Back up Power

[Taz2478]

Since katrina Ive been looking for ways to setup some kind of backup power system for my tanks. I was already planning this before the storm but really looking into it since.

My 1st thought was keeping Marine Batteries like used for boats with the adapters hooked up.

Another thought is a full house solar back up system.

any info, ideas, whatever??????

 

[Oddball]

A whole house solar backup system (without storage batteries) will run you about $30,000 for a 2500sq/ft house. Add another $7500 for batteries, battery room, and transfer switches/converters)
Marine batteries would require recharging every few hours. Deep cell batteries could double your run time but cost more than twice the price of standard marine batts.
I went with a Generac 15kW auto-switching generator that runs on natural/lp gas. I don't need to be home to restore power to my fish building. 4 seconds into a power loss, the generator kicks on and since the switch box is connected to my main circuit panel, the generator automatically restores power to every socket and appliance. The system even does a self-test once a week to make sure it's available when a blackout occurs. Best thing is I got the system for less than $3k delivered. I liked the generator's performance enough that I bought a 12kW unit for the house. The whole town could be dark but, I still have my fridge, A/C units, big-screen, and DVD player running.

 

[beblondie]

Yup got something to say on this one too lol
Power outages
We need electricity to run or various devices,and power outtages and cuts can be devastating to us and our fish.How you deal with it requires some advance planning.It can be as simple as have battery operated
airpumps to UPS back ups to power invertors to back up generators below are some options.

UPS(Uninterruptible Power Supply)
is basicly a large battery which will takeover and keep electrical
things running in a power loss. How long it will keep them running depends on;
1. the watts the appliance uses
2. the size of the UPS.
It's hard to determine how long a system will be able to sustain a
power outage without loosing it's cycle. I say system because in an
established tank bacteria is practically on every surface both in and
outside the filter chamber. What that means is that although we know
the bacteria itself is unable to go much longer than a few hours
without oxygen before starting to die off,An established tank can re-seed the filter even after
a 24 hour outage at times (depending on bio-load ).
I've left my canisters unplugged for up to 24 hours by mistake(oops)
after servicing without noticing any ammonia or nitrite spikes in the
following days or weeks, obviously plants took over the role of
removing ammonia but even in non-planted tanks I've only witnessed
small spikes following such an outage. I do overfilter all my tanks
so I'm not sure how well that would have gone if I had a HOB filter only
rather than canisters.(some HOBS do not selfstart well and lose their prime during outages)
As for UPS units my Eheim( 2217 )canister ran for over 10 hours
at 10 hours but there was a lot of juice left in the UPS. A 250VA UPS is capable
of running the pump there,than it is anywhere else. Obviously
just connect one filter to the UPS, don't worry about temperature or
lighting as this will cause the UPS to run out of battery very
quickly. Plus the temperature drop will be very gradual so little
harm in most cases, if anything you can cover the tank with some
heavy blankets to insulate it.The bigger the tank the slower the temp will
drop simply because theres more volume.

Battery operated air pumps
I use sponge filters in all my tanks and have battery operated air pumps fir
emergencies .

Backup generators
If you have several tanks and or expensive fish and live in an area with frequent
power outages a back up generator may be you solution.Make sure its autostart one that
detects the outage and starts automaticly.these are capable of running most of the electrical equipment
in your home.(selling point to win over the other half)

Power inverters
possibly the cheapest solution power inverters,invert 12VDC to 120AC running off
a charged 12Volt battery.However don't expect more than 4 hours usage.or
long wires and use your car as a power source(check gas prices)

To really see if the above are options shut off your filter.Does it start back up?or do
you need to prime it to get it working again?If so I make the following suggestion
consider an air driven filter with a battery backed up airpump they make a cpl
models that switch to battery mode anytime the power cuts out.At least it will save
some biofliter to reseed the other filters.

Temperature
keeping it warm in winter during a power outage is hard heres some things you can try
if you have a gas grill
do small water changes with warm water
float bottles of warm water in the tank or if you don't have a heat source
wrap the tank with blankets,and sheets of styrofoam if you have them

Keeping it cool in summer during power outages
small water changes with cool water
add extra filters and airstones to move the water
float bottles of cool water in the tank
If you are using any form of power back up add airstones to circulate the water
I hope this gives you some ideas how to deal with a situation that can be devastating-Anne

 

[Taz2478]

thanks

Ill definately have something in place by next yrs season since its supposed to get worse ea yr.

I had tested the battery idea (1 marine and 1 red top)and my filters ran for almost 2 weeks. Which would have great if I had set em back up since power was out for 3 weeks.

 

[Taz2478]

After a yr of experimenting, mainly cause my cousins kept plugging up way too much ish, UPS's work nicely for airpumps and 110's. of course not for 3 weeks but I've also tried a generator, that my cousins bought (LMAOD). I was able to have all filters, airpumps and powerheads (not needed but hey...). It would also charge the ups back up so when it came time for refilling the airpumps would still work.

I'm def looking into oddball's setup but going solar would also yield $$$$$ from govt and added value to the house...

 

[razorlip]

I'm currently looking into a small solar\wind generator setup. This will power only my fish room. The guy designing it says he can get me in it for under $2200 but he's also a relative.