Preparing for power outage

[Ktran350]

So, I just received a notification from my power company that my power will be out on 12/7 at 10 pm till 12/8 6 am. About 8 hrs of no power. What can I do to prepare short of buying a generator? Or will I be ok for the 8 hrs? Forecast says overnight lows will be in the low 50s, house will be around 65 - 68ish. TIA.

 

[SuncrestReef]

I ran into the same situation a few months ago. I rented a generator from Home Depot for about $50 for the day. It worked great.

 

[Ktran350]

Oh wow I never considered renting a generator. Thanks!

 

[Ktran350]

Out of curiosity. I started to look around for generators. Is this sufficient for 3 pumps, 300 watt heater and powerhead? I would assume so.

Hey

 

[Saltyreef]

I would advise doing a load calculation using wattage of all your equipment (without knowing power draw of everything connected we could only guesstimate)
I also advise that you look into battery backups for the heater and return pump. As your first line of defense.
My tank is set up with 2 large battery backups that will run the heaters on 1 and the return pump on the other....keeps it going for about a 2 hour outage...enough time for me to get home.
After that fails during lengthier outages i bust out the big boy generator. I advise if you go the route of a generator, atleast get one that will run your refrigerator because if the power fails for that long, youll want one large enough to power more than your tank.
Also usually, the cheaper they are, the louder they are. Youll want to think about placement away from the home, garage and neighbors. Especially if your as unfortunate as me to live in an HOA. Good luck!

 

[ca1ore]

Temperature is unlikely to be a problem if your house stays in the high 60s. Oxygen is the problem.

 

[Saltyreef]

Temperature is unlikely to be a problem if your house stays in the high 60s. Oxygen is the problem.

Agree totally that o2 is your main concern but not everyones home stays in the mid 60s. I think you would still want to search for a gen big enough if you wanted to power a 300 watt heater and pump along side something like a refrigerator or microwave.
You can never rely on ambient temp in this hobby! Considering theres lots of people with very expensive temp sensitive corals. Its been 70 during the day here and gets down to nearly freezing at night. Running the central heat would help negate this but not during a power outage unfortunately.

Also the last time my tank dipped below 70 to 65 degrees for an extended period, there was loss of life.

Backup generator sized accordingly is your BEST bet.
With a smaller gen your tank may be fine but the over looked $400 worth of food in the fridge or freezer would make that larger generator pay for itself!

 

[Ktran350]

I would advise doing a load calculation using wattage of all your equipment (without knowing power draw of everything connected we could only guesstimate)
I also advise that you look into battery backups for the heater and return pump. As your first line of defense.
My tank is set up with 2 large battery backups that will run the heaters on 1 and the return pump on the other....keeps it going for about a 2 hour outage...enough time for me to get home.
After that fails during lengthier outages i bust out the big boy generator. I advise if you go the route of a generator, atleast get one that will run your refrigerator because if the power fails for that long, youll want one large enough to power more than your tank.
Also usually, the cheaper they are, the louder they are. Youll want to think about placement away from the home, garage and neighbors. Especially if your as unfortunate as me to live in an HOA. Good luck!

I do live in a HOA and spoke to my neighbor. Told them I have a reef tank and that the power will be out on next Friday and Saturday and that I will be running a generator. They were understanding. I plan on getting a batter back up in the future but I’ve been considering a generator for a while for emergencies.

Agree totally that o2 is your main concern but not everyones home stays in the mid 60s. I think you would still want to search for a gen big enough if you wanted to power a 300 watt heater and pump along side something like a refrigerator or microwave.
You can never rely on ambient temp in this hobby! Considering theres lots of people with very expensive temp sensitive corals. Its been 70 during the day here and gets down to nearly freezing at night. Running the central heat would help negate this but not during a power outage unfortunately.

Also the last time my tank dipped below 70 to 65 degrees for an extended period, there was loss of life.

Backup generator sized accordingly is your BEST bet.
With a smaller gen your tank may be fine but the over looked $400 worth of food in the fridge or freezer would make that larger generator pay for itself!

Thanks. My biggest concern was temp and O2 levels. Luckily for me my renters insurance covers food in the freezer and refrigerator (found this out years ago). Just needed a small cheap generator for now as a stop gap. As of right now the equipment I need to run off this generator is about 700 watts. Lights not included.

 

[theMeat]

What size tank? If tank is big enough not to be too effected by temp, agree with others. Small circulation pump and you’re safe.

 

[Ktran350]

What size tank? If tank is big enough not to be too effected by temp, agree with others. Small circulation pump and you’re safe.

It’s a JBJ 45. About 30 gallons total volume

 

[Barry_Cuda]

Sorry in advance, Ktran350, for hijacking your thread. But - wondering about how one goes around hooking up a generator. Do you have to have an electrician do it? Is there a way to set things up so it's easy to connect the generator when needed without doing a whole lot of extraneous work?

 

[Saltyreef]

Sorry in advance, Ktran350, for hijacking your thread. But - wondering about how one goes around hooking up a generator. Do you have to have an electrician do it? Is there a way to set things up so it's easy to connect the generator when needed without doing a whole lot of extraneous work?

Depends on what you want to do with it but a standard portable small engine gas generator, you technically would just need to install an earth grounding kit and good to go. Pound a copper rod into the earth with a mallet and connect a wire from it to the ground terminal. Easy enough to do yourself. You would then fill with gas, pull the cord and plug in whatever needs power after proper grounding.

 

[Barry_Cuda]

Depends on what you want to do with it but a standard portable small engine gas generator, you technically would just need to install an earth grounding kit and good to go. Pound a copper rod into the earth with a mallet and connect a wire from it to the ground terminal. Easy enough to do yourself. You would then fill with gas, pull the cord and plug in whatever needs power after proper grounding.

How do you connect the generator to the house wiring, then? Or do you just run a cord from the generator directly to the aquarium equipment?

 

[westmichigan]

Sorry in advance, Ktran350, for hijacking your thread. But - wondering about how one goes around hooking up a generator. Do you have to have an electrician do it? Is there a way to set things up so it's easy to connect the generator when needed without doing a whole lot of extraneous work?

Hire an electrician. Or at least someone who knows about this stuff as it can be dangerous to yourself and anyone out working on the lines. But basically you can have a transfer switch hooked up and a plug on the outside of your house. There are a few different styles of transfer switch but basically the switch is set up to not allow power to go back out beyond the breaker box and to feed your house or parts of your house with power. In the event of an outage you open your main and close your transfer switch (it will not let you mess this up). Open all the breakers on your house. Plug in your gen to your outlet. Start it and then slowly turn on one breaker at a time. We lost power for 4 days in the summer and it was extremely nice to sit down watch a movie. Have a hot shower and the AC on. For more money you can get one that will automatically kick on when the power is out. Other than everything turning off and then back on and the noise outside you wouldn't even notice it went off. Do not do this yourself (without proper knowledge). The men and women out late trying to get your power back on appreciate the lines being dead

 

[theMeat]

It’s a JBJ 45. About 30 gallons total volume

Would think a heater and circulation pump would be more than enough. Could get a transformer that plugs into car and run extension cord.

 

[Saltyreef]

How do you connect the generator to the house wiring, then? Or do you just run a cord from the generator directly to the aquarium equipment?

A portable generator you would use an extension cord or plug directly into generator. The other poster is explaining how to supply the entire house with power. But thats a bit more money.

 

[MSB123]

When I had a smaller tank, I used a small $250 generator from Home Depot. Worked great for heaters and pumps.
My tank is large enough now so that the tempature drops about a half degree an hour worst case scenario. I now just use battery backups for pumps.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am fortunate, 3 weeks ago had a storm and outage for 9.5 hours.
My Ecotech battery backups ran the pumps the whole time and water temperature dropped but no loss or abnormalities.

 

[cracker]

Generators are very nice to have on hand when needed . If Ya got the money, The biggest you can afford is best. There are more things than a tank you will want to run during power outages.

 

[Ktran350]

I am fortunate, 3 weeks ago had a storm and outage for 9.5 hours.
My Ecotech battery backups ran the pumps the whole time and water temperature dropped but no loss or abnormalities.

I was looking at battery back ups as well but can’t beat a generator for $100 bucks.