Need help with UPS model, rating suggestion!

miserkris

miserkris

New member
In case of power failure, I wanna be able to run a 150w titanium heater and a k3 in my 75dt.....for 2 days.

Assuming its cold outside (winter), what kind of a Ups system do u guys recommend? it should be connected always and kick in when power goes out...without manual intervention.

Pls advice, if ur selling one...pls lmk.
Thanks.
 
miserkris said:
In case of power failure, I wanna be able to run a 150w titanium heater and a k3 in my 75dt.....for 2 days.

Assuming its cold outside (winter), what kind of a Ups system do u guys recommend? it should be connected always and kick in when power goes out...without manual intervention.

Pls advice, if ur selling one...pls lmk.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

I currently have 2x 1200W 1500VA battery backups on my system. 1 powers a heater, the other powers my Korialia 1050

I can easily run the 1050 pump for days as it only uses a few watts. But depending on how often the heater is kicking in (how cold it is), is going to drain the battery backup quite quick.

Use this as a common formula:

20 minutes battery runtime for 100W draw constant. (average)

Being in the IT industry for may years, good brands like APC i can recommend.

Tripplite as well as powercomm are also ok.

I can recommend some models, but I need to know a pricepoint. Once you start to go over the 1200+ watt range, price can go from a few hundred to $1,000 quickly for the 2500w units.
 
If it's cold outside, and you lose power, you're not going to find a UPS that will run your heaters for 2 days. Just not gonna happen. While Wattage of the UPS matters, that's not what's going to keep your power running. The capacity, or Volt-amps, is the number you have to look for. Even with the highest capacity UPSs out there, you're only going to get (at best) 8 hours or so if you're using the heater as normal. Best off to invest in a generator with an auto transfer switch.
 
What about a small 100watt heater for 2 days on and off, not constant? My reef got down to 56! At least a small heater might keep it close to 70?
 
If you set the temp around 70 maybe the large heater would not need to be on as much as you would think. Also I had a similar problem and I actually ended up wrapping the outside of the tank in some left over foam insulation I had laying around just until i got power back, believe it or not it actually made about a 8 degree difference in the water temp (it did not cool off anywhere near as fast). The heat transfer out of the tank didn't happen anywhere near as sudden, you just wont be able to enjoy seeing you livestock for a little while is all. Also be VERY careful to make sure you don't get any insulation in the tank. That would not end well probably. This may help reduce your battery backup usage as well. just a thought.
 
kurt_n said:
If it's cold outside, and you lose power, you're not going to find a UPS that will run your heaters for 2 days. Just not gonna happen. While Wattage of the UPS matters, that's not what's going to keep your power running. The capacity, or Volt-amps, is the number you have to look for. Even with the highest capacity UPSs out there, you're only going to get (at best) 8 hours or so if you're using the heater as normal. Best off to invest in a generator with an auto transfer switch.
Click to expand...

That is entirely untrue, I administer and run several large battery backup systems 2200VA+ at clients that can run servers for over 48 hours. They arent cheap by any means.

Those units will provide enough power to run heaters, circualtion pumps etc for days.

He is looking for a cheaper alternative then a generator and that isn't going to happen. The APC SUA2200XL + the UXABP48 Battery Unit is Thousands of $$ but will run pumps/heaters etc for days not hours.

My single 1500W APC will only run my heater on and off for a few hours maxium when it is cold to keep the tank at 78. My other unit will run my water movement pumps for over a day or more.
 
Try the following page:
http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm

Just use the pull down and check blocks and see what you get....lol, you will find that generator is not to bad after all =)

Ensure you set the amount of time you want continuous run time and the continuous average of wattage you expect to draw on the UPS to get an accurate solutions. i say average because a 500W heater will not pull a constant 500W (as long as it is near its target temp).

Hope this helps
 
mgould73 said:
That is entirely untrue, I administer and run several large battery backup systems 2200VA+ at clients that can run servers for over 48 hours. They arent cheap by any means

Those units will provide enough power to run heaters, circualtion pumps etc for days.

He is looking for a cheaper alternative then a generator and that isn't going to happen. The APC SUA2200XL + the UXABP48 Battery Unit is Thousands of $$ but will run pumps/heaters etc for days not hours.

My single 1500W APC will only run my heater on and off for a few hours maxium when it is cold to keep the tank at 78. My other unit will run my water movement pumps for over a day or more.
Click to expand...

OK... I guess I should have said that as far as *consumer grade* equipment goes, it's not going to happen. I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that someone wouldn't want to spend money on a UPS just for their tank when they could buy a generator and pay an electrician to come out and install a switch for less.

Your comment that I've made bold pretty much summarizes what I meant.
 
Yea a $1,000 plus UPS isn't gonna happen, lol...What about heating up a 5 gallon bucket w a small 100watt heater and replacing 5 gallons of tank water? Would be like doing a water change too and shouldn't use much electricity as heating the whole tank...Just an idea. Not sure if it would actually work :uhoh3:
 
The thing is... if you're looking to keep your tank temperature at a certain level, you're going to use the same amount of energy any way you do it. You can stick heaters in the tank, or heat up water outside the tank and transfer it, but you're still going to end up using the same amount of energy trying to keep temps at a certain level.

If a generator isn't an option, then about the best you can do is use a UPS to keep the water turning and oxygenated and then wrap the tank in as many blankets as you can to keep the heat in. If you have a hot water heater that isn't dependent on electricity, you can always go the hot water bottle route to give the tank some heat.

I didn't have a generator when I started my tank, but once I ended up with a fair amount of $$ invested in it, it became a no-brainer for me since our neighborhood seems to suffer power outages if a squirrel breaks wind.
 
Well I finally solved my problem! For $40 I just bought a power inverter from Walmart. It hooks up to my car battery and i have 5 things in my tank plugged into it including my 150watt heater :) The car is the generator so as long as it's running I have power to my tank. I have 2 powerheads, the heater, my protein skimmer and two 25 watt LED's running right now. Anyone see a problem with this scenerio??? :dance:
 
steevareno2002 said:
Well I finally solved my problem! For $40 I just bought a power inverter from Walmart. It hooks up to my car battery and i have 5 things in my tank plugged into it including my 150watt heater :) The car is the generator so as long as it's running I have power to my tank. I have 2 powerheads, the heater, my protein skimmer and two 25 watt LED's running right now. Anyone see a problem with this scenerio??? :dance:
Click to expand...


Well that is quite funny... You park your car next to your fish tank :)
Must look funny dragging an extension cord from your car to inside your house. Your neighbors are going to be a little curious lol.

Well as long as its a decent rated inverter it should work. Cheap walmart ones may not be able to handle the load. You need to look at the continued power and surge power. You will need a 450W surge, 200+ continious minium converter.

What is it rated, and what do you have plugged into it?

Imagine your car idleing in the driveway for 2 days??....
 
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