How much wattage does my CCTV system consume?

[Jhann 0]

I hope someone can enlighten me on how much wattage does my CCTV system consume. I want to use AVR on this system as the power here is unstable.

1pcs 8CH Lorex DVR
1pc 12v 10 Centralized Power Supply

Optional: 19" computer monitor

What Automatic Voltage Regulator or UPS should I use for this system? or How much VA should I choose?

 

[Cortian 9]

There are two ways to go about this: Find the output current rating on the power supply (I assume the Lorex NVR powers the cameras?) and multiply that by its output voltage.  That will give you its approximate max wattage.  UPS' are rated in VA (volt-amps), but it'll be close enough.  The other way is to actually measure the current draw on the AC side using a true RMS ammeter.  (That's the best way.)  Then multiply the measured current draw times the line voltage.

Next you have to determine whether the point is to protect your surveillance system and allow it to survive short-term outages, or to have it stay up for an extended time when there's an outage.

(I note you list a "12V 10" PSU.  If that's 12V at 10A, which would probably be about right for an 8-camera system [assuming about 15W/camera], then your want a minimum 120VA UPS.  Depending upon the design, that may give you anywhere from 5-10 minutes of uptime [SWAG]).

To a degree you can extend uptime by going with a higher-than-recommend-VA UPS, but there are diminishing returns with each bump in VA capacity.  Reason is reduced efficiencies as UPS VA capacity goes up.  For truly extended runtime you need an "extended runtime" UPS.  They don't have greater VA capacity, but more battery.  (They also take longer to recover because there's more battery capacity to charge back up.  There ain't no free lunches.)

E.g.: With a 120W load, a 120VA UPS may give you about 5-10 minutes of uptime, but a 360VA UPS won't necessarily give you 15-30 minutes.  In fact: My old power-hog Dell 1600SC server had a 700VA APC SmartUPS on it.  The computer + peripherals drew about 200W.  The UPS had a runtime of only fifteen minutes with brand new batteries.

Speaking of batteries: Make sure to buy a UPS with user-replaceable batteries.  They have about a three-year lifespan.  Also: Get in the habit of doing run-time tests about every quarter or so, to extend battery life.

The UPS manufacturer should have a chart listing estimated run times for each of their UPS' vs. expected loads.

[Jhann 0]

Thank you for your response Cortian,

Your response really helped me decide what to do now.
I actually installed a Lorex DV900 Series DVR and it is an 8 Channel DVR. 

[ak357 0]

On 2/7/2019 at 9:22 AM, Cortian said:

There are two ways to go about this: Find the output current rating on the power supply (I assume the Lorex NVR powers the cameras?) and multiply that by its output voltage.  That will give you its approximate max wattage.  UPS' are rated in VA (volt-amps), but it'll be close enough.  The other way is to actually measure the current draw on the AC side using a true RMS ammeter.  (That's the best way.)  Then multiply the measured current draw times the line voltage.

Next you have to determine whether the point is to protect your surveillance system and allow it to survive short-term outages, or to have it stay up for an extended time when there's an outage.

(I note you list a "12V 10" PSU.  If that's 12V at 10A, which would probably be about right for an 8-camera system [assuming about 15W/camera], then your want a minimum 120VA UPS.  Depending upon the design, that may give you anywhere from 5-10 minutes of uptime [SWAG]).

To a degree you can extend uptime by going with a higher-than-recommend-VA UPS, but there are diminishing returns with each bump in VA capacity.  Reason is reduced efficiencies as UPS VA capacity goes up.  For truly extended runtime you need an "extended runtime" UPS.  They don't have greater VA capacity, but more battery.  (They also take longer to recover because there's more battery capacity to charge back up.  There ain't no free lunches.)

E.g.: With a 120W load, a 120VA UPS may give you about 5-10 minutes of uptime, but a 360VA UPS won't necessarily give you 15-30 minutes.  In fact: My old power-hog Dell 1600SC server had a 700VA APC SmartUPS on it.  The computer + peripherals drew about 200W.  The UPS had a runtime of only fifteen minutes with brand new batteries.

Speaking of batteries: Make sure to buy a UPS with user-replaceable batteries.  They have about a three-year lifespan.  Also: Get in the habit of doing run-time tests about every quarter or so, to extend battery life.

The UPS manufacturer should have a chart listing estimated run times for each of their UPS' vs. expected loads.

5

Why would u bother to recommend such small UPS?

120VA is way too small

Edited February 8, 2019 by ak357

[Cortian 9]

18 hours ago, ak357 said:

Why would u bother to recommend such small UPS?

120VA is way too small

Maybe you missed the word "minimum," bolded, in my reply?

[ak357 0]

4 hours ago, Cortian said:

Maybe you missed the word "minimum," bolded, in my reply?

I did not miss

I would never suggest 120 VA UPS

[larry 2]

Instead of criticizing someone trying to help, it would be better to give your opinion on what you would have suggested. Based off the information given, what size would you have recommened?

[cctvman1379 2]

From reading the post I would say a minimum 650 va ups for around 10 minutes gold on short minor outage with power restore quickly if you could go bigger in various then get the largest you could afford for the best possible run time in power outage our CCTV is 16 cameras on a hd DVR the power supply and DVR run about 140 watts and our ups only protects the DVR from sudden crashing or shutdown to give time to shut down unit mines gives 10 minutes at 650va unit but the wattage is 90 watts that is drawn from the ups output 

[ak357 0]

3 hours ago, cctvman1379 said:

From reading the post I would say a minimum 650 va ups for around 10 minutes gold on short minor outage with power restore quickly if you could go bigger in various then get the largest you could afford for the best possible run time in power outage our CCTV is 16 cameras on a hd DVR the power supply and DVR run about 140 watts and our ups only protects the DVR from sudden crashing or shutdown to give time to shut down unit mines gives 10 minutes at 650va unit but the wattage is 90 watts that is drawn from the ups output 

Agree 100%

the more the better