Poll: How do you plan for power outages?

[4FordFamily]

Backup battery and generator

 

[Greybeard]

Huh... talking about this stuff... my power just blinked :D

 

[DLHDesign]

Other: Tesla Powerwall (and solar to keep it charged)

 

[Greybeard]

I _love_ the idea of Tesla's powerwall. With my electrical draw, I'd need 4 of them, with solar charging, I'd be looking at 25k. Just can't see it at that price. I could put in a propane whole house generator for a quarter of that.

 

[Tiger-Paws]

For my Red Sea Reefer Nano and the 20 gallon QT tank I have 2 1500w backup power supplies ($99.99 each from Costco). Then 2 each 2000w gas generators with enough fuel to last several days.

I have the main return pump and the Aqamai Wavemaker on the backup power supply and for the QT tank the HOB filter on its own power supply.

The most I have been without power east of the Dallas Metroplex is 6 hours

 

[DLHDesign]

I'd be looking at 25k.

For my single battery, it cost me $8k to install. However, I'm weeks away from getting a ~$5,300 rebate from the state for installing it. So the net cost of a single battery (for me) has only been ~$2,700! :-O (The rebate program is very limited, of course - may already have run out of money...)

Note that it's also possible to tie the Powerwall into only specific circuits. So you could (if desired) hook it up to just the circuits for your tank, if you wanted.

 

[Todvod]

Oxidation and hydrogen peroxide.

Sincerely Lasse

Lasse,
Can you explain? I’m new.

 

[Greybeard]

For my single battery, it cost me $8k to install. However, I'm weeks away from getting a ~$5,300 rebate from the state for installing it.

After reading that, and before I went and looked, I said to myself 'guy must be from California'... :)

No way Missouri is going to pay that kind of money to install a battery / solar system. My electric company will rebate a little... and there may be some federal benefits or tax write offs too, but I'm sure that most of what you got came from CA. Odd, since they seem to be broke... Anyway, that kind of money back wouldn't be available out here in flyover country (and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way!).

 

[sghera64]

I use Jebao 24v pumps for my DT and frag tanks. What I like about 24vDC is that you can use the Tunze Safety Connector and a 12V Marine battery as an affordable back-up. I use 1 battery for all 4 pumps. One thing to note, when the power goes out, everything is off: including heater and lights. I have no plan for that. With 12V, the pumps runs at half speed. Hopefully, the fish slow down in the dark and respire less so that the 1/2 speed of the pumps is enough to drive gas exchange.

In the past 20 years, we experience about 1-4 power losses per year, but they typically last for only 2 minutes and not longer than 30-60 minutes. So, my solution suits my needs.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/tunze-turbelle-safety-connector.html

 

[Rick Krejci]

I think backups in case of power failure is one of the most overlooked aspect of this hobby. I have a 25 gallon nano and run an mp10 so I use the ecotech backup. This has worked very well for me during a couple hours long power interruptions. I can't really justify a generator for this size of tank but if I had a bigger tank I think I would have a whole house generator that somebody could easily turn on if there was a power interruption when I was gone, my biggest fear. I wish there was some sort of manufactured backup for heaters that would maintain a lower temp, maybe like 70 deg, in case of a power interruption.

If you set it up right, and Apex on a UPS can detect a power outage and you can programmatically change the behavior of all your components, like setting the heater to a very low value. A standard UPS won't last long with a heater, though and an Apex is likely way overkill for a 20 gallon.

I wonder if there is a 12V thermostatically controlled heater that can run off a car battery? You can just set it to 70 and it wouldn't ever run unless the other heater has failed or power is out. For a small tank like yours, that would last a long time.

 

[Xandernfs]

I have an ecotech battery backup that I have yet to install. It's a year old, but I haven't had the need to use it. I'm curious how generators work? I've never had the need for one, but think I may want to invest. Can somebody school me?

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I currently have a standard desktop UPS unit with the main and wavemaker pumps, and low draw atinic LED strips attached to it. With that load it will allow my system to run for 7 hours before full power failure to the tank. At that point a pair of battery operated air pumps kick in and care capable of running for another to 24 hours. I also have a 15K generator that can be spun up to bring full power to the system and it's configured to run on gasoline, propane, or natural gas. I had an electrician install a switch so if I need to fire up the generator I can instantly provide power to the entire house (except the A/C). I have a natural gas line plumbed to it so I never have to refill it as long as the gas flows. For emergency cooling I have a portable A/C that I can run as well as a modified mini fridge that I plumbed a large coil of stainless tube in that can be hooked in line to the return pump and can be used to chill the water if the outage happens over summer.

 

[DLHDesign]

there may be some federal benefits or tax write offs too, but I'm sure that most of what you got came from CA.

Unfortunately, the federal program (for batteries) expired at the end of 2016. There's still a solar program that gets you 30% of the system cost (goods and services), but that won't help with a battery such as this...

 

[Kamden Uelton]

Last hurricane my power went out for 12 hours and I was up ALL NIGHT trying to keep my fish alive. I thought I was going to lose them as they started to sink to the bottom and breath heavily, My pipefish I thought was dead because he didn't move but the snails weren't after him so I left him in and right before I gave up and thought my fish were dead... The power came back on! It took my pipefish a good hour to get back to normal and everything expensive survived only deaths were micro brittle stars.

My dad said he's saving for a Generator just incase this happens again.

 

[mta_morrow]

New Home, new build, new issues. Just moved to the Hilton Head area so being prepared is a must. For my build that is underway, I have battery backup for my return pump and gyre. I will upsize these stock batteries at a later date.

I also made a post recently about using my Marriott rewards points to get a whole house generator. 9000watt running, 12,000watt peak. I have a dryer outlet in the garage that the generator will plug into. Also a whole house surge protector on the main electric panel.

 

[Chitown tom]

My previous home I installed a manual transfer switch and needed to roll my generator out of the garage and plug it into the house.

The new place we recently acquired came with a whole house generac! I have never been so excited!

Now after a power outage, 30 seconds later the generator kicks on and boom whole house is back to normal. No extension cords, no need to worry when your not home.

 

[luisgo]

I live in Puerto Rico! We are still in the process of recovering from two hurricanes, Irma and Maria. I was lucky to have a power outage plan. For short outages wich are frequent I have a APC UPS which runs two Jebaos and two Koralias for two hours. After that I have to turn on an Honda 3000 generator. I also have 44 solar panels with two inverters that I can use during the day. For the hurricanes I was one month without power. The drill was from 7am to 5pm solar power running everything. Lot's of electric extensions around the house. From 5pm to 7am the generator. Lot's of oil changes and a lot of patience! My tank did't suffer anything!

 

[skiergd011013]

I have nothing. I almost peed my pants when the power went out a few weeks ago, and the temps outside were WELL below zero. I immediately draped blankets over the tank. It couldnt have happened on a worse night. Luckily, it came back after an hour.

 

[Stephen Maggard]

I have a UPS with power monitoring on my APEX. I have the apex set to turn off everything but one of my WAV pumps which is close to the surface.

 

[Reefrodeo]

I have 2 small UPS and a dedicated 2000w portable generator.
The UPS are set up (1) on the apex head and (2) on my router and isp modem, so I can receive texts if power is out.
I have found the most reliable alarm is a low watt or amp alarm on my return pump. If I get the alarm I can check and see if just the pump is failing or if the entire system is down. Everyone in the household can set the generator up, so power is never off to tank for more than about 30 minutes.