[asterisk-biz] backup power requirements for emergency calling

[Andrew L Shriner]

On Fri, 14 Apr 2006 19:02:16 -0400 (EDT), alex at pilosoft.com said:
> What I am saying is power outage is either >10 minutes or less than 5
> seconds. In case of power brownouts/spikes - genset won't start even if
> its >5 seconds. 
> 
> > > Starting genset is a minor price to pay for assurance that your stuff
> > > is operating properly *at the moment of the outage* and UPS batteries
> > > won't be unnecessarily drained.
> > 
> > That very well may be, but it's also unnecessary wear on the engine and
> > starter if you're starting it every time the grid blips.
> If you are testing it every month anyway, what's another (say) once a
> year
> squirrel-tripped startup on your wear & tear?
> 

Is the power grid *that* unreliable in Florida? Here in Central Ohio, I
know of many companies (and government operations) that test once a
month, but have their transfer switches switch to generator after just a
few seconds of power loss. Even then, I can only think of a handful of
times since 2001 that the generator on a particular campus has started
unscheduled, and only one of those times was the outage less than an
hour. 
--
Andrew L Shriner
drew at geekdrew.net