cgrant Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Hi all, Just thought I would share my 5 hrs without power last night. With some hints that I had read from here in the past I knew about floating 2 litre botles full of hot water to keep the temp up. This worked great. The temp had dropped from 78f to 76f in my 80 gallon tank. I floated two bottles and the temp came right back up. The room temp was 63f at that time. I also wrapped blankets all the way around the tank and covered the top with another blanket. This combination held the temp at 78 for the duration of the outage. If I used all the hot water from the tank my plan was to heat some water on the BBQ(outside of course). Thankfully it was not an extended period of time. I do believe that this would have held the temp at an acceptable range for quite some time though. Hope everyone is doing ok through this weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 I wonder if picking up an APC would be a good idea. APC is back up power typically used for servers and such Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Either a UPS or a small generator. I have had my generator running and powering my tank during a power outage....it is a nice feeling knowing that things will be OK in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 How much do small gen's run? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 It depends on what you are after with your generator. I bought a very quiet one that could power my RV - and the AC in the RV. It was upwards of 1,100.00, but I can run it during the day in camp and it is extremely quiet. I think you can get a generator at costco, but it will wake the whole neighborhood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Ah....got it. Well maybe one day. The UPS is a far cheaper alternative. But how long will they power your tank in power outages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 It depends on the UPS. We have units at work that could power a tank for days, but a generator would be cheaper than one of the industrial UPS systems. I know they have battery powered air pumps, but no such thing that I know of for heating. You could even get a larger RV deep cycle battery (group 29 and above) and I bet that would power things for a day or two maybe - you could keep the battery on a charger then when power goes out you are ready to go. Just get an inverter (I picked one up at costco for about 40.00 once) and you can plug your heater and pump into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.