Power outages

[MR PALM BEACH]

TOP 700 - ONLY RETURN PUMP
BOTTOM 700 - SKIMMER/LIGHTS/POWER HEADS

[rickh]

I'm afraid you are fooling yourself if you think a UPS is going to save you. These units are designed to protect a computer long enough so it can be transfered to emergency power or shut down.
You can run a few power heads, but forget about heaters and lights. You will need the heaters if the power in your House is off for very long in the winter.
If you currently have a UPS system pull the breaker for the tank and see just how long it will last. Test it!!
I have several UPS on computers at work and the batteries only last a couple of years--even if they are never called to service.
Get a generator. Unless you are in a high rise apartment you can probably figure out where to put it. You figured out how to smuggle that 180 gallon tank past the landlord

And when the power goes off---My house calls me

[marduc]

Living in hurricane country myself, extended power outages are something that I have to be prepared for; however I did not have the money, nor the space for a generator.

You can pick up a decent power inverter from walmart and hook it to your car battery (I attained a 700 watt model for $50), and it will last as long as you have juice in your battery, which fortunately you have an alternator to help with this situation.

Luckily I have been spared from hurricanes and extended outages for the last few years; however in the past I have weathered 3+ day outages with no problem. All you need to run is a couple of pumps to keep O2 in the water column, so the draw is fairly minimal. I even had left over power to draw for lights and a radio (loved being the only place lit up at night in the area, and sitting back drinking beer and playing cards till 3 am with the neighbors).

The only drawback to this is that you will need to start your car occasionally and let it run to keep the battery charged, I did this for 10 minutes at a time every hour or 2 (at night I let it go for 4 hours) to charge the battery back up (no problem aside from having to do this in a squall with 75 MPH winds one time). It also helps to have a spare battery on hand, or a car to jump from in case your battery does get drained (my neighbors in this case ).

I also own a few battery powered air pumps, cheap temporary solution, but for 24 hrs. + not so good.

[MR PALM BEACH]

Originally posted by rickh
I'm afraid you are fooling yourself if you think a UPS is going to save you. These units are designed to protect a computer long enough so it can be transfered to emergency power or shut down.
You can run a few power heads, but forget about heaters and lights. You will need the heaters if the power in your House is off for very long in the winter.
If you currently have a UPS system pull the breaker for the tank and see just how long it will last. Test it!!
I have several UPS on computers at work and the batteries only last a couple of years--even if they are never called to service.
Get a generator. Unless you are in a high rise apartment you can probably figure out where to put it. You figured out how to smuggle that 180 gallon tank past the landlord

And when the power goes off---My house calls me

I know the run time on these backbacks and for 5, 10, or 20min It might last thats fine if the power Is out for any short period of time. Luckly I live In a state were a heater Is not needed.