geriaune

Budget LiFePO4 battery UPS

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The time has come, again, to change SLA batteries in my trusty APC1500 UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). 100$ every other year or so sounds like a subscription to keep my gear up and running these 2-3 times a year for a total of maybe 30 minutes… You get the point–it has been the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever 😀

Also–Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) batteries must be properly disposed etc. etc., So I’ve started checking for a way to avoid this hassle and move to a more sustainable solution.

Enter LiFePO4 batteries for energy storage:

  • Safest battery for home use (thermal and chemical stability)
  • Wide operating temperature range
  • Better aging and cycle-life characteristics

Some say you can directly swap SLA 12V battery with 12.8V LiFePO4 one BUT the old UPS is not made for the charging profile LiFePO4 expects and CAN BE damaged or last less than expected. Also my APC takes 24V (2 batteries in series) so I would also need additional BMS (Battery Management System) to keep them both charged at the same level–that complicates this retrofit even further.

After a quick search I didn’t find any used/cheap non-Lead Acid UPS–hence the 12V Inverter (https://link.geriaune.pro/UQvL), which has:

  • UPS function with Mains preferred
  • 12V battery backup with all technologies supported
  • Pure Sine Wave
  • Modern charging options

I would encourage you to source a LiFePO4 battery locally–get the tested/approved one for your country, with warranty 🙂 Spec it to your needs, discharge amperage, capacity needed for the load and survival time etc.–better twice as big than on the edge. Same goes for the inverter–get the biggest you can tolerate (maybe you have space constrains), do not overload it. For example I only need 300W for my system, but I’m planning to add more stuff so maybe smallest 1000W unit should be enough. Let’s add a doubt to the label and it’s not 100% efficient too–the biggest 3000W unit is is then! 😀 choose your own!

All in all–50Ah LiFePO4 battery + 3000W inverter = peace of mind for less than 500$… Hope it holds for a decade 🙂

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