PDA

View Full Version : Battery Back-up ???


ALang
05-04-2011, 02:00 PM
I just bought a new Garrison backup power system, 400W.
It has: 2 sealed, 20Ah lead-acid batteries
Built-in transfer relay
BUT, the output is a non-sinusoidal modified sine wave

Questions:
Before I go ahead and plug this thing in, is this something that I can rely on for the occasional power outages to run my 300W heater plus one or two Korallia-4 power heads?? I had read here that maybe non-sine wave isn't good for the Power heads?
My tank is a 6', 130gal mixed reef, pretty heavily stocked.

I was thinking since the house is warm, and the tank is 130gal, I can maybe do away with the heater if it helps.

Thanks for all your input. Lenny.

mike31154
05-04-2011, 03:23 PM
The instructions for these things should give you a good idea of what kind of performance you'll get depending on what you've got plugged into it. I don't think it's going to run a 300 watt heater for very long with 40 Ah battery capacity and the inverter running at close to max power. Add a Powerhead to the mix and you're really pushing the envelope. So I guess it comes down to how long the power outage will be & the total wattage of items you decide to plug into it.

At some point I plan to get some deep cycle batteries and a good inverter as backup power. Also planning on getting some solar panels to charge the batteries. As my budget allows, I'd like to build up a larger solar array with battery bank to run items in my house permanently. Transfer switches are available as well, to automate things. With LED lighting on the verge of taking off & replacing the CFLs everyone's been installing, the plan is to run most of the house lighting with LEDs directly from a DC voltage source, the bank of batteries. No inverter required to run LEDs if you do it right and since they use even less power than CFLs, a properly sized battery bank charged by a solar array should take care of the whole house, perhaps even the tank as far as lighting goes.