Back-up power sources....

[Nurse Payne]

Thank you H@rry. I promise not to kill everyone in the house while keeping the tank alive. I spoke with Tim earlier and he says if we are buying a generator, we will get one to power the fridges, lights, blah blah blah. I'm only worried about the tank. That's when you know you might be a little obsessed.

I think I will sneak and buy one this week but keep it boxed up and out of sight, just in case

 

[H@rry]

Thank you H@rry. I promise not to kill everyone in the house while keeping the tank alive. I spoke with Tim earlier and he says if we are buying a generator, we will get one to power the fridges, lights, blah blah blah. I'm only worried about the tank. That's when you know you might be a little obsessed.

I think I will sneak and buy one this week but keep it boxed up and out of sight, just in case

I agree with Tim; but if you keep it hidden he'll probably buy another one when he get home. BTW, those things are kinda hard to hide. Unless you're got a pickup or suv you probably won't be getting one today.

 

[Nurse Payne]

I have an SUV so no problems there. Hiding isn't a good idea though....I've seen them (my dad had one years ago) and I'm not quite sure where I could hide it unless I could get it upstairs. Lots of places up there

The more I researched making one out of a super heavy-duty battery with an invertor, I could buy a generator for about the same price.

 

[gcrawford]

My weekend project yesterday was wiring a generator connection to our main breaker panel for emergency power during a power outage. We've had the portable generator for the past year - absolute need when you have reef tanks - and have used it during outages which includes multiple extension cords all over the floor, unplugging everything and moving things to those extension cords which is a big hassle.

Now, if an outage occurs, I position the generator in the driveway, turn off the main 200 amp house breaker (very important) and all other breakers. Crank the generator, connect a 30 amp 220 volt cable from the generator to the inlet box I installed (wired to a 30 amp 220V breaker) turn on that breaker and turn on the 110 breakers to the rest of the house that we need. We can have normal life during a power outage minus stove, water heater, heat/air, and laundry. Refrigerator stays on, lights, tv, phone and internet. Oh, and the fish and corals stay alive too. : )

Generator is a 6800 watt with battery start from Home Depot.

Pics of inlet box:

 

[pickupman66]

I did the same as above. I have 5500 watt Cummings. Make sure you guys run them regularly...

 

[Nurse Payne]

My weekend project yesterday was wiring a generator connection to our main breaker panel for emergency power during a power outage. We've had the portable generator for the past year - absolute need when you have reef tanks - and have used it during outages which includes multiple extension cords all over the floor, unplugging everything and moving things to those extension cords which is a big hassle.

Now, if an outage occurs, I position the generator in the driveway, turn off the main 200 amp house breaker (very important) and all other breakers. Crank the generator, connect a 30 amp 220 volt cable from the generator to the inlet box I installed (wired to a 30 amp 220V breaker) turn on that breaker and turn on the 110 breakers to the rest of the house that we need. We can have normal life during a power outage minus stove, water heater, heat/air, and laundry. Refrigerator stays on, lights, tv, phone and internet. Oh, and the fish and corals stay alive too. : )

Generator is a 6800 watt with battery start from Home Depot.

That is exactly what Tim is wanting to do! Do you mind me asking how much your generator cost?

 

[TrishW]

I feel as if I must post a disclaimer...the margaritas were a necessity because we were hosting our last pool party before moving to Alabama.

Just be sure that if you wire a generator into your home that you have a disconnect to keep the current from hurting anyone that is attempting to restore power to the lines.

 

[gcrawford]

No problem, not cheap, about 1K. Search "6800 generator" on the HD site. It has large wheels/tires which makes it really easy to move. Inlet box is about $50 and wire was about $100, breaker about $20. If not for the reef tanks, I probably would never have gone this route. I'm glad that I did though, if faced with two crashed reef tanks and the possibility of losing a fridge full of food, this seemed to make sense.

It all started after the last power outage, when I connected everything and my extension cords were HOT to the touch I planned to upgrade with better extension cords. After pricing them, I found that it was cheaper and would be more convenient to wire a 30 amp inlet box to my breaker panel. Again, not cheap, but is the best solution for us all around.

If you need a parts list, let me know. I'm not an electrician by trade, but did tons of research before doing this. The most important point is to never have your main breaker and your inlet (generator) breaker on at the same time. There are actually kits available online that you install at the panel that prevent this from happening. Second, if not equally important is not to overload your generator and 30 amp circuit. If you do, the generator breaker will trip first (hopefully) and you will need to reduce the amount of circuits turned on in your house.

Hope that helps.... Again, this is what works for me and you should consult an electrician before proceeding.

-g

 

[bamareef]

Something to be cautious of. Some of these lower end generators(harbour frieght) do not give a good power output. I have a friend who put their $3500 fridge on an Home Depot one and it fried the circuit board on the fridge. The problem with regulator generators are they load up(rpms increase) when a compressor on a freezer or fridge and then they back off(rpms decrease) during the rpm increase/decrease your voltage follows the rpms. Keep that in mind when putting stuff on your generator. They do sell inverter generators, they provide clean power. If your trying to save thousands of dollars of stuff, why skimp on the cheap insurance, buy a nicer generator. Also, do the load calculations. You wont need a computer if powers out. Internet will more than likely be down, unless you have a hot spot. Just power up only the needed stuff, freezers, fridge, fish tank(s) a few lights and of course a blender for Trish . Be realistic on what you really need to run. Smaller the generator, the smaller amounts of stanby fuel you will need. Will you actually rotate out the gas every month? It would suck if you had bad gas and power was out for days. Natural gas gens are great, they use city gas which will be available during a power outage. Most everything you buy has a power label on it. It gives you the max power rating for that equipment. Add it all up and add about 10 percent. Then match a generator to that load. In my experience in industrial backup power, industry loads up their generators up to 85% max load.

Well its late. Hope this makes since.

 

[Hassablad]

Yea that's it..
That's the ticket...lol

I feel as if I must post a disclaimer...the margaritas were a necessity because we were hosting our last pool party before moving to Alabama.

Just be sure that if you wire a generator into your home that you have a disconnect to keep the current from hurting anyone that is attempting to restore power to the lines.