battery technology, sealed lead acid rechargeable batteries have the
- Capacity
- Rechargeability
- and Scalability
- Instantaneous Transfer Switch – The internal transfer switch inside a battery backup power unit allows for the system to take over as your appliances power supply in just milliseconds as opposed to the minutes it could take for alternate sources to begin providing power.
CONS
- Purchase Price – while remaining very competitive (and fairly equal when considering installation costs), battery backup units generally have a slightly higher upfront purchase price for the unit itself when compared to gas powered. However, this price gap is easily made up in the short-to-medium term via lower recurring costs as well as the aforementioned lower installation costs.
Pros and Cons of Consumer UPS
PROS
- Low Maintenance & Repair Costs – Because each component of a battery backup system is a solid-state one, that means they have:
- no moving parts
- no excessive heat caused by internal combustion
- and very little maintenance needed
Their replacement interval every 4-6 years and costs ~20 percent of the total cost of your system. However, this cost could decrease over time as battery manufacturing worldwide increases and prices begin to decline. - High Power Output – Due to the wide availability of high-quality, powerful inverters the amount of power able to be output by a battery backup unit can easily match or exceed that of a gas powered unit, though when approaching the power needs of an entire building, battery power does become a less attractive option as the amount of space necessary to build a system large enough could become an inefficient use of space.
- Power Capacity – With advances in battery technology, sealed lead acid rechargeable batteries have the
- Capacity
- Rechargeability
- and Scalability
- Instantaneous Transfer Switch – The internal transfer switch inside a battery backup power unit allows for the system to take over as your appliances power supply in just milliseconds as opposed to the minutes it could take for alternate sources to begin providing power.
CONS
- Inadequate Power Delivery – as mentioned previously, store bought UPS systems are unable to handle the wattage requirements necessary to power medical grade equipment—thought they make for great computer and IT backups.
- Inadequate Power Storage – in contrast to the SLA batteries of a generator unit, a consumer UPS will typically take advantage of Lithium-Ion technology which is unsuitable for the needs of a medical facility—
To read more about that, check out our article comparing and contrasting the two, and why MediProducts uses sealed lead-acid batteries in our backup power systems. →
Conclusion
As you can see, this information only scratches the surface when determining which type of power will best fit your facility. However, below are more resources and articles available through both the learning center and our MediProducts Blog to help you facility find the best solution for its emergency power needs.
