What Do You Use For Backup Power?
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navila06
Well-Known Member
I have a small 2000 watt genny for the tank bought it for 200 bucks, this thing is great, more than enough juice for the tank and it hates gas. I also have my vortech hooked up to a battery back up. Power goes out a few times a year here in north Alabama, specially during tornado season.
Connie
Valuable Member
I have the Vortech Battery Backup that will run a couple of days...then if the power is still out, I have a Honda 8500 generator. I've had the generator for two years and haven't had to use it yet. I think I might have to use it though with this expected weather.
mfinn
likes zoanthids
I have a 6500watt electric start generator wired into it's own circuit panel.
NeverlosT
SPS nut
a word of advise, I have looked into UPS in the past to run the tank in the event of a minor outage. You have to get a fancy UPS if you plan to run pumps and such that do not have their own transformers. Basically a less expensive UPS puts out a square wave (not the sine wave that your pumps are expecting) and that can damage them. APC's "Smart-UPS" like the one pictured above simulate this smooth sine wave so you are in good shape with your pumps. It costs a few more bucks but is worth it.
I have a bigger tank now, so am really on the fence about whether to still pursue the UPS route (a large enough unit would run $500 and batteries only last so long) or just getting a generator at this point. Probably go the generator route, honda 5000W should do it!
I have a bigger tank now, so am really on the fence about whether to still pursue the UPS route (a large enough unit would run $500 and batteries only last so long) or just getting a generator at this point. Probably go the generator route, honda 5000W should do it!
redfishbluefish
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We just don’t loose power! UNTIL…………
I live in central New Jersey and have Jersey Central Power and Light providing electrical service. Up until recently, the few times we lost power, it was for a minute or two. I don’t know if they re-route, or what they do, but if the power goes out, within a minute or two it comes back on…….Except, about two months or so before Sandy hit, we lost power. I commented to my wife, “Wait a minute or two.†After thirty minutes I started getting worried and went out and purchased a generator from Sam’s Club. As I was driving down the street on my return trip, the lights came back on. So the generator sat in its box on our side porch.
About two months later Sandy hit New Jersey, and our town very hard. We had approximately 350 homes under water. But for me, luckily I was dry, but no power for over seven days. Luckily I had purchased this generator. It ran 24/7, powering the entire tank, my TV, boiler, refrigerator, and a few lights. We cooked on the grill.
If I hadn’t purchased this generator, my tank would have been toast. As it is, a number of reefer friends lost their tanks because they didn’t have a generator.
For the $300 I spent on this generator, it paid for itself just in the food it saved in the freezer/refrigerator….so there’s your justification.
I’ve since gone out and spent another four to five hundred on extension cords and a dedicated little shed to hold everything. I’ll probably never use it again, but I now have it if I need it.
I live in central New Jersey and have Jersey Central Power and Light providing electrical service. Up until recently, the few times we lost power, it was for a minute or two. I don’t know if they re-route, or what they do, but if the power goes out, within a minute or two it comes back on…….Except, about two months or so before Sandy hit, we lost power. I commented to my wife, “Wait a minute or two.†After thirty minutes I started getting worried and went out and purchased a generator from Sam’s Club. As I was driving down the street on my return trip, the lights came back on. So the generator sat in its box on our side porch.
About two months later Sandy hit New Jersey, and our town very hard. We had approximately 350 homes under water. But for me, luckily I was dry, but no power for over seven days. Luckily I had purchased this generator. It ran 24/7, powering the entire tank, my TV, boiler, refrigerator, and a few lights. We cooked on the grill.
If I hadn’t purchased this generator, my tank would have been toast. As it is, a number of reefer friends lost their tanks because they didn’t have a generator.
For the $300 I spent on this generator, it paid for itself just in the food it saved in the freezer/refrigerator….so there’s your justification.
I’ve since gone out and spent another four to five hundred on extension cords and a dedicated little shed to hold everything. I’ll probably never use it again, but I now have it if I need it.
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