Justin Peyton, director of sales EMEA explains how online double conversion UPS technology can support residential systems and provide a business growth opportunity for integrators.
Power management is an area of significant potential for home technology integrators that has been swiftly accelerated by the lifestyle shifts we’ve seen in the pandemic.
Fundamentally, more and more of us are now working from home. The impact of this shift for our industry has been two-fold.
Transforming the home into a place of work has been big business for integrators during the pandemic. This has meant providing homes with robust, resilient and secure Wi-Fi connected spaces, capable of running high quality collaboration and video conferencing systems. This layer of technology is not only a must-have in many homes today but, by its very nature, it is also mission-critical for clients.
Another influential pandemic trend is the move from urban living to the greener spaces of the countryside. Unsurprisingly, demand for rural property has surged since the housing market reopened, rising 80% from the first week of March to early June 2021, compared to an increase of only 60% for urban properties, according to property portal Zoopla. Meanwhile, research by property website Rightmove, shows that almost a third of buyers (30%) in the market for a new home stated that they now wanted to live in the countryside.
By improving the technology that allows working from home, clients of many integrators with second and, often, third homes outside of the city have been able to make these properties their primary living – and working – spaces.
And, with clients and their families spending so much more time at home, integrators have also been busy upgrading the ‘bread and butter’ technology systems that allow their customers to enjoy rest and relaxation time in their homes. This second impact of the pandemic has substantially increased not just the volume of ‘connected’ electronics in the home but also its value as well as the rate that this technology is being used for TV and movie streaming, in particular.
It may not be mission critical but certainly spending more time at home has raised the bar for integrators in terms of the demand from clients for reliable system performance. The home has become the de facto entertainment hub, and proven a more attractive, safer option than going to the cinema, restaurant, theatre or bar which, in times of lockdown, have been no option at all.
Of course, no system can work without power. Clearly, the way that our clients and their families are now working and living demands a reliable and resilient power supply into their homes. An integrator’s reputation is tied to the smooth performance and reliability of the systems that he or she delivers for their clients. Integrators may not be the energy suppliers but providing an effective power management solution will preserve that reputation as much as it will protect the sensitive, high value electronic system installed within the client’s home from downtime and damage. Outside of the city, where a clean, consistent electricity is less certain and power outages more common, this service becomes even more important.
A range of power management options exist for integrators to address these issues. One increasingly popular solution for clean and stable power supply into UK homes is online double conversion Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) technology.
An online double conversion UPS provides uninterrupted, consistent, clean power, irrespective of the condition of incoming power. It filters and converts incoming AC power to DC, and then back to perfect AC from the inverter. Unlike line interactive UPS modules, double conversion online UPS technology isolates output power from the input power 100% of the time, protecting loads from any voltage anomalies or drop-outs.
If the mains power is interrupted, the batteries are still holding up the incoming DC supply to the inverter, so the load continues to be supplied with absolutely no interruption whatsoever. The zero-transfer time guarantees mission critical home office, media streaming and other systems remain up and running throughout, with the inverter always online to supply the clean, reliable and resilient power supply that’s essential in optimising system performance and reliability.
SurgeX provides standalone online double conversion UPS solutions in 1kVA, 2kVA, 3kVA and 6 kVA ratings to ensure a clean and stable power foundation from the outset. They can be connected into the home network for remote monitoring and work well with back-up power generators in rural locations as a comprehensive power management solution.
All clients want a great experience from the technology installed into their homes. Power management is the foundation that makes that possible. Having the power management conversation with the client at the outset shows that you’re thinking through your system design from the building blocks right through to the end goal of their experience. As a result of the pandemic, they will value that care and attention more than ever. So, make power management a part of your service – it will pay dividends.