Difference in UPS VAs?

**Compunuts** · 10-12-2005, 01:16 AM

Anyone familiar with the difference between UPSes and its VA ratings?

I saw one APC UPS with 400VA and 650VA. The price is not much difference (only 20 bucks) and was wondering if the higher VA will make sense, then I will pay more to get it now than having to buy another in the future. What I'm looking for is to be able to keep power for a wireless AP, a 16 port switch, a cable modem and two computers for about 15 minutes if the power goes down.

Any suggestions?

TIA

**TeRG** · 11-09-2005, 05:03 PM

VA stands for volt-amps.

Clicking one of the "more info" links on Tiger Direct I got this:

When purchasing a UPS system, you need to know how much capacity you need. This capacity is measured in volt-amps. To determine the number of volt-amps that you need, take the number of amps multiplied by 120. If the measurement is in watts, multiply by 1.82. For example, if your monitor uses 2 amps (2 x 120 = 240) and your computer uses 100 watts (100 x 1.82 = 182) the total volt-amps needed would be 407 (240 + 182 = 422).