Xhilrian

The forecast is saying that we're supposed to get 90mph winds here, which will likely knock the power out. What do I do with the fish while the power is out, since we can't run the heater without it.

Lucy

There was a thread about this recently. I hope you find the tips helpful.
Here' the link:
Folks.. I need your help please
Good luck and stay safe

nemo addict

buy a generator quick ,,, i would worry more about the air supply short term you can buy a battery air pump for emergencys like yours but heating only try and keep house warm to keep tank temprature up

Xhilrian

Okay. Thanks!

nemo addict

in the uk we have a unit mostly used for camping that supplies power which is charged up in the car dont know how long they last but you may get them in the usa as we have 240v here and your 110v should last longer then ours

Dozey

You can use an inverter. It runs off a car battery and converts the 12V DC power to 120V AC power. Be aware though, they come in many output ranges and a cheapie isn’t going to do it. You are going to pay a few hundred dollars for an inverter that will keep up to your heater and air pump.

Here’s an example…
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...romSearch=true

soldieroffortune1974

They're not that expensive. A Coleman 300 watt inverter is about $20 bucks, a 1000 watt inverter is about $100,and a 5000 watt inverter is about $300.

Depending on the size of the heater and air pump,a 300 watt inverter would be sufficient, since they go by continous watts and have a reserve "peak" output. So a 300 watt inverter would operate 1 200 watt heater and an air pump easily.

Dozey

Those wattage ratings are peek output ratings, not sustainable ratings. A general rule-of-thumb is that the sustainable wattage output of an inverter is about 20% of its advertised output rating. They just leave the “peek” word out.

nemo addict

a power inverter has to have the engine running as far as i know ,, i used to have one in my van to charge my cordless drills ,, and had to be switched off or battery went flat ,,, i was reffering to a rechargable power station which holds the power in the unit rather then converting it rather like this http://www.towsure.com/product/15253 which is a power station invertor all in one which works out to be about $140

Dozey

Inverters do not need the engine running at all. The advantage is that you can periodically run the car engine to recharge the car’s battery. The problem with the power station is that when it dies you need to recharge it. With either AC power, which of course would not be available during a power outage, or a car battery. In either case you are likely looking at a 12 to 16 hour turn around time to recharge the power station.

If you were unable to run an inverter from a car’s battery which you could easily recharge by running the engine I would recommend using a marine deep cycle battery.

It really comes down to the length of a power outage. If the power is out for an hour, don’t do anything. If the power is out for a few hours, throw some blankets over the tank, expecting a 6 hour outage the power station might get you by. If you are trying to plan for the worst, a power outage that last 12+ hours an inverter and a full tank of gas in the car is the only solution.

capekate

Hi Xhil, hope you didnt loose power.. thats some strong winds!
These posts above with the inverter info sounds very interesting..
Im just wondering, do these come with an outlet so that you can plug the heater or air pumps in? I think that my husband has one of these types for his job as a project manager for a Construction company. Hes a carpenter and I think that he won one of these in a raffle this year. It looked like one of the links .. Hmmm wonder if that would work? I just have no idea how one would hook the heater or air pump to it?

Dozey

Yes they do come with standard electrical outlets. The example I submitted with my previous post has 3 outlets.

capekate

The link you provided did not open to a page with the item you described so I was not able to see it.
But thanks for letting me know they do come with outlets.. it sounds like a great idea and Im going to talk to my husband about it. thanks!

Xhilrian

It does sound interesting, but we really don't have any extra money for the fish right now. We have a generator which will run for a few hours at a time. The hand warmers in a plastic baggie is a good idea for while its off. I think we can make it work.

capekate

Hi Xhil, glad to see you still have power! Shawnies idea on the hand warmers are a good one! There were some great links in that thread that was offered and I found the advice helpful.

Xhilrian

It was great. Lots of good info and ideas.
They changed the wind speed to 75 but it's already crazy and just getting started. It looks like a blizzard out there. XD

capekate

I can only imagine! The winds must be something up there in Washington.
Stay hunkered down.. and I hope for the best for you and your fishys.

Dozey

Sorry the link didn’t work for you, it works for me but that’s beside the point. The model I suggested is $300 CND. It does have 3 standard North American electrical outlets and can sustain a 300 watt output.

It also has a very nice feature that it has a DC voltage level indicator. This will let you know when to start the car and recharge the car’s battery. In my cold Canadian climate I wouldn’t suggest letting your car’s battery drop to less then 10 volts. In a warmer climate you would likely be safe to let the voltage drop to 8 volts.

If you were planning to use a 12 VDC battery other then the one installed in your vehicle a car’s battery would not be your best choice. Car batteries are design to generate high amperages of power for very short periods of time. Lots of power to start your car on a cold day, but don’t forget to turn off your head lights when you park your car for the night.

A marine deep cycle battery is designed to provide far lower amperages over an extended period of time. These are the batteries that keep your refrigerator running in your boat or RV when you’re on the road and not plugged into AC current. Well OK, maybe you wouldn’t be on the road in your boat but hopefully you get what I mean.

UPS’s (Uninterruptible Power Supplies) are all but out of the question. UPS’s available for around $100 dollars will provide about 300 watts for 5 minutes. Plenty of time to save your work on a PC and shut down properly but that’s not much time for your fish tank.

UPS’s that can provide an hour’s worth of time will run into the thousands of dollars. I do run several email servers that have UPS’s that supply 24 hours of back up time, those UPS’s start at $30,000. A bit pricey for the fish tank.

The power stations mentioned in a previous post will maintain power for 2 to 6 hours depending on the model and the price paid for it. But these unit will need 12 hours or more to recharge.

jdhef

If you are just worried about keeping the water warm, and if you have a gas power hot water heater in your house, you could just keep adding warm tap water. Of course that would get pretty old if you power was out for an extended period.

fishlover78

hmm, that's an idea, you'd need lots of prime though!

Dozey

That’s not going to work long at all. Gas water heaters have a blower motor to vent the consumed gases. During a power outage a safety switch will prevent the heater from running. As you remove warm water from the tank cold water replaces it and that incoming water would not get heated. Bottom line, the water in your tank will get cold during a long power outage.

The one appliance that you could get away with would be an older gas stove that could be used to warm water. And I say an “older gas stove” because most newer gas stoves have electronic igniters.

jdhef

But a match would override the electronic igniter.

nemo addict

i dont know how primative your heaters are but most gas appliances do not work without electric as the gas valve needs power to open unless you have a ascot boiler or a conventional system ,,,, i am a boiler enginer in uk and your gas regulations are totally different to ours but the supply of boilers (heaters) should be simlar

Dozey

In North America we tend to frown on gas appliances exploding too. Even my gas fireplace won’t kick on during a power failure. It has a pilot light but relies on fans to vent the heat and burnt gas. Unless someone has a 50 year old gas stove, it would take a lot of matches to heat water.