Power Outage Recs?

[Debbie64]

Fun stuff this morning with about 2 hours of no power. Made me scramble a bit, but really the most harm done was that I didn't get coffee right away.

I pulled a UPS box from one of my computers and was able to keep power heads running, but it would not power my 300 watt heater, too. Temperature only dropped a few tenths of a degree.

Fortunately, I'm in an area where we really rarely lose power and generally not for very long - no longer than a few hours. There've been a couple of exceptions, but those are rare. I also have a gas BBQ in the house where I can heat water bottles. Also, the climate here is very mellow.

Still, I'd like to go ahead and get a UPS box on standby for a powerhead and a heater. I was looking at Newegg.com, but was wondering if anyone had any recs. Anyone use backup power? Anything that will power a 300 watt, 115 v heater plus a ph for a period of time without spending $500?

Thanks!

 

[OrionGirl]

Not really. And, honestly, if power outages are short and infrequent, keeping the tank properly stocked is your best bet. An hour or two isn't going to hurt a tank that's in good shape. More hours, and the slow cooling is actually beneficial because a) it is slow--a degree or two an hour is not enough to stress a fish. b) cooler water holds more oxygen--you can manually aerate to make sure this happens. c) cooler water slows metabolisms and hence waste production. Something that keeps some water movement near the surface is much more valuable, IMO. For anything over 6 hours, well, a generator is your best and cheapest bet.

 

[Debbie64]

Excellent, OG! Thank you for the advice.