How often should you change the battery of your UPS

Because of the experience we have with consumer devices, a life span of three years will surely seem short. There are cases of people who have not changed the battery in their car in 10 years, and many more who will say that they have been with their smartphone 4-5 years without having replaced their battery and it still works well. However, when we talk about changing the battery of a UPS, then we have to take into account a series of additional factors.

The life of the batteries

By their nature, the batteries used in UPSs must be replaced from time to time, and as we have already mentioned, manufacturers often say that this period is three years (some of the first order such as APC (which belongs to Schneider), they say 3 to 5 years which seems more reasonable). However, the time that a UPS battery can last in good condition varies depending on the temperature, load voltage to which it has been submitted, operating cycles, etc.

For this reason, manufacturers are giving us a "medium" life cycle, or in other words, what the battery should last in good condition. It may be the case that they last less, or it may be the case that they last longer. What is clear is that for the life of the battery to be extended to the maximum we must take into account a series of considerations that will help us prolong the period of battery change in the UPS.

Tips for the battery to last much longer

It's essential keep the UPS in a cool and dry place and with a lot ventilation. Nothing to conceal it under the table where it is filled with dust and has no air flow. As an ideal temperature standard, a UPS should never exceed 25 ° C, since batteries are generally lead-acid and at higher temperatures, their longevity is reduced. As a guide, for every 8ºC the temperature rises, the battery's durability is reduced by half.

For example, if a battery has a lifespan of 4 years, this is at 25 ° C. If we always have it at 33ºC, then its life expectancy is 2 years, and if we have it at 4ºC, then only one year.

For this reason ventilation is vital, and for this it is not that we have to put it under the air conditioning or have a fan pointing at it. We just have to leave at least 5 centimeters of separation between the UPS and anything else (except obviously, the ground or the surface where we have it) so that it has some ventilation.

Many UPSs have self-calibration systems, but it is advisable not to carry out this process more than once a year because, in addition to being unnecessary (it is not that they are much descalibrated), it is counterproductive. Similarly, if you are not using the UPS It is advisable to make a complete charge cycle at least every 6 months to prolong battery life.

Finally, the most obvious but maybe not so much: do not overload the UPS. Ideally, the load should never exceed 80% of its capacity, that is, if for example we have a 400 watt UPS, do not connect equipment that consumes more than 320 watts.

So how often do I change the battery?

The first thing you should know is the parameter that the manufacturer gives you, which will be the average life time normal. If they tell you that it is three years, which is usual, it does not have to be that way if you have followed the maintenance advice that we have given you in the previous section. It is common that lUPS battery lasts perfectly five years or even more if no excesses have been committed.

Now, if there comes a time when the power goes out and the UPS does not last more than a few minutes, less than it should, then you will know that you will have to change the battery in a short time. Also, pass the self-calibrated tests at least once a year, because if the battery is damaged, remember that are made with lead-acid and could ooze and spoil the floor or where you have it, and even cause a explosion in extreme cases.

Finally, we must also take into account the quality and the manufacturer, because with UPS more than with many other things, cheap is expensive. As a personal experience, a UPS of doubtful origin ended up oozing acid with just over a year of use, and yet an APC Back-UPS 1400 UPS lasted five and a half years before the battery test warned that there was than replace it.