Industrial or Commercial Uninterruptible Power Supply System

The most important part of selecting a new piece of equipment is knowing which one is going to be the best at serving your company’s needs. The first question you want to ask yourself when looking to purchase an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system is: How critical is your application?

There are two types of UPS systems, a commercial UPS system and an industrial UPS system. Generally, a commercial UPS will be found in Information Technology (IT) applications, such as computer rooms and data center environments, while Industrial UPS systems are designed for critical process control, like a nuclear power plant or an oil rig.

In a data center, the interruption of AC power may disrupt data processing, but it doesn’t create an inherent risk of injury to people or property. Commercial UPS systems aren’t technically demanding and typically only require UL and CSA safety certifications. The environment of a commercial UPS system is usually temperature controlled and kept very clean.

Industrial UPS systems are designed, and performance tested to a more rigorous level than commercial systems. In industrial environments, the interruption of AC power may cause dangerous chemical process instability or cause expensive damage to processing systems. In these environments, there is usually a higher ambient temperature and more contamination in the air, so systems are meant to tolerate extreme temperatures and moderate amounts of non-conductive dust.

Industrial UPS systems are installed in rugged environments, but you may also see them in light industrial applications, like pharmaceutical manufacturers or in the food and beverage industry. The loss of AC power may not present a dangerous situation in these environments, but the loss of product and production time can be very costly.

Click here learn more about the differences between industrial and commercial UPS systems.