3.0 KWh Battery Backup?

[chapter7]

I saw this reviewed on CNET and decided to reserve one for our kitchen fridge ..... any thoughts on if this would be a good whole aquarium system backup?

Backup by BioLite

I haven't done the math yet on how much total power my (future) system would pull, but 3.0 KWh should last a couple days sans lights I'm guessing??

 

[old_salt]

What's the power consumption of the equipment you want to run?

 

[UncommonSense]

Just a 100w return pump is 2.4KWh/day…

If you didn’t run you heater at all, possibly just used your powerheads and very low flow on a DC return pump, etc… you could probably stretch 3KWh out to last a few days, if you’re creative!

 

[chapter7]

Just a 100w return pump is 2.4KWh/day…

If you didn’t run you heater at all, possibly just used your powerheads and very low flow on a DC return pump, etc… you could probably stretch 3KWh out to last a few days, if you’re creative!

Dang, ur right! all of a sudden 3 KWh for $2200 after federal tax credit doesn't look so good. Looking at Anker Solix now .... 2 KWh C1000 for under $900 with their Memorial Day Sales.

 

[VintageReefer]

Dang, ur right! all of a sudden 3 KWh for $2200 after federal tax credit doesn't look so good. Looking at Anker Solix now .... 2 KWh C1000 for under $900 with their Memorial Day Sales.

I paid 600$ for 2.1kw backup station with ups functionality

That thing on the website is a rip off

 

[VintageReefer]

10kw for $3150 on sale
https://oupes.com/products/oupes-mega-5-b5-extra-battery?variant=43475547226289

 

[VintageReefer]

5kw for $1900

Plus bundles with panels or extra batteries all on sale

https://oupes.com/products/oupes-mega-5-portable-power-station

 

[JonoH]

I'm lucky my brother installs UPS's as his job.

Government departments change them over well before the battery's expire, so i get the old one's as backups :-).

From memory i can run my tank, with no heaters, lights and UV for around 8 hours on one.

Best bet for long term outages would be a generator.

 

[chapter7]

What's the power consumption of the equipment you want to run?

Was thinking the whole dang thing, but I don't think that's realistic. The lights I'm sure eat up a lot already, so probably just everything but the lights.

- 2 Jebao Gyres 25W each, but running at less than 50% I'm sure
- 2 Jebao wavemeakers, 30W, again running at less than 50%
- IM MightyJet XL, 85 watts, let's say 50%
- Nyos Quantum 160, 18W
- 2 BRS titanium heaters, 300W, let's say 10 hours a day on
- Sicce Syncra 0.5, 8W

Some quick math, assuming everything is linear, I get 373.5 W/hr consumption! Yikes. Maybe I kill everything but the pumps in the tank = 55 W/hr = 1.3 KW/day.

 

[chapter7]

5kw for $1900

Plus bundles with panels or extra batteries all on sale

https://oupes.com/products/oupes-mega-5-portable-power-station

Wow, never heard of them, but looks good. I'll look into it. Thx.

 

[chapter7]

5kw for $1900

Plus bundles with panels or extra batteries all on sale

https://oupes.com/products/oupes-mega-5-portable-power-station

Has your system ever had to kick on? Good results?

 

[VintageReefer]

Has your system ever had to kick on? Good results?

I have probably 6kw in battery backup stations combined.

You want bare minimum load for a power outage. Typically just the return pump which allows tank water flow, and the sump water volume/filtration, and aeration

My main reef can run 60 hours on battery this way. An efficient low wattage dc return pump is a game changer

 

[Tamberav]

Dang, ur right! all of a sudden 3 KWh for $2200 after federal tax credit doesn't look so good. Looking at Anker Solix now .... 2 KWh C1000 for under $900 with their Memorial Day Sales.

I went with anker. I wanted batteries that have a 10 year+ lifespan. Not all of the cheaper ones had the nicer batteries in them but I didn’t check them all.

Also it’s been around and proven reliable. Seems to always top lists with ecoflow.

 

[VintageReefer]

And yes they work very good. Seamless cutover to battery and back to ac when power restores

I have one on every tank and another in a spare room for my underground fiber Internet/home phone, router, lamp, and some chargers for phones and laptops

 

[UncommonSense]

Dang, ur right! all of a sudden 3 KWh for $2200 after federal tax credit doesn't look so good. Looking at Anker Solix now .... 2 KWh C1000 for under $900 with their Memorial Day Sales.

Ouch!!! Have you considered a cheap portable generator?

Or, a proper whole home automatic generator? — I’m currently eying up a 7kwh generac unit that runs on natural gas, or can be switched to bottled propane in a pinch!

Edit: generac currently has a sale for under $4k on a 10kW (220v) whole home generator with 100A Automatic Transfer Switch… — why is anyone using multi-thousand dollar battery banks that hold less than one hour of this relatively small generator’s maximum power output?

 

[chapter7]

Ouch!!! Have you considered a cheap portable generator?

Or, a proper whole home automatic generator? — I’m currently eying up a 7kwh generac unit that runs on natural gas, or can be switched to bottled propane in a pinch!

Edit: generac currently has a sale for under $4k on a 10kW (220v) whole home generator with 100A Automatic Transfer Switch… — why is anyone using multi-thousand dollar battery banks that hold less than one hour of this relatively small generator’s maximum power output?

Yea. My main concern was being on vacation so hence a generator was out. I landed at localized battery backups after coming to the conclusion that all I really needed was to ensure my fridge was good and now the aquarium. After two failed attempts at getting Tesla to contact me after putting in a request for a Powerwall, I gave up on them. And Sunrun just felt like sleazy salesmen cause they won't install batteries unless you purchase their panels which I didn't need cause I already have panels!

 

[UncommonSense]

Yea. My main concern was being on vacation so hence a generator was out. I landed at localized battery backups after coming to the conclusion that all I really needed was to ensure my fridge was good and now the aquarium. After two failed attempts at getting Tesla to contact me after putting in a request for a Powerwall, I gave up on them. And Sunrun just felt like sleazy salesmen cause they won't install batteries unless you purchase their panels which I didn't need cause I already have panels!

Oh, have you never looked at whole home generators before?

They typically have the capability to kick on automatically when a power outage is detected; then they will automatically switch your home electrical from city supply to generator supply… then it turns off and switches power back to city supply automatically when power is restored!

They can run on propane, natural gas, gasoline, or diesel; though the two former options are most popular in home installs!

It’ll literally run your whole home for weeks straight between services

The new ones even have wifi apparently!

To me, this seems like a no-brainer versus these overpriced, anemic battery packs… — I’m currently getting by with a $500, 50A, 110v, propane powered, electric start portable generator that can run all my tanks, two fridges, two deep freezers, and still have reserve for the tv/etc!

Edit: if you’re not getting decent rates selling your unused solar power back to your municipality, and want to store it instead… consider doing a cost/benefit analysis on the cost of the battery banks, vs. the amount of extra power you can actually store in them to use later! — if you’re only getting $1/day of free power from your battery bank, and lithium batteries only average 2,000 charge cycles in a lifetime… that battery bank had better cost under $2k all tolled!

 

[chapter7]

Oh, have you never looked at whole home generators before?

They typically have the capability to kick on automatically when a power outage is detected; then they will automatically switch your home electrical from city supply to generator supply… then it turns off and switches power back to city supply automatically when power is restored!

They can run on propane, natural gas, gasoline, or diesel; though the two former options are most popular in home installs!

It’ll literally run your whole home for weeks straight between services

The new ones even have wifi apparently!

To me, this seems like a no-brainer versus these overpriced, anemic battery packs… — I’m currently getting by with a $500, 50A, 110v, propane powered, electric start portable generator that can run all my tanks, two fridges, two deep freezers, and still have reserve for the tv/etc!

Edit: if you’re not getting decent rates selling your unused solar power back to your municipality, and want to store it instead… consider doing a cost/benefit analysis on the cost of the battery banks, vs. the amount of extra power you can actually store in them to use later! — if you’re only getting $1/day of free power from your battery bank, and lithium batteries only average 2,000 charge cycles in a lifetime… that battery bank had better cost under $2k all tolled!

I haven't gotten that deep, but I'll take a look at the whole home generator option. I have some time as I'm still somewhat in the building phase of the aquarium system. Thx for the input!

 

[VintageReefer]

Oh, have you never looked at whole home generators before?

They typically have the capability to kick on automatically when a power outage is detected; then they will automatically switch your home electrical from city supply to generator supply… then it turns off and switches power back to city supply automatically when power is restored!

They can run on propane, natural gas, gasoline, or diesel; though the two former options are most popular in home installs!

It’ll literally run your whole home for weeks straight between services

The new ones even have wifi apparently!

To me, this seems like a no-brainer versus these overpriced, anemic battery packs… — I’m currently getting by with a $500, 50A, 110v, propane powered, electric start portable generator that can run all my tanks, two fridges, two deep freezers, and still have reserve for the tv/etc!

Edit: if you’re not getting decent rates selling your unused solar power back to your municipality, and want to store it instead… consider doing a cost/benefit analysis on the cost of the battery banks, vs. the amount of extra power you can actually store in them to use later! — if you’re only getting $1/day of free power from your battery bank, and lithium batteries only average 2,000 charge cycles in a lifetime… that battery bank had better cost under $2k all tolled!

The lifepo4 power stations have 10 year batteries and support 3500+ full discharge/charge cycles. It means after 10 years the battery will have a minimum of 85% its original capacity

In our applications we rarely would be running it to fill discharge

Gas generators do have more power for cheaper price, but they are loud, make toxic gas, need to be manually started, and need a fuel source stored and stockpiled. Also, they are inconvenient especially in the small outages that are only a few hours.

With the LiFePO4 stations, you get automatic protection even when you are asleep, out of town, etc

Once power goes out, they switch to battery in .1 seconds, and when power comes back, even for short intermittent periods, they recharge automatically.

3 hours of power restored could fully recharge the 5kw station I posted

Plus you could add on portable panels and recharge for free during the day, pushing their runtime indefinitely.

Both systems have pros and cons and neither is a bad choice. It comes down to what things you need most. Whole home, plumbed into a natural gas line is ideal, or solar roof panels is ideal, but that’s a 10-25k investment

 

[UncommonSense]

I haven't gotten that deep, but I'll take a look at the whole home generator option. I have some time as I'm still somewhat in the building phase of the aquarium system. Thx for the input!

Of course! Haha I’be been out of the hobby for a while, and am a bit old school… but, hearing the astronomical prices you’re paying for tiny amounts battery storage; I had to interject with the logical alternative, which has been the gold standard for decades!

The cost of getting the generator installed should be considered when figuring out your power needs…

A whole home generator requires:
— A small concrete pad to rest it on.
— natural gas plumbing from your home.
— electrical wired to automatic transfer Switch.
— auto transfer switch wired into home electrical panel.

It’s a bigger job than a battery bank, but you’ll be FAR happier with the results when you hear it kick on, and know you don’t have to worry about changing a thing!