What to do in case of emergency

[Admiral Awesome]

So, I have a 14 gallon biocube. And since this year is going to be nasty, I was wondering what is a good generator to power a 14 gallon biocube. Or any other precautions to take to keep the live stock alive in a longgggggg power outage. Any advice will help.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

With the tank's needs as low as a 14g, I would get a power inverter and a cheap deep cell 12v auto battery to have on standby. Would power a small heater and powerhead for days.

 

[Nana Chloropsis]

I use a Honda 2000i generator for power outages. It's small, easy to start and will run all my tanks (and a hairdryer in the morning) for about 10+ hours on a gallon of gas. I just carry it outside to a window closest to my tanks and pull-start it. Quiet too.

 

[mcoomer]

Those Honda 2000i are very nice. Very, very quiet and stable power. I went in another direction when I bought my generator. I picked up a 6500W DeVilbiss that will power my entire house. I don't run the microwave but everything else has juice to it. Some of the best money I've ever spent.

Mike

 

[mfinn]

With the tank's needs as low as a 14g, I would get a power inverter and a cheap deep cell 12v auto battery to have on standby. Would power a small heater and powerhead for days.

+1



But this could also be a good excuse to get something big enough to keep yourself comfortable when the power is out.

 

[dragoneggs]

Those Honda 2000i are very nice. Very, very quiet and stable power. I went in another direction when I bought my generator. I picked up a 6500W DeVilbiss that will power my entire house. I don't run the microwave but everything else has juice to it. Some of the best money I've ever spent.

Mike

I went kind of in the middle with a honda 3000. I can run a big tank and a few other things around the house too if the weather hammers us bad. Out here on the hood canal the winds can get wild. Kind of fun but always worried I will be on a business trip and have to walk the scared wife through getting powered back up. Did also hook it up to my service panel so I can feed the house circuits of my choice.

 

[Nana Chloropsis]

I went kind of in the middle with a honda 3000. I can run a big tank and a few other things around the house too if the weather hammers us bad. Out here on the hood canal the winds can get wild. Kind of fun but always worried I will be on a business trip and have to walk the scared wife through getting powered back up. Did also hook it up to my service panel so I can feed the house circuits of my choice.

Thanks, Dragoneggs
I AM the scared wife and now am not afraid of any power outages, of which out here between Woodinville and Mill Creek there have been quite a few over the years...always when the hubby is away too. As long as I keep a gas can of fuel I know I can keep all my tanks happy. (Plus, if the foods rots in the fridge,well, that's why God invented restaurants.)

The inverter/battery is a great idea for one tiny tank though!

 

[Ichthys]

POwer Outage

What with the forecast for a severe winter I would really like to see this thread grow with some good information about precautions and remedies in case of power failure. I cannot afford to spend 1500 dollars on a Honda 2000i I cant even afford the 1000W model for 800. A few years ago when we had the power outage I bought one of those things you plug into your car cigarette lighter and then plug an AC device into it, my thought was to power a space heater, but it kept blowing the Durango's fuses. Herfishy mentions a power inverter and 12V deep cell car battery. I do not have a working knowledge of electricity so pardon my noobish questions. Am i right in assuming that a 200 Watt Ebo Jagger heater draws 200 Watts and a MaxiJet900 draws 8.5 Watts which compared to the heater is negligible, so it seems the real emergency power requirement is the heater. Given that the house may get cold in a power outage, I would probably be running 2 200 Watt heaters. So where is the electrical formula to tell me how long a 12volt DC battery will supply 120V AC at a 400 watt draw? Do i have to figure out amps and current and stuff?
So I am looking at the Voltec 1000 Watt Power Inverter for 80 dollars. How do i figutre out how long this device attached to a fully charged 12V car battery will run 400 Watts worth of heaters?
The following was taken from Voltecs site.
Most vehicle batteries are designed to provide short period of very high
current for starting the engine. They are not designed for a constant “deep
discharge”. Constantly operating the unit from a vehicle battery until the low
voltage shut off will affect the life of the battery. If you are operating electrical products for extended periods of time, you should consider connecting the unit to a separate deep discharge battery. OK so I guessing this means a Deep Discharge Marine Type battery? It still doesnt look good, by the estimates I have come up with 400 Watts of heaters are going to run a 12VDC battery down in less than 6 hours, probably sooner.

Any "cost effective" suggestions would be appreciated. I found this 1000 Watt Generator online for only 129.00 but it scares me because it is so much cheaper than other 1000W units. Anyone have any experience with this or any opinions? http://www.heartlandamerica.com/bro...8B82-5A7D-41E4-9252-6B8282FB74AE&BC=S&DL=SEH2

 

[Holygral]

I also run a generator 3500 watts. I also wired in a transfer switch and plug, so when the power goes out I plug in the generator, throw some switches and the house lights up.

But I want to reminder everyone about the carbon monoxide. Even if your generator is outside, you have to be careful about it being near any windows, furnace and dryer vents. The fumes can get sucked into a small crack in a window. Every one should have a carbon monoxide detector, not just for when you are running a generator but if your furnace should malfunction ect.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

What with the forecast for a severe winter I would really like to see this thread grow with some good information about precautions and remedies in case of power failure. I cannot afford to spend 1500 dollars on a Honda 2000i I cant even afford the 1000W model for 800. A few years ago when we had the power outage I bought one of those things you plug into your car cigarette lighter and then plug an AC device into it, my thought was to power a space heater, but it kept blowing the Durango's fuses. Herfishy mentions a power inverter and 12V deep cell car battery. I do not have a working knowledge of electricity so pardon my noobish questions. Am i right in assuming that a 200 Watt Ebo Jagger heater draws 200 Watts and a MaxiJet900 draws 8.5 Watts which compared to the heater is negligible, so it seems the real emergency power requirement is the heater. Given that the house may get cold in a power outage, I would probably be running 2 200 Watt heaters. So where is the electrical formula to tell me how long a 12volt DC battery will supply 120V AC at a 400 watt draw? Do i have to figure out amps and current and stuff?
So I am looking at the Voltec 1000 Watt Power Inverter for 80 dollars. How do i figutre out how long this device attached to a fully charged 12V car battery will run 400 Watts worth of heaters?
The following was taken from Voltecs site.
Most vehicle batteries are designed to provide short period of very high
current for starting the engine. They are not designed for a constant “deep
discharge”. Constantly operating the unit from a vehicle battery until the low
voltage shut off will affect the life of the battery. If you are operating electrical products for extended periods of time, you should consider connecting the unit to a separate deep discharge battery. OK so I guessing this means a Deep Discharge Marine Type battery? It still doesnt look good, by the estimates I have come up with 400 Watts of heaters are going to run a 12VDC battery down in less than 6 hours, probably sooner.

Any "cost effective" suggestions would be appreciated. I found this 1000 Watt Generator online for only 129.00 but it scares me because it is so much cheaper than other 1000W units. Anyone have any experience with this or any opinions? http://www.heartlandamerica.com/bro...8B82-5A7D-41E4-9252-6B8282FB74AE&BC=S&DL=SEH2

One can recharge the battery with the car which also offers a back-up battery. But yes, for larger systems one needs a generator. One can find used generac brand generators on craigs for pretty cheap. They work great, but are loud. I owned a 5K one while living in Kent that I fired up when it looked like power was going to be down for an extended period. Used my inverter and portible battery (car jump starter) for short periods. Small return pump and one heater. For a long period of no power and a large tank, wrap it with blankets or better yet, insulation. It will help a lot...
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