Power outages in Ramzan spur UPS, generators sale

The demand for UPS and generators by the electricity consumers is increasing day by day due to power outages particularly in Ramazan.

Data compiled by APP revealed that nowadays, these products are being sold in the market on exorbitant rates. This year, UPS prices range between Rs 7,000 and Rs 25,000, depending on capacity of the unit. Various varieties of UPS are available in the market.

A dealer of imported and local-made UPS said the demand for the locally made UPS has almost doubled while the demand for Chinese UPS is noticing downward trend as it is costly while on the other hand, its repair charges are also high.

He further said, Federal government is making efforts to overcome energy crisis and expressed the hope that electricity problem would be sorted out in few years.

Other tools are also being used. An inverter is available in the market at minimum Rs 5000 price while the gas-generator is being sold at Rs 35,000.

Altaf, a school teacher said, the price of alternative energy products such as Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) and generators has sky rocketed and their manufacturers are fleecing customers by taking advantage of the prolonged power outages.

A generator dealer in Raja Bazaar said the past 15 days had brought a 50 percent increase in sales. A UPS dealer said UPS were preferred over generators as the latter made a lot of noise adding that a powerful UPS set up could simultaneously operate computers, fans and lights.

Consumers complained that most of the UPS manufacturers were using silver wires in the transformers instead of the heavy-duty copper wire.

A silver wire UPS has a short life span and cannot withstand long spells of power outages as it heats up and burns quickly.