Insights · Published 8 November 2026
Every office in Ghana knows the moment. Light goes off, screens go black, and somebody loses the spreadsheet they have been working on all morning. That is annoying. The bigger cost is the damage you do not see: a server that shuts down in the middle of writing to its disk, an accounting database that will not open the next day, a power supply that finally gives up after one surge too many when power returns.
You cannot stop dumsor. You can make it boring. Here is how to protect the equipment and the data, in plain terms.
What a UPS actually does
A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) is a box with a battery inside. When mains power fails, it takes over instantly, so the computers plugged into it do not even notice. Its job is not to run your office for hours. Its job is to give you time: enough to ride through short cuts, and enough to shut down properly when the cut is a long one.
That difference matters when you buy one. If you expect a small UPS to keep the whole office going until ECG restores power, you will be disappointed and the battery will wear out fast.
Sizing a UPS without the jargon
UPS units are rated in VA and watts. The number that matters most is watts, because that is what your equipment actually draws. Add up the watts of everything you will plug in, then choose a UPS rated comfortably above that total, so it is not working at its limit. The label on the back of each device, or the manufacturer's website, gives you its power use.
Then look at runtime. The same UPS that runs one server for twenty minutes might run it plus three desktops for only five. Manufacturers publish runtime charts for different loads. Decide how long you need: usually enough to cover the common short cuts in your area, plus a few minutes for a clean shutdown.
Do not plug printers, especially laser printers, kettles, fans or air conditioners into a UPS. Laser printers draw a large burst of power when they warm up and can overload it.
Surge protection and AVR
Power cuts are only half the problem. When power comes back, it often returns with spikes, dips and unstable voltage. Over time this kills power supplies, network switches and hard drives.
Many UPS units include AVR (automatic voltage regulation), which smooths out low and high voltage without switching to battery. That saves the battery for real outages. For equipment that is not on a UPS, use a proper surge protector, not a cheap extension board. And protect the network too: a surge can travel along network and telephone cables into your router.
Clean shutdown is the part people skip
Most data damage happens when a server or database loses power suddenly. A UPS only prevents that if the server knows to shut itself down before the battery runs flat. Most good UPS units have a USB or network connection and software that tells the server, after a set number of minutes on battery, to close everything and power off safely.
This is the step most often missing. It is common to find a UPS under a server with the cable never connected, so the server runs until the battery dies and then crashes anyway. Check yours: pull the UPS plug from the wall during a quiet hour and watch what happens.
Inverters and solar: useful, with caveats
Many businesses now have an inverter with batteries, sometimes with solar panels. These are excellent for keeping lights, fans and laptops going through long outages. But not every inverter switches over fast enough for desktop computers and servers, and some produce power that sensitive electronics do not like.
Ask your installer whether the inverter is pure sine wave and how quickly it switches over. The safest arrangement is often a small UPS in front of the server and network equipment, fed by the inverter. The UPS covers the switchover gap and cleans the power, and the inverter provides the long runtime.
A generator brings the same issue. Let it start and settle before you put computers back on it.
Decide what must keep running
You do not need everything on battery. Think about what the business genuinely needs during a cut. Usually that is the internet router and network switch, so laptops and phones can keep working, the server or the computer that holds shared files and accounts, and perhaps one or two key desks such as reception or the cashier.
Staff on laptops already have their own battery. Encourage them to save often and to keep work on the server or in the cloud, not only on the desktop.
Batteries wear out
UPS batteries do not last forever, and heat shortens their life. In a hot room with daily cuts, they wear out faster than the brochure suggests. Most units can run a self-test, and many will warn you when the battery is weak. Put a reminder in the calendar to test them, and budget to replace batteries before they fail, not after.
Your checklist for this week
Work through these with whoever looks after your IT.
- List what is plugged into each UPS, and remove printers and heaters
- Check the UPS is rated comfortably above the total watts it carries
- Confirm the shutdown cable or software is connected and configured
- Do a controlled test: unplug the UPS and watch the server shut down cleanly
- Protect the router and switch, and put surge protection on everything else
- Ask your inverter installer about switchover time and pure sine wave output
- Set a calendar reminder to test UPS batteries every few months
- Make sure backups are running, in case something still goes wrong
If you would like a second pair of eyes, Dalysie Ghana can size, set up and test power protection for your servers and key desks, and check that clean shutdown actually works.