UK winter electricity outages

[FishOkay]

So I was reading here in the uk that energy companies have said over winter there's a possibility of 3 hour periods of no electricity.
I'm just wondering if fellow reefers in the UK are taking it seriously at all or think its just over dramatic bull basically lol.
Like would a generator be worth while or would that be an over reaction?

 

[M4sonic]

not from the uk but i have the same worries for the rest of the EU.
i was looking at a battery backup but if i understand it correctly that wont run my heater.

 

[FishOkay]

not from the uk but i have the same worries for the rest of the EU.
i was looking at a battery backup but if i understand it correctly that wont run my heater.

Yeah I suppose its not just a UK thing it's the whole of Europe. Battery backups I feel are good for a short period with as little running as possible. If it'd really be for 3 hours at a time as they say and depending on how frequent id want to have everything still running. I think a petrol generator would be my first go to.

 

[jim_fitz]

i have battery back up for my vortechs to ensure the oxygen levels in the tank doesnt drop

i do however feel it is somewhat a bit scare mongering / our wonderful media's need for bad news to keep them busy

 

[mikeytrw]

I bought a 600W 12V power inverter off Amazon for exactly this reason. My plan is to have a leisure battery charged and waiting but also can run it off my wife's Nissan Leaf. My understanding is I can connect it to the 12V battery and then turn the car on with AC off etc, and the car will recharge the 12V from the traction battery. Dunno how well that will work but I have the standalone battery in worst case scenario.

 

[M4sonic]

i have battery back up for my vortechs to ensure the oxygen levels in the tank doesnt drop

i do however feel it is somewhat a bit scare mongering / our wonderful media's need for bad news to keep them busy

yeah it's most likely scare mongering i agree.

i do however doubt its a chance I'm willing to take, once you need a generator for real its either sold out or overpriced .
i survived the great covid toilet paper shortage, thinking i could just grab some leaves from my garden in a pinch. But i have no such option for my reef tank.

 

[FishOkay]

I bought a 600W 12V power inverter off Amazon for exactly this reason. My plan is to have a leisure battery charged and waiting but also can run it off my wife's Nissan Leaf. My understanding is I can connect it to the 12V battery and then turn the car on with AC off etc, and the car will recharge the 12V from the traction battery. Dunno how well that will work but I have the standalone battery in worst case scenario.

That's not a bad idea actually, hadn't thought of that. Significantly cheaper than a decent generator aswell. Might look at getting a 1500w inverter

 

[maroun.c]

Not from the UK but around here and for as long as I had a reef tank we've had power cuts of at least 6 hours every day and up to no electricity for days. Las few months was the worst with 0 to 1 hour per day at best. And I've kept multiple tanks with 0 losses over year. Trick is to plan your need and double that when u plan your purchase then double it again when you buy as it starts with 3 hours power cuts but who knows how bad it might get.
I've had the following options over the years:
UPS works for 1-2 hour abd batteries degrade fast as their cycling to full.empty or so daily. Better go with lithium batteries or tubular batteries and get many more batteries than u think u need. Pricey.
Also you can't imagine how fast a heater eats up a battery.
Solar panel to fill batteries or power the home via an inverter, wasn't an option for me as there is no space . UK isn't also known to be that sunny for it to work I presume.
- neighborhood generators that sell electricity are an option you won't have till after few years of power cuts. Also now with the fuel and economy crisis we have they are also not able to supply electricity 24/7
- my own generator was the best solution but was pricey to aquire. Abd needed space in a sound isolated room as it wasn't that quiet as it was marketed (and were talking Japanese diesel generator which is one of the best ) it provides me with 25 amps (believe equivalent to 50 amps for u as we are in 220 v ) and is enough to run the home and tanks. Had to ad a 500 litres diesel tank ot feed it so i don't have to manual refill daily. And ended up adding a 1000 litres backup tank as well as diesel was hard to aquire at any time.

Automation is key and ups.or generator has to start on its own when power fails. I also have a clever system where some.items like halides, one of the chillers , one set of the heaters or a second set of AC and heaters for fishroom will only work when we have electricity from company or from neighborhood generator and then **** off when ups or my generator is running. Timing lights to go on on a different schedule also helps reduce draw at any time which can speed up batteries being drained.

A hassle for sure but once we'll planed becomes second nature and my tanks have been running for 20 years plus without issues.