PSA: Have a power failure plan and be ready to implement it.

B

BrettDS

New member
My doorbell rang at 9:45 this morning. I answered it to find a technician from the power company. He said "œI just wanted to let you know that we're going to be replacing the utility pole behind your house today. The power will be going off in about an hour and it will be out for about six hours"

I was a bit shocked that I got no previous notice from the power company that this work was going to be taking place today, but the fact was that I suddenly had one hour to prepare for a six hour outage"

Luckily, since I live in a hurricane prone area, I keep a generator and small amount of gas for it in the garage, so I was able to wheel out the generator and fire it up and I've been running on generator power for the last 2 and a half hours or so.

It definitely got me thinking about the fact that extended power outages can happen at any time... even when there's not bad weather, and it's good to have some sort of plan in place to be ready for them. And to make sure that you have everything you need ready to go as well.

I'm in good shape with my generator as long as I'm home when the power outage happens, but I also realized that I need something in place to keep at least minimal amount of water movement in the tank in the event of a power outage when I am not at home. I'm going to be spending some time this weekend investigating my options.
 
Is it sad that I bough a standby generator under guise of “for the house”?

When in actuality it was completely for the tank.


Shhhhhhhh.
 
Bent said:
Is it sad that I bough a standby generator under guise of "œfor the house"?

When in actuality it was completely for the tank.


Shhhhhhhh.
Click to expand...


Haha, I think both the house and the tank can benefit. Two years ago, before hurricane Matthew hit I went out and bought a small generator just to have something and I was glad I did as I lost power for three days because of Matthew. I was able to power the tank, the fridge, the internet and the TV and a few lights and fans and I had extension cords running throughout the house. I was very glad to have the generator, but it was not fun like that for 3 days. Especially with no AC, hot water, stove, or microwave... and the temperature being in the mid 80's in the house.

Before Irma I bought the generator I have now, which is big enough to power most of the house (including the air conditioner). It plugs into my main panel, so I don't have to worry about extension cords running throughout the house either. I never lost power during Irma, so this is actually the first time I've used this generator, other than a 15 or 20 minute test run to make sure it worked shortly after I bought it. It is definitely much better than when I was stuck with the small generator and frankly, other than the fact that I can hear it running it doesn't really feel any different than having utility power.
 
If you have vortech, I would suggest their battery backup which will get the tank thru in between the power outage and the starting of the generator.. if you have apex, it will alert in case of a power failure..


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i've procrastinated long enough, finally ordering a whole house generator. i easily have as much invested in my reef as the generator will cost, but where i live its just a matter of time before i lose power for an extended period.
 
if you have solar that is hooked up to the grid (no storage batteries), your power is still out when grid is down regardless if sun is shining nice and bright right?
 
d0ughb0y said:
if you have solar that is hooked up to the grid (no storage batteries), your power is still out when grid is down regardless if sun is shining nice and bright right?
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That's correct. It sounds kind of crazy, but apparently there are technical reasons why it works like that. There are ways to get a grid tied system with storage batteries to come up when the grid is down.
 
Office supplyers usually have basic battery backup units at pretty reasonable prices. At least your critical equipment could be hooked up like this if nothing else.

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I have an DC-AC inverter and 4x deep cycle batteries that can run my return pump and 1x heater. bare min to keep the tank functioning but will run for 12hrs.
 
Dsekula said:
Office supplyers usually have basic battery backup units at pretty reasonable prices. At least your critical equipment could be hooked up like this if nothing else.

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Click to expand...



Yeah, I've considered this and I've actually used computer UPS units before, but it seems like the batteries never last more than a year or two at best and they never work when you need them to. I haven't used one for a few years now, though, so maybe the technology has improved.
 
I had two old Ecotech battery backups that the batteries went bad in. I basically made DIY ones and just used a few of the connectors and the little cables. My only regret is going with a similar sized battery and not a couple of monster batteries that would keep the pumps going for weeks (yeah, I like to go big). Anyway, even if you don't have Vortechs, you can set up your powerheads on a battery backup using a power inverter, 12v battery and a trickle charger. It's basically what Ecotech sells only you can do it yourself WAY cheaper.
 
BrettDS said:
Yeah, I've considered this and I've actually used computer UPS units before, but it seems like the batteries never last more than a year or two at best and they never work when you need them to. I haven't used one for a few years now, though, so maybe the technology has improved.
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Again, look into a DIY solution. You can do it much cheaper and spend more on a better and bigger battery.
 
Optionman said:
i've procrastinated long enough, finally ordering a whole house generator. i easily have as much invested in my reef as the generator will cost, but where i live its just a matter of time before i lose power for an extended period.
Click to expand...

touche' ...best investment in my home and piece of mind I have ever made. We lose power for days at times 1-2 times per year and each time I hear that generator kick on and the entire home purring like nothing happened I crack a little smile. I feel like I am cheating mother nature and I am totally good with that.
 
I also got a generator for power failures mostly thinking of my tank. In my neighborhood we seem to lose electricity for 2-3 days at a time at least twice a summer and even though Xcel energy claims they're making "upgrades in our area" they never seem to understand that high winds/trees/exposed power lines do not mix.

I wish they would bury their lines, but since they haven't I keep a backup plan.
 
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