Power is out! How do you get through power outages?

[BZOFIQ]

I think it's a conjob personally but as my state has the highest cost of power in Australia and one of the highest in the world, when I was asked to participate in a power program and I get a Powerwall for only $3000 instead of near $20K I jumped at it. But I'd never pay retail for a battery to "save" on my power bill. $20K is a lot of years of power bills up front. Was it Sydney that was told to save power recently?

Care to share your cost per kWh? Very curious what is the highest in the world.

 

[BZOFIQ]

We now face the issue that we’re having to pay (up to €50 a day) when sending excess solar energy onto the grid. Even though there is no excess in energy. Power companies just found a loophole to punish customers who are producing their own power instead of using theirs. So there is a solid case for batteries.

LOL, that's a scam. You pay for them to take the excess which they sell to the guy next door.

 

[BZOFIQ]

portable generator and a transfer switch that will power my tank and home essentials, furnace, refrigerator, sump pump and of course the tank. haven't had to use it in 7 years but better to have it and not need it.

Do a "full drain" test to make sure it all still works after 7 years.

 

[BZOFIQ]

If the Honda generator mentioned is the one I'm thinking of - it isn't at all noiseless, but it is extremely quiet.

That they are, they are amazingly quiet and reliable. Use non-ethanol fuel and they'll never let you down.

The only silent "generator" is essentially a battery with an inverter and a solar panel for recharging.

Can you really recharge anything the next day when it rains? Not really.

 

[BZOFIQ]

GovernmentS

We've come to a point where our government is looking for ways to apply extra taxation to EVs. First they tell you we should all get EVs. And as soon as a large part of the population buys one, they start taxing the hell out of it.

That's because you don't pay for road maintenance that's built into the taxes at the pump. This too will happen in the US once more sheep get on the e-wagon.

 

[ErikVR]

LOL, that's a scam. You pay for them to take the excess which they sell to the guy next door.

Exactly. Welcome to my madness
We actually disable part of our panels/inverters on sunny days. That way, the energy that the guy next door uses comes from gas turbines instead of solar... What a world we live in.

 

[ErikVR]

That's because you don't pay for road maintenance that's built into the taxes at the pump. This too will happen in the US once more sheep get on the e-wagon.

I'm not in the US. We actually pay for infrastructure maintenance in the form of a separate tax per vehicle based on weight. Local roads are maintained by an additional local tax we pay every year.

So I'm a sheep because I prefer to drive in silence while outperforming every car on the road?
While also powering all my kilometres by excess energy produced on my roof.

 

[BZOFIQ]

So i have been in the hobby for 20 years and never lost anyting due to power outage. My ecotech battery backup is 6 years old and last year when the power went out at 6 am in the morning it never kicked on (which i kind of expected). I think around 7am my wife woke me up since the fan stopped and told me the powers out. Anyways my tank has Achilles, Powder, Orange should, Yellow tangs, Purple tangs, Pretty much all fish that I have I could not afford to repurchase and some are not even available. I ended up taking 5 gallon buckets and stiring the water every 15 minutes. Our township told us the power will be back on in 3 hours and luckily my tank was just getting corals so no biggie.

Today, I am absolutely terrified about losing power at night and my ecotech battery not working (so i have to get this working so it gives me enough time to get a generator hooked up). The ecotech battery backup is a life saver and saved my tank many times when I was at work or away since I know the tank loses power for a few hours here and there.

My only concern with using a generator is I have never used one before. There are so many options and I dont want to buy the wrong one and later have to replace it. They are very expensive right now because of the peak time in the US. I read having a transfer switch is required and not to run extension cords inside the doors or windows (something exactly i would do). I also have a basement sump so would be running extension cords to the basement windows and then I would need to run one to the first floor to power at least one MP60 or closed loop. I am concerned of losing power for more than 10 hours and my heat, oxygen levels dropping and causing the carbon dosing to backfire.


does anyone recommend a good generator? I am thinking something thats inverted and 5000 watts. I have 900 watts of heating though 600 watt would suffice, 160 watt return pump, 2 mp60s as the main source of power.

If you're going the portable route then Honda Inverter type generator is your best bet - they are just reliable and quiet. They have different units that fit every budget. I have the 2200 and 3000 but I wish when I first bought the 3000 that I have bought the 7000W unit which would have run the whole house. Perhaps down the line I'll look into parting with the 3000 and paying the difference to get the large one.

As to ecotech battery, they are just an enclosure with SLA battery. They last about 3 years, you can drill out the rivets and just replace the battery within for cheap. Set it on a schedule and replace every 3 years to be prepared.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I'm not in the US. We actually pay for infrastructure maintenance in the form of a separate tax per vehicle based on weight. Local roads are maintained by an additional local tax we pay every year.

So I'm a sheep because I prefer to drive in silence while outperforming every car on the road?
While also powering all my kilometres by excess energy produced on my roof.

Not you, I'm referring to all the sheep that buy EV to charge at home with grid power generated by burning gas/coal.

I'm going to tell you how stupid this whole thing is.

Last summer our grid in NY couldn't handle the load so ConEd rented out Diesel Powered generators (HUGE!!! - 40ft container sized each) that they parked in residential area to inject juice into the grid - there were 4 in total, 2-3 city-blocks in between them. As I walked the dog, I stopped to speak to the "tech" from CAT that sat in the pickup truck every night monitoring these units on the laptop. He explained how it works and when I asked him so the people down the block who charge their EVs think they're no emissions he burst out laughing.

Where I live some people have solar panels, nobody I know has a Powerwall or any type of storage.

There is a push for solar panels with so called incentives. I had 2 guys come from two different companies with offers to install panels; I sent both of them home after hearing their proposal. People who aren't good in math will probably just sign away.

Keeping long story short - Sun Run wanted $36,000 for an 18-panel installation. Good luck!

 

[BZOFIQ]

Generators for me, I have 2 Honda 2200 on stand by. Every 6 months I conduct a start / run test, add a little bit of fuel, crank it up and let it run until it burns all the fuel.
Super Storm Sandy was a doozy. Learned a valuable lesson there.

Lots of lessons learned with Sandy indeed. Generators and fuel stored is a must!

We were just talking with my wife that if it wasn't for Sandy we would have probably bought a house in one of NYC's flood zones where people are still having flood problems even with recent "storm".

With the maps being released after Sandy it was so much easier to look for that "house on the hill"

BTW, depending on which Honda 2200s you've bought you can twin them.

 

[RickSanford]

The Honda inverter generators (2800 running watts) are amazing - super quiet (58db) and super reliable. But at $2300 are top of the line priced.

I chose the Champion inverter generator (3650 running watts) - relatively quiet (61db) with decent reliability (especially with occasional use). Price is ~$1000. I've used it to power my RV (30A plug on the unit) and twice to cover power outages at the house for the tanks and the refrigerator.

Whole house natural gas generator is next on my list.

 

[BZOFIQ]

BTW, depending on which Honda 2200s you've bought you can twin them.

Actually, they call all be run in parallel, I was thinking about the specific model with 30A outlet that could be connected to a transfer switch.

 

[BZOFIQ]

The Honda inverter generators (2800 running watts) are amazing - super quiet (58db) and super reliable. But at $2300 are top of the line priced.

I chose the Champion inverter generator (3650 running watts) - relatively quiet (61db) with decent reliability (especially with occasional use). Price is ~$1000. I've used it to power my RV (30A plug on the unit) and twice to cover power outages at the house for the tanks and the refrigerator.

Whole house natural gas generator is next on my list.

These are in a very sweet spot and don't cost arm, leg and a kidney

https://amzn.to/3TVR5SI

Small to store, super quiet, sip on fuel and run forever. There is a reason 90% of food trucks in the city run these vs anything generic.

 

[Ashish Patel]

If you're going the portable route then Honda Inverter type generator is your best bet - they are just reliable and quiet. They have different units that fit every budget. I have the 2200 and 3000 but I wish when I first bought the 3000 that I have bought the 7000W unit which would have run the whole house. Perhaps down the line I'll look into parting with the 3000 and paying the difference to get the large one.

As to ecotech battery, they are just an enclosure with SLA battery. They last about 3 years, you can drill out the rivets and just replace the battery within for cheap. Set it on a schedule and replace every 3 years to be prepared.

I heard great things about the Honda generators but so expensive right now, If I could find a used one that is fairly new I would jump on that. Do you use a transfer switch or just run extension cords? At this point that would be my only option but hope electrician can put a transfer switch this week. We where lucky to not lose power few days ago during a powerful storm. The lights flickers at night but luckily never lost power. I am going to order some batteries for the ecotech backup.

 

[Paul B]

Here on Long Island New York the power goes out even if I am watching a storm in a movie. In the 50 years my tank has been running it went out dozens of times so I keep a couple of flashlight fish in there for light and I have some firefish and flame angels for heat.

(I also have a generator because during Hurricane Sandy we were out for 3 days. My fish enjoy the calmness. )

 

[BZOFIQ]

I heard great things about the Honda generators but so expensive right now, If I could find a used one that is fairly new I would jump on that. Do you use a transfer switch or just run extension cords? At this point that would be my only option but hope electrician can put a transfer switch this week. We where lucky to not lose power few days ago during a powerful storm. The lights flickers at night but luckily never lost power. I am going to order some batteries for the ecotech backup.

Even cheaper here, on special.

Put it on a card if you have to and pay it off within few months.

Honda 2200-Watt Remote Stop/Recoil Start Bluetooth Super Quiet Gasoline Powered Inverter Generator with Advanced CO Shutdown EU2200ITAN - The Home Depot

More power, same legendary quality. Honda's advanced inverter technology provides 2,200-Watt of quiet, light-weight and fuel-efficient power. The EU2200i can power a wide variety of applications, making

www.homedepot.com

 

[BZOFIQ]

... I prefer to drive in silence while outperforming every car on the road?

...not sure if that falls under performance or silence...I enjoyed my wroom-wroom this morning without the need to outperform.

Chicago-area Tesla charging stations lined with dead cars in freezing cold: 'A bunch of dead robots out here'

Many Chicago-area Tesla owners were visibly frustrated on Monday after their electric vehicles failed to charge amid freezing temperatures.

finance.yahoo.com

 

[Katrina71]

We have small tanks at the moment. No generator. We use battery aerators and have self adhesive hot hands for at least some heat on the outside of the tank. Our tanks are in a room with a gas fireplace, but with vaulted ceilings it makes me feel better.

 

[sugar]

I lost power again for another 2.5 days! VERY grateful for the generator but am now looking at shorter term options that would kick on automatically and buy me some time (if I'm at work or away when the power goes out, and need a few hours before the genny can be started). EcoTech might be the answer, or if we can find a way to do something similar!

Really interesting to see everyone's unique situations

 

[sfin52]

I know this gets discussed but I'd be interested to see how many have generators or other means to power the tank in case of a power outage!

I mainly see things like battery backups, UPS, generators, and/or battery bubblers being used.

When I had my old 25g Lagoon running years ago, when the power went out for several days, I had set an alarm on my phone for every 45-60 min. or so to get up and heat water on my wood furnace, float new hot water bottles, and manually stir the tank. I think I did have a battery bubbler also. This is in Canada so cold temps in the winter are a major concern. I remember it was brutally cold. The only thing I lost was my cleaner shrimp, miraculously. This was one of the most stressful times of my life (not to sound dramatic!). I don't think I slept for 3 days.

After that, I  swore to myself that I would  never have a reef tank without a generator.

I am currently sitting in the black again. The power was out last week for 3 days. Sigh.

Since then, and having moved in with the boyfriend, reefkeeping life in the winter so far has been good! He has a good-sized generator and we can easily keep the tank, among other things, running while the power is out.

What do you do?!

One time in 10yrs did power go out from more than a few hours. In July we lost power for 3 days.

Battery operated airstones. I also took a large Mason jar shook up the water and poured it back into the tank. I did this before work and as soon as I got home from work. the tank sits in the basement it got up to 81. Extremely stressful. Didn't loose a thing.