OMG! The power's out!! (article)

[blackwolfXKAV]

i was thinking about writing something like this, but i happened to see something similar at MFK (www.monsterfishkeepers.com (http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com))

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48578

hopefully, our mods can make it into an article for us...

[Mgamer20o0]

a lot would be solved with a generator. there been a few topics on this in the last couple months.

[Ghost_knife]

the person you should talk to is BlueIZ or DangerDoll or one of the global incharge of the article area, but alot can be solved with a simple generator

[loaches r cool]

That article is just some really basic stuff. Another thing I have used in the past in an emergency was an inverter in my car. I used a long extension chord and ran filters and heaters for about 3 days on inverter power. Just remember the watts on those heaters add up quick. And inverters do not put out ideal sine wave - so motors will sound loud and a bit unhappy. If you have an expensive filter like an Ehiem Pro3 I wouldnt be running it on that.

Actually our power went out last thursday. I had been meaning to get a generator for a long time, but having the power go out that night finally sealed the deal. Sam's club actually has good prices on generators. I needed a slightly bigger one for the house and they sell a Power Boss 5600W continous / 8600W surge for $599. They had a couple smaller ones too but I didnt get the specs.

I had it running in under 2 hours from pulling in the driveway, and thats including the extra trip back to the gas station (forgot my 5g gas can was empty) and also going back to lowes to get the right plug (had to make my own cord to hook into dryer outlet and bought the wrong one at first).

Anyone who goes the generator route though check local laws and make sure you arent backfeeding the neighborhood.

[wackydan]

Best thing, but more expensive is to get an interconnect installed near your electrical panel for the generator. You'll never have to run cords inside through doors and windows then.

[loaches r cool]

Yeah, that would be the correct way to do it... but will cost ya a couple hundred probably. Thats not something you want to do yourself. I got lucky, I got a nice nook to put the generator behind the house that happens to be right by the utility room window. Within 2 feet of the window inside is the panel box, which has a 30A 240V dryer outlet mounted to it. All I got to do is trip the main breaker. Probably not the legal way :hang:
but saves me a good chunk of change. :dance:
2 things to be aware with that though, you have to secure the plug so it wont come out (not a twistlock), and also cover the window so exhaust cant come in.

I dont have a master breaker per se either, I have a breaker that disconnects my panel into top and bottom halfs (top being hi-load stuff, bottom mostly lights and outlets). Without having a disconnect installed properly I cannot power my AC, furnace, water heater, or oven (top half still running off the mains). So I am still looking for some quotes to have it done properly. But the benefit is that right now my furnace and oven still being on the mains, I can easily tell when the power is back on (else I may look like an idiot still running a generator hours after the power is back on lol).

[Mgamer20o0]

That article is just some really basic stuff. Another thing I have used in the past in an emergency was an inverter in my car. I used a long extension chord and ran filters and heaters for about 3 days on inverter power. Just remember the watts on those heaters add up quick. And inverters do not put out ideal sine wave - so motors will sound loud and a bit unhappy. If you have an expensive filter like an Ehiem Pro3 I wouldnt be running it on that.

Actually our power went out last thursday. I had been meaning to get a generator for a long time, but having the power go out that night finally sealed the deal. Sam's club actually has good prices on generators. I needed a slightly bigger one for the house and they sell a Power Boss 5600W continous / 8600W surge for $599. They had a couple smaller ones too but I didnt get the specs.

I had it running in under 2 hours from pulling in the driveway, and thats including the extra trip back to the gas station (forgot my 5g gas can was empty) and also going back to lowes to get the right plug (had to make my own cord to hook into dryer outlet and bought the wrong one at first).

Anyone who goes the generator route though check local laws and make sure you arent backfeeding the neighborhood.

thats not a bad price. we dont have very many power outs here in so cali. but it is always a good idea. when our power did go out i used portable jump starter.

[5xevy]

I'm really glad this thread is here. It led me to do a thread search on "generators." I've only lived in this house for about a year and discovered that the power goes out pretty often (more so in the winter).

I decided to spend the extra cash and go out and get a generator the coming week. I had the power go out once since I've had my aquariums and I just couldn't bear the thought of something happening to my fish...my pets.

I really believe in the long run, at least for me, it'll save a lot of time and money having one in my home. Thank you all for posting.

[loaches r cool]

My house is all electric so the need for power is more so. Plus I have 2 freezers mostly full of my hard-earned venison that I would hate to go to waste if the power ever went out during the warmer seasons. Now, if you are just wanted to power aquariums and some lights, you could do with a smaller cheaper generator and some heavy duty extension cords.

Those wanting cheaper generators might want to look at:
http://ww2.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=55270
More options go to http://ww2.harborfreight.com/ type in search 'generator'.

[Shocker6966]

I was actually thinking about throwing a few solar panels out to power the aquariums. I figure about 1500watts would be more than enough. Haven't really looked into it in depth, I just think it's one of those cool projects that you can look back on later and think - "I really did that"

[TwoTankAmin]

Just a thought here, especially since we are in the process of hooking up a whole house meregency backup generator. There is more involved than just providing electricity to run tank equipment. you may also have to deal with temperature issues. if you lose power in winter when its cold, you tank heaters will not compenstae for house temps that may plummet into the freezing range in an extended blackout. Similarly, power outage in the middle of a summer heat wave may leave you dealing with heat issues without air conditioning to alleviate them.

We ae looking at installing a propane fired 200 amp generator which will put out somewhere between 30 and 45kw of power and automatically come on when powrer is lost for 30 seconds and will turn off when power is restored.

[loaches r cool]

Those standby units are really nice - if you experience frequent outages. But round here it isnt very often at all, and I dont have the extra thousands to put into such a system, or make that tens of thousands :eek: ! last i checked a 40KWer was round 15 grand or so? Sure would be nice though! But even my 5600W unit can power a hi draw app like my water heater or central air, so long as everything else is kept to a minimum while the they are runnin.

For winter outages, I have also equiped myself with a Big Buddy portable propane heater http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4382667 which will put out 18,000BTU and with the fan running can keep almost all of my upstairs warm. In conjunction with the fireplace downstairs, I can keep the whole house except for a couple end bedrooms warm in down to around freezing (havent tested it much under freezing though). Now that I have a generator I can also put electric heaters in the hard to heat rooms (or just run the furnace, but I have to do some wiring before I can run the furnace on the gen).

[coupedefleur]

Those standby generators could be really helpful if there's a major outage in the winter, for those of us in the north. A major ice storm can knock out enough power lines so things don't get fixed for days. And if that happens, all your plumbing pipes can freeze and burst. And if you've got a boiler with hot water heat the heating system can be ruined as well. When you add up the cost of replacing all that, plus tearing out walls and ceilings to fix 2nd floor plumbing, the cost of those standby systems start to look more reasonable.

And if you're away on vacation when the power goes out, what will you do? We had that happen a long time ago, and I lost all my fish, including some rare f1 krib relatives that I had bred. I had a friend taking care of my fish, but the electric company kept telling him that the power was going to come on in an hour or so. At least running the gas stove kept the pipes from freezing.

I wonder if any homeowners insurance companies give you a price break if you have a standby system? Some give a discount if you have a monitored fire and burglar alarm.

[jessicar613]

Just a thought here, especially since we are in the process of hooking up a whole house meregency backup generator. There is more involved than just providing electricity to run tank equipment. you may also have to deal with temperature issues. if you lose power in winter when its cold, you tank heaters will not compenstae for house temps that may plummet into the freezing range in an extended blackout. Similarly, power outage in the middle of a summer heat wave may leave you dealing with heat issues without air conditioning to alleviate them.

We ae looking at installing a propane fired 200 amp generator which will put out somewhere between 30 and 45kw of power and automatically come on when powrer is lost for 30 seconds and will turn off when power is restored.


We lost power for a week a few years ago when we had an ice storm, and we used our kerosene heater. It actually kept our (small) house warmer than our furnace. We even cooked on top of it.

Just a thought; a kerosene heater is cheap, easy insurance for heat problem (not just for fish warmth, for people too). For the not-so-handy among us. :)