Power Outage options? - UPS?

[globaldesigns]

I personally use a generator, bought my first one for $200 bucks used, and it could power most of the house. Then I had my business buy a much better one that could power the house and is designed to be used with electronics. Basically supplies a much cleaner power supply.

What I am getting at, is that you can look for a used gas generator and probably get it cheap, in many cases the same price as buying UPS's or battery packs. And with a generator the power is unlimited, as long as it is gassed up.

[DiverDude]

There are really so many variables to this equation as to make a useful solution essentially impractical.

Let's just dip a toe into this for a second....


The power goes out:

If it's less than an hour, I'd say do nothing.

If it's more than an hour then is it summer or winter (i.e. are you heating your tank to make temp or cooling it ?). If it's winter then you need to run a heater (several hundred watts). If summer, then a chiller -also several hundred watts but it also requires a high startup current for the compressor.

Regardless, you need something to circulate water (flow). This varies from tank to tank and could be a single pump like a vortech or several smaller units. In an emergency, perhaps the flow from your return will suffice for up to.....???? hours. If not, you need more power for the circulation pumps.

Lights -turn them off. Unless the outage is going to be days long, you can go without.

Oh...and where were you when the power went out ? If you think a generator will save you but the power goes out while you're away then it's just going to sit there. On the other hand, a UPS will keep things running for an hour (maybe) or perhaps more if you're running a modified unit with deep cycle batteries -great if it's a short outage but if it's longer, you've blown your load early and now you've got nothing left.

I could go on but you get the point.

If you really want to be 'bulletproof' then you need to come up with a table that shows how long you can do without each item you usually use (lights, pumps, skimmer etc.). Then, you need a controller to kick each of these items on/off at the right times. Finally, you need to do a power budget and add up the current draw for everything that is running at any given time and make sure your backup can a) supply at least that much power at all b) supply it for "long enough". You can then shop for a backup technology that will at least do what you need.

Clearly, the whole process -if it's to be done properly- is complex and probably beyond most reefers in terms of know-how and perhaps budget.

The only thing that'll REALLY solve all your problems is a natural gas-powered, auto-switchover whole-home generator. These will start automatically on power failure then switch over and run your whole house like nothing had happened. That'll run you a solid $10k (and up) !

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by DiverDude

There are really so many variables to this equation as to make a useful solution essentially impractical.

Let's just dip a toe into this for a second....


The power goes out:

If it's less than an hour, I'd say do nothing.

If it's more than an hour then is it summer or winter (i.e. are you heating your tank to make temp or cooling it ?). If it's winter then you need to run a heater (several hundred watts). If summer, then a chiller -also several hundred watts but it also requires a high startup current for the compressor.

Regardless, you need something to circulate water (flow). This varies from tank to tank and could be a single pump like a vortech or several smaller units. In an emergency, perhaps the flow from your return will suffice for up to.....???? hours. If not, you need more power for the circulation pumps.

Lights -turn them off. Unless the outage is going to be days long, you can go without.

Oh...and where were you when the power went out ? If you think a generator will save you but the power goes out while you're away then it's just going to sit there. On the other hand, a UPS will keep things running for an hour (maybe) or perhaps more if you're running a modified unit with deep cycle batteries -great if it's a short outage but if it's longer, you've blown your load early and now you've got nothing left.

I could go on but you get the point.

If you really want to be 'bulletproof' then you need to come up with a table that shows how long you can do without each item you usually use (lights, pumps, skimmer etc.). Then, you need a controller to kick each of these items on/off at the right times. Finally, you need to do a power budget and add up the current draw for everything that is running at any given time and make sure your backup can a) supply at least that much power at all b) supply it for "long enough". You can then shop for a backup technology that will at least do what you need.

Clearly, the whole process -if it's to be done properly- is complex and probably beyond most reefers in terms of know-how and perhaps budget.

The only thing that'll REALLY solve all your problems is a natural gas-powered, auto-switchover whole-home generator. These will start automatically on power failure then switch over and run your whole house like nothing had happened. That'll run you a solid $10k (and up) !

You just took things to another level. Things that make you go HMMMMMM!

[mark]

... and balanced against the 5 years I've been here total power outage maybe 3 hours (probably less).

[cwatkins]

Originally Posted by DiverDude

The only thing that'll REALLY solve all your problems is a natural gas-powered, auto-switchover whole-home generator. These will start automatically on power failure then switch over and run your whole house like nothing had happened. That'll run you a solid $10k (and up) !

MMMMMmmmmm. If only money grew on trees (and if I had room beside the house....)