iMac sleep/wake from UPC, power consumption?

[2Turbo]

I'm moving from an Air to iMac soon. I've been using the Air as my alarm clock: it wakes from sleep off battery power till I get up, and turn my power on.

Since I turn the power off at night, would it be possible to use a UPS battery backup to keep the iMac in sleep mode all night then wake in the morning for a couple minutes, till I turn the power on?

How much power does an iMac in sleep mode need? Should a UPS be sufficient to last all night, plus a couple minutes awake in the morning?

Would this might work:
http://www.amazon.com/APC-BE550G-Back-UPS-Outlet-550VA/dp/B0019804U8

Thanks for any advice or info!

 

[Nuke61]

How much power does an iMac in sleep mode need? Should a UPS be sufficient to last all night, plus a couple minutes awake in the morning?

Would this might work:
http://www.amazon.com/APC-BE550G-Back-UPS-Outlet-550VA/dp/B0019804U8

I don't understand why you turn the power off at night, but given that you do...
a 27" iMac uses ~1.5 watts in sleep mode, and according to this APC link the 550 will supply 50 watts for 1 hour and 5 minutes. So it should easily keep a sleeping iMac powered through the night, since it should be able to supply power for closer to 24 hours.

Getting back to the turning off the power, make sure that any UPS that you buy will let you turn off the alarm. My UPS's will audibly alarm when the power goes out, but that's exactly what I want to happen. You might not want that.

 

[Lancer]

Why not just set the iMac to wake up (or turn on) at a set time?

 

[Nuke61]

Why not just set the iMac to wake up (or turn on) at a set time?

That's what he's planning on doing, but for some reason he turns off the power to the outlet, so he wants to know if an UPS has enough capacity to keep his iMac in sleep mode through the night and then turn on in the morning to be his alarm clock. At that point, he turns the power back on to the outlet that will supply the UPS ---> iMac. At least that's how I understand it.

 

[Lancer]

But I don't get the reason for turn off the power, is it to save a few cent on electricity? Besides wouldn't having the UPS run on battery every night reduce it's life?

 

[flynz4]

But I don't get the reason for turn off the power, is it to save a few cent on electricity? Besides wouldn't having the UPS run on battery every night reduce it's life?

Yes... it would reduce life of the UPS.

I don't particularly care why he chooses to shut off the power... it is his choice.

/Jim

 

[Lancer]

I got a new UPS with my iMac and not had to use it yet.

My advice is use the schedule Start Up and the Automated options... or buy and alarm clock, maybe use your iPhone is also a much more realistic option.

Personally I have a TV in the bed room and it's set to turn on at a set time but I'm usually away before it comes on.

 

[2Turbo]

I got a new UPS with my iMac and not had to use it yet.

My advice is use the schedule Start Up and the Automated options... or buy and alarm clock, maybe use your iPhone is also a much more realistic option.

Personally I have a TV in the bed room and it's set to turn on at a set time but I'm usually away before it comes on.

Does the iMac need continuous power for the schedule Start Up feature to work? In other words: can I set the schedule, shutdown iMac, turn off power, turn on power before schedule to start up, then it start up at set time?

Sorry for such a weird request, but the power is cut at night and I really like using the computer as alarm.

 

[Nuke61]

In other words: can I set the schedule, shutdown iMac, turn off power, turn on power before schedule to start up, then it start up at set time?

Yes.

 

[Lancer]

Sorry for such a weird request, but the power is cut at night and I really like using the computer as alarm.

You might want to consider using your phone are an alarm clock as getting up to turn the power back on to you iMac kinda defeats the purpose of using it as an alarm clock to wake you up.

 

[Bear]

...
How much power does an iMac in sleep mode need? Should a UPS be sufficient to last all night, plus a couple minutes awake in the morning?
...

UPS's tend to beep regularly when power is lost. And not all of the have the option to silence the beep.

As for how long will a UPS supply power with power being out? I would not expect a small home UPS to last more than an hour orso no matter how little power is drawn.

Buy an alarm clock is my suggestion.

 

[HenryDJP]

As others I'm completely lost why the OP or anyone would turn the power off in their home every night? There are appliances that need constant power. Odd. Hopefully the OP will at least answer this since he/she brought it up and is asking for help.
Also what the OP is requesting of a UPC is a very un-elegant solution since UPC's are generally not made exactly for what the OP wants to do.