Brief power outage? Why I'm not planning to get a UPS

A brief power outage hit parts of Hougang yesterday morning. Here's what I'll do to prepare in the future - no, I won't get a UPS.

Localised power outage

When I wrote my post yesterday, I didn't realise that the power outage I experienced at my block impacted swathes of Hougang from 11.14am to 11.28pm.

This was confirmed by national grid operator SP Group, and the Energy Market Authority (EMA) said it will be investigating the incident.

Once again, I received an alert from Alta Labs that my Internet router was down exactly two minutes after the outage happened.

This happened on Sat too, when the SG1 data centre outage tripped up multiple network providers in Singapore. Very nifty, this device.

Preparing for outages

Power outages in Singapore are rare. But as the latest outage proves, can happen. What can you do to prepare?

a. What to prepare

I was stunned when the lights went out and my study room went pitch dark. Fortunately, my mobile phone was within reach, and the torchlight helped me navigate around.

Here's what I'll prepare for the future.

• Torchlight with lamp function.
• Battery packs.
• Portable fans.
• Laptop.

And yes, this includes keeping them charged.

b. Backup power

I did seriously consider wiring up my home with UPS at one point. A UPS is like a large power bank that you can hook up to computers or even small appliances.

I decided against it due to the sheer expense and complexity of ensuring that all relevant equipment is properly wired up.

• Internet router.
• Internet modem.
• Network switches.
• Wireless access points.
• Desktop PC.
• Monitors.

Without the ceiling fan or air-con, it'll get too hot to work properly at home anyway. Better to grab the laptop and head out.

But if you must continue working at home, extensive use of POE (Power over Ethernet) can greatly simplify keeping your home office powered up with just two UPS units.

Mobile still works - for a while

Thankfully, the mobile network stayed up yesterday. I imagine it's possible to get a modicum of work wrapped up via tethering if you have a charged laptop handy.

But as the massive blackout of Spain and Portugal in April showed, mobile base stations are good for only 2-4 hours; expect the lower end during large-scale outages and mobile networks get heavily used.

What would you do if the power goes out for an extended period?