POWER OUTAGE NOTICE - Need to prepare for my tanks' inhabitants' safety

[zhasan]

Hi All,

BC Hydro sent me a notice stating that the power will be out in my area for 12 hours in the first week of December.

I'm looking for ideas on how to plan for this. I need to ensure that I have some sort of pump running; either my return or the mp20.

Also need to keep the heater on as it will get cold!!

Any help and advice is highly appreciated!

Thanks,

Zee

[Azzkr]

I would just buy or borrow or rent a gen and be worry free. Be able to run most of your tank with it.

[mohammadali]

go to the home depot or Canadian tire buy a generator and return it after a day get your money back or just rent one

[monocus]

your tank can stand a little cold,but it needs o2.a battery powered o2 pump is a must.if you have a canopy ,keep it closed.increase your room temp to help with heat

[sphelps]

go to the home depot or Canadian tire buy a generator and return it after a day get your money back or just rent one

Can't return such products once gas has been used in it so stick with either buying one and keeping it or renting one.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I have a couple of battery packs (including one UPS) to run my main powerhead. I have a portable generator too just in case and long extension cords. Natural gas heating so not sure if my place would be that affected by the cold if Hydro shut off power. You can also pick up battery operated air pumps from King Ed's (I think they sell them). Yeah, its always a good idea to be prepared well ahead of time for power outages. I recommend you crank up the heat for a few hours before they shut off power, and then keep all the curtains closed and throw a insulated blanket over your tank to help preserve the heat. Good luck. If you need something, let me know.

[Magickiwi]

You can buy a 7kW system with transfer switch for around $2k. Considering what *I* have to lose in my tank it would be worth it. How much do you have invested in livestock?

[Rogue951]

Consider yourself lucky you have advance notice. lol.

Buy a powerbox from Canadian tire, charge it up and it should last the air pump long enough.
The powerbox is around $300, but you can return it after so not a big deal.
Costco also has a powerbox type device last time I was in but I don't think it lasts as long.

[tim the toolman]

I bought a 1300w generator at Walmart and it works great. I think it cost about 200 or less.
Runs a heater the main return pump and powerheads as well ad LEDs on half rip no problem.

[Ross]

you can return it after so not a big deal.

go to the home depot or Canadian tire buy a generator and return it after a day get your money back

WTF is wrong with you guys??
You feel that a stores return policy is meant to be abused like this? :crazy:

You can BUY a 900w generator for less than $100 and never need to worry about it again.

If $100 is too much, light a candle in the room for heat and get a battery air pump for $20 and your good to go.

[e46er]

I . Natural gas heating so not sure if my place would be that affected by the cold if Hydro shut off power.


Yeap sure would.
Furnace blower needs power, boiler pumps need power

Basically standing pilot fireplaces are all that will work.

[sphelps]

Yeap sure would.
Furnace blower needs power, boiler pumps need power

Basically standing pilot fireplaces are all that will work.

Most gas fireplaces are designed to work without power. Any built in fans obviously won't work but they will still radiate a good amount of heat.

[Madreefer]

WTF is wrong with you guys??
You feel that a stores return policy is meant to be abused like this? :crazy:



Thanks bro. You saved me from saying it.
I remember a post last year bout a newbie who had a problem with the size of his tank and was all for abusing the system too. He went back and edited his posts than lied about it.

[e46er]

Most gas fireplaces are designed to work without power. Any built in fans obviously won't work but they will still radiate a good amount of heat.

That's what I said.........standing pilot fireplaces will work, High end fireplaces/linear style fireplaces are electronic ignition for the most part and will not work

But I'm only a licenced gas fitter

[Doug]

I always procrastinate and end up running a cord out to the truck and inverter. :lol:

Me thinks its time to do something proper for this tank.

[Rogue951]

WTF is wrong with you guys??
You feel that a stores return policy is meant to be abused like this? :crazy:

You can BUY a 900w generator for less than $100 and never need to worry about it again.

If $100 is too much, light a candle in the room for heat and get a battery air pump for $20 and your good to go.


I Got nothing better to do than abuse a store's return policy.
If there was a generator for less than $100 I would buy one. Haven't come across it.
I have a power outage once a year, if that.
Do I actually abuse refund policies like that? No. But this is Vancouver and ppl are always looking for the cheap way out so I thought I'd throw it out there.
You should go stand at the Costco return line if it bothers you so much. You'd love the people who return chips that don't taste good, or the flowers that didn't grow.

[Aquattro]

WTF is wrong with you guys??
You feel that a stores return policy is meant to be abused like this? :crazy:

If $100 is too much, light a candle in the room for heat and get a battery air pump for $20 and your good to go.

Just a special kind of cheap ass dirt bag I guess :) Sort of part time stealing, no?

[Rogue951]

Just a special kind of cheap ass dirt bag I guess :) Sort of part time stealing, no?

More like short term rental. =)
You know how it is in this hobby, Every dollar Saved can go towards another frag.

[Aquattro]

More like short term rental. =)
You know how it is in this hobby, Every dollar Saved can go towards another frag.

Ya know, I can justify pretty much anything, but this is just something I can't make up an excuse for :) It's just wrong!

[SanguinesDream]

Ya know, I can justify pretty much anything, but this is just something I can't make up an excuse for :) It's just wrong!

+ 1 000 000 000

[mike31154]

Definitely a plus that BC Hydro has forewarned you of the outage. Buying a small generator should get you through with the least amount of hassle & you might be able to run a few other things in your home, like the fridge, to keep your steaks in the freezer compartment from thawing out. Or you could have bbq steak for dinner.

I've been meaning to get a small generator myself, the only backup I have is a couple of battery powered air pumps and car batteries with inverter. I've been very fortunate in that there have been no long term outages here in Vernon since I set up my tank. And yes, should you decide to buy a generator (as I probably should as well), plan to keep it. I have to agree that buying anything with the premeditated intent of returning it after having used it temporarily is not the mama.

[Madreefer]

Ya know, I can justify pretty much anything, but this is just something I can't make up an excuse for :) It's just wrong!

Totally agree. I'm curious of the reason they use for the return. I'd be too ashamed to say "ahh I just dont need it anymore". It is the same as stealing as this also drives up prices.
If you cant afford this hobby maybe it's time to find another one.

[Doug]

I like Marks whole house system he added in his build thread. Now thats the way to go. I worry about power outage when Im not there. Who digs the generator out of the shed and fires it up, etc.

[Reef Pilot]

Totally agree. I'm curious of the reason they use for the return. I'd be too ashamed to say "ahh I just dont need it anymore". It is the same as stealing as this also drives up prices.
If you cant afford this hobby maybe it's time to find another one.
I used to be in retail (big box), and sad to say, there was a lot of this... And yes, it is part of your shrink, which cuts into your margin, and it all adds to the cost for everyone else.

But people should also know that if you are on some type of loyalty program or use a credit card, this type of data can be tracked.

[Rogue951]

I used to be in retail (big box), and sad to say, there was a lot of this... And yes, it is part of your shrink, which cuts into your margin, and it all adds to the cost for everyone else.

But people should also know that if you are on some type of loyalty program or use a credit card, this type of data can be tracked.

I wonder if Costco does anything about it though. They track because I return stuff without receipt sometimes. And yes its because it's actually broken.

[Reef Pilot]

I wonder if Costco does anything about it though. They track because I return stuff without receipt sometimes. And yes its because it's actually broken.
I can tell you that retailers are pretty good at distinguishing between legitimate and bogus returns. But they have to be very careful not to p off good customers and lose business.

[zhasan]

Hi All,

Thank you all for all your responses. I've decided to rent a generator from Home Depot for the day... it'll run me about 40 bucks plus gas for a small one. Certainly can't afford to buy one and keep and I'm not one to buy use and return.

I was hoping to find a cheaper backup solution (battery backup/UPS) to buy and keep for future usage but I'll think about that later.

Anyway, got another notice today saying that the power outage has been moved to December 4th now.

What I'm wondering about is how much gas will I need to have to have the generator working the entire day. I won't be home all day and I'm counting on my brother (who conveniently lives next door) to refill the gas and keep the generator going. I have a 10 litre gas can that I can fill up but am wondering if it'll last the day.

Anyone used a generator all day long before?

[mike31154]

Fuel consumption depends on a number of variables, the size of the generator & the load you put on it. You can usually get some idea of average consumption for a particular unit, but we have no idea what you are renting? Best to talk to the folks you're renting from to get that info. An average vehicle uses in the order of 10 litres/100 kms highway driving. That takes about an hour, but is a fairly large engine moving a bit of weight. Your 10 litre can might last a day, but probably a good idea to go to Can Tire & pick up a 25 litre.

On another tangent, but with some relevance, seeing as BC Hydro are cranking up the electricity rates in the coming years to the tune of 25% or so, I'm thinking the payback time for installing solar panels on your home will get to the point where it's worthwhile to invest the capital. Once you have that set up with enough batteries & inverters, you'll have a relatively clean alternative to use as a back up when the power corporation fails you or shuts you down for maintenance.

[Palmer]

If anyone is interested in buying a generator I picked this one up at home depot for $399.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/PowerStroke-3-500-Watt-212-cc-Gasoline-Powered-Portable-Generator-PS903500/203183987

I bought it primarily to work on my cabin it provides 3500W. It's the first geenrator I have owned but it works slick and I would run it 8-10 hours at a time several days in a row without issue. Once I am finished with it at the cabin i will be bringing it back to the house for potential extended power failures.

[mseepman]

I used to sell Whole-home Generators when I was with an Electrical firm...the cost was huge (especially for the transfer switch). Now the market has really dropped the pricing. I bought my 8kw Generac for dirt cheap from KMS tools...it's natural gas and it powers my entire tank setup (fish room and tank) plus fridges, freezers, furnace, lights, fireplace starter, bathrooms and ceiling fans. Gotta service it once per year, but the kit costs $16 from Home Depot and a little elbow grease.

[Doug]

I used to sell Whole-home Generators when I was with an Electrical firm...the cost was huge (especially for the transfer switch). Now the market has really dropped the pricing. I bought my 8kw Generac for dirt cheap from KMS tools...it's natural gas and it powers my entire tank setup (fish room and tank) plus fridges, freezers, furnace, lights, fireplace starter, bathrooms and ceiling fans. Gotta service it once per year, but the kit costs $16 from Home Depot and a little elbow grease.


I love that idea. Can it go on my mobile?

[zhasan]

Hi All,

So I called home depot the other day to make a reservation and the gentleman there told me that the generator they have will end up frying most of my equipment as it fluctuates a lot and causes surges in current. He suggested I rent an inverter generator that provides constant level of power and will be better for use with component electrical equipment.

I'm wondering if any of have had some experience in running a normal (standard) generator to power up your tank or other electrical equipment other than saws and misc tools.

He also mentioned that the inverter generators are was the production companies use for their lights and camera and stuff and thats what I'd need to use on my tank equipment.

Anyone know where I can rent one of those from?

[Palmer]

I don't know about the kind of generator they were talking about but for sensitive equipment what they are saying makes sense. For me Ina power outage I am mainly looking at heaters and pumps if 24 to 48 hours so I am not worried about it. I have used portable heaters and lights and battery chargers on mine without issue beyond tools. I could see not having a controller or ecotech pump etc on it.

[mike31154]

Hi All,

So I called home depot the other day to make a reservation and the gentleman there told me that the generator they have will end up frying most of my equipment as it fluctuates a lot and causes surges in current. He suggested I rent an inverter generator that provides constant level of power and will be better for use with component electrical equipment.

I'm wondering if any of have had some experience in running a normal (standard) generator to power up your tank or other electrical equipment other than saws and misc tools.

He also mentioned that the inverter generators are was the production companies use for their lights and camera and stuff and thats what I'd need to use on my tank equipment.

Anyone know where I can rent one of those from?

Sounds like a crock to me. Any half decent generator should run your gear no problem. Most of them have protective circuits to minimize any problems due to overcurrent, voltage etc. Should also have a governor of sorts to keep the AC frequency within reasonable range of 60 Hz. I've heard of these 'inverter' generators but not sure what that's about. A good quality, standard generator will produce a nice sine wave 115 VAC 60 Hz signal that won't harm any of your equipment. Some AC motors don't do well with modified (clipped) sine waves which is what many cheap inverters produce. Most other gear rectifies the AC into DC, so modified sine wave isn't an issue. Heaters & other resistive components don't care about modified sine waves, they soldier on regardless.

[zhasan]

Hi All!!!

Thanks for everyones helpful tips/suggestions/ideas.

In the end, I ended up borrowing a generator from a friend's friend and leave it on standby the even of the power outage day. I had my brother as the go to guy to turn the power on from the generator once the outage happens.

The power outage was scheduled for 9:30 am on wednesday and it turned out that the power never went out. I don't know what the heck happened but BC hydro sure as hell stressed the crap out of me. I'm happy that I didn't have to resort to generator power and potentially risk my equipment but nonetheless it was a pain to think about things and get that generator home and set it up in the cold!

I guess all is well that ends well.

I'm finally finding a bit of time to start posting on the forum and stuff and hoping to revive my build thread again!!