This is similar to a solar system with battery backup minus the solar.There are others, but I think Xantrex makes a unit like this, also Outback. Basically they are invertor/chargers that use the AC to charge the batteries as well as pass thru to a 'secured' load. When the AC fails the unit uses the batteries thru its inverter to run the load. Usually these are not rated as a UPS because the cutover time isn't quite fast enough. With the addition of solar, the cells charge the batteries rather than the line AC.

Agreed on the assessment. It is very much like grid interactive solar inverter/charger but at a fraction of the price of the Xantrex and Outback systems (with fewer solar and power-switching features, though). The tech-specs indicate 16 ms, maximum for transfer time...which seems pretty good. How does that compare to a typical consumer-grade UPS?

Dan

It seems like it should work for a few things. To give you and idea 1kw = 1000 watts your microwave is usually 1200 to 1800 watts a hair dryer is usually 1800 watts and an average light bulb is 60 watts so if you goto use it take these things into consideration knowing that you only have 1000 watts to work with. You don't want to overload the UPS.

bear in mind that the 1000 watt rating is the maximum load. If you plan on keeping it for a while, you should not operate continuously at the maximum load.