just reading power outage thread and...

[Maxx]

This ought to be required reading for reefkeeping...
DISASTER READINESS by RICHARD DURSO
In the article Mr Durso mentions the Penn Plax Silent Air B11 Air Pump , (which Nikki also mentions and I use as well).

Here is a Battery Inverter, which is what MtnDewMan uses...
and here is a Battery Back Up system, that is similar to a UPS like WrightMe has mentioned....

There are many ways to skin a cat...
Personally, I like the B-11 air pumps because they come on automatically when the power shuts off. I dont need to be there if something goes wrong...I've got a stop gap measure with these. They will run about 5 days on 2 D cell batteries. I also live in St Louis Missouri, where the longest power outtage I can remember has been less than 12 hours in the past 7 years. Its rare that we're out even that long. I dont have to worry about hurricanes and Tornadoes are very rare in St Louis city itself...
If I lived on the coast and had a reef, I would invest in a generator. I would probably spend the money and get a natural gas powered generator that would run most of the house and have an auto start in the event of a power failure. Yes, it would be hideously expensive...but I'd sell it to my fiance as a "it powers the whole house kinda thing", and not make my tank the sole benfactor of its abilities..

 

[RockyHeap]

I've seen a slick auto switch over inverter / car battery set-up, so maybe some people got confused as I'm not talking a $10,000 auto-starting generator.

This is the set-up:

A small wall-wart trickle charger is plugged into your wall outlet which provides a constant slow charge to keep a 12 VDC deep cycle battery charged, this wall wart also hold a DPDT (double pull double Throw) relay latched closed.

When the power goes out, the relay opens, and the battery charging circuit is disconnected and the relay now is switched over to conduct an inverter to power your 120 VDC devices.

There's schematics out on Reef Central for this set-up I believe is where I saw it.

Total outlay maybe $120-$150 depending on inverter size.

Ah yes, skinned cat, great in Garlic and butter.

 

[wrightme43]

mmmmmhhhhhhhhh, or smoked with apple wood, and marinated in lemon juice. MMMMMhhhhh. LOL

 

[RockyHeap]

Up here in Seattle, we prefer Alder.........

 

[NaH2O]

LOL you guys!

wrighty - I don't know if you are still following this thread.....in China do you have size restrictions on generators you can use in a home?

 

[Jiddy]

Just get Solar Panels guys, that what we use in the Metropolis of S.Dakota

 

[wrighty]

Hi Nikki oh yes still following this one - Loved the Simpsons reminder "(Big fan)

Generators - again I feel like many of you in that to have a peice of equipement that is only going to be used 1 day PCM at worst seems a poor investment - I am only aware of the larger industrial sized ones out here (Run factories as big as 500 employees using them) If the situation got worse I would re evaluate of course
I do however like the idea of UPS and have spoken to our IT guy today on this subect

Steve

 

[DonW]

For those that want to do a little diy work. You can easily hook up a Dolphin wet end to a old lawn mower engine. Should get you by for awhile. Also you can hook up a high amperage 105A GM $60 alternator to a old mower engine. This will power a inverter till you run out of gas. Also if you have a garage fishroom and a dolphin cl pump there is plenty of room between the motor and wet end for a pulley. Connected to a mower motor with a manual clutch (go cart) your set. With a little imagination there are plenty of ways to save cash.

Don