Apartment dwellers- what is your power outage plan?

[cdw79]

Get a quiet Honda, propane converted, and make sure you have a patio. You can also build a sound reduction box.

Unfortunately no patio to my knowledge- I was able to tour a comparable floor plan before signing but due to demand I wasn't able to see my exact apartment. But 99% sure there is no patio after speaking w the leasing people.

I'm leaning most toward the power station option (albeit my knowledge in this space is very limited) but trying to get a ballpark idea of how long one might last me. Happy to pay a premium if needed- I just want to know that I'd be set for a week or more ideally. I'm hesitant to try to rig up a generator that would rely on gas, propane, etc. in the interest of not ticking off neighbors (who more than likely do have a patio / balcony) and/or the apartment management people. So I think a battery-based option of some kind would probably be best for me

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

A week is gonna be hard unless your buying a massively large power cell like 100ah+- size type stuff, imho its would be cheaper to just have a deep cycle gel battery and a powerhead capable of running 12vdc. Thats why in hurricane country most have gennys.

Edit: spelling!

 

[cdw79]

A week is gonna be hard unless your buying a massively large power cell like 100ah+- size type stuff, imho its would be cheaper to just have a deep cycle gel battle and a powerhead capable of running 12vdc. Thats why in hurricane country most have gennys.

Yeah, I say a week knowing it is probably overly ambitious / something to strive for for ultimate peace of mind. I'll be moving to the middle of Houston, where hopefully power wouldn't be off for that long even in a bad hurricane, but basically trying to understand my options and choose the one that can power the critical components the longest (and ideally in the simplest way possible, because I'm pretty out of my depth in this topic).

I'm planning on MP40s and a gyre- they seem to be 24v but I'm not positive. Like I said, really out of my depth when it comes to the electrical side of things. Just want to maximize longevity of my system in an emergency and willing to pay a premium given gas generators are off the table for me. Whatever will give maximize my tank's chances of powering through, I'll bite the bullet

 

[7of9]

Power outages are pretty rare in my area, so I’m keeping a battery/power inverter I use for camping on hand along with some battery operated air pumps.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I'm planning on moving to a part of the country (gulf coast) where power outages from hurricanes are to be expected. I will be living in an apartment, which means a generator as a backup is out of the question. I'm curious what reefers in similar circumstances do, or what more experienced reefers would recommend. I'm planning on a tank upgrade once I finish my one (Cade 1500 peninsula, 210 gal in total volume), and it's incredibly important to me that I have a robust power outage plan in place. Thanks!

problem solved
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[brandon429]

spend $1200 and buy a jackery 1000 watt battery backup off amazon

I have the $500 500 watt one and it's already saved my tank numerous times. mine's a pico, so smaller battery was ok. you need the $1200 one

 

[Reefahholic]

Unfortunately no patio to my knowledge- I was able to tour a comparable floor plan before signing but due to demand I wasn't able to see my exact apartment. But 99% sure there is no patio after speaking w the leasing people.

I'm leaning most toward the power station option (albeit my knowledge in this space is very limited) but trying to get a ballpark idea of how long one might last me. Happy to pay a premium if needed- I just want to know that I'd be set for a week or more ideally. I'm hesitant to try to rig up a generator that would rely on gas, propane, etc. in the interest of not ticking off neighbors (who more than likely do have a patio / balcony) and/or the apartment management people. So I think a battery-based option of some kind would probably be best for me

There is also a way to buy or build a window hanger with a small platform outside the window to sit the generator on. Also did that one time due to no patio on 2nd floor. Could have put it outside the door, but a Honda walks off quick so I didn’t trust it.

 

[Reef Devils]

I'm planning on moving to a part of the country (gulf coast) where power outages from hurricanes are to be expected. I will be living in an apartment, which means a generator as a backup is out of the question. I'm curious what reefers in similar circumstances do, or what more experienced reefers would recommend. I'm planning on a tank upgrade once I finish my one (Cade 1500 peninsula, 210 gal in total volume), and it's incredibly important to me that I have a robust power outage plan in place. Thanks!

My tank is only 3 months old and it has been through 5 power outages. They are not fun. I recommend bubblers with airstone, and lots of batteries. I would definitely look into getting a generator or portable power station. I just bought this portable power station on Amazon. I have some of the reef tank buddies and they all have this one and they say it’s great. They say it lasts about 12 hours to run your heater and return the pump.

 

[Rubymoon286]

I'm up in East Texas these days, but I grew up near Houston - I have two large Jackery Batteries and rotate which one is charging and which one is active - you can either use a vehicle to charge, if flooding is minimal you can go to a place that has power and charge batteries, or you can do a solar array, but with how overcast the days before and after a hurricane typically are, the solar doesn't do much. When I've had to use the batteries, I only run necessary tech, and I've never fully gone through both batteries. Longest I've run it that way without power is 3 days which is about what you'd typically be looking at unless your area takes a direct hit and floods badly.

If we get another snowpocalyse, power can be out longer due to failure of infrastructure. Power was out around a week in a lot of areas during the snowstorm.

 

[cdw79]

I'm up in East Texas these days, but I grew up near Houston - I have two large Jackery Batteries and rotate which one is charging and which one is active - you can either use a vehicle to charge, if flooding is minimal you can go to a place that has power and charge batteries, or you can do a solar array, but with how overcast the days before and after a hurricane typically are, the solar doesn't do much. When I've had to use the batteries, I only run necessary tech, and I've never fully gone through both batteries. Longest I've run it that way without power is 3 days which is about what you'd typically be looking at unless your area takes a direct hit and floods badly.

If we get another snowpocalyse, power can be out longer due to failure of infrastructure. Power was out around a week in a lot of areas during the snowstorm.

How long did it take for your batteries to charge? I'm trying to prepare for the worst. Stories about that crazy snowstorm shook me up a little, hearing about how many people lost absolutely everything.

I feel like my goal would be to have power for a week some way or another. If there's a way to do that without needing external power that would be ideal (because I could imagine potentially being unable to find a place w power of things got rough like they did during the snowstorm), but several days like you're describing could be doable too if there was truly no way to make the week's worth of battery for an MP40 and a heater feasible given I can't use a conventional generator

 

[Reef Devils]

I'm up in East Texas these days, but I grew up near Houston - I have two large Jackery Batteries and rotate which one is charging and which one is active - you can either use a vehicle to charge, if flooding is minimal you can go to a place that has power and charge batteries, or you can do a solar array, but with how overcast the days before and after a hurricane typically are, the solar doesn't do much. When I've had to use the batteries, I only run necessary tech, and I've never fully gone through both batteries. Longest I've run it that way without power is 3 days which is about what you'd typically be looking at unless your area takes a direct hit and floods badly.

If we get another snowpocalyse, power can be out longer due to failure of infrastructure. Power was out around a week in a lot of areas during the snowstorm.

Which Jackery batteries do you have?

 

[lion king]

These are top of the line, I have a few of these units and several solar panels. I've already used them on a power outage in my house and use them daily as power for my mobile grooming van. There's the delta line which I have 2 delta's, delta pro and 2 extra batteries. There's a smaller line, the river, analyze the output for your needs. If you have direct sun you could set one up with a solar panel and have no worries, or a larger unit could last for days. They are expensive but they are hands down the best.

https://us.ecoflow.com/collections/delta-series

 

[cdw79]

These are top of the line, I have a few of these units and several solar panels. I've already used them on a power outage in my house and use them daily as power for my mobile grooming van. There's the delta line which I have 2 delta's, delta pro and 2 extra batteries. There's a smaller line, the river, analyze the output for your needs. If you have direct sun you could set one up with a solar panel and have no worries, or a larger unit could last for days. They are expensive but they are hands down the best.

https://us.ecoflow.com/collections/delta-series

This is probably a stupid question, but how do I do the math to understand how long one of these units could power my necessities?

From what I think I've pieced together, it seems like I have to take the wattage from the battery unit, divide it by the wattage used by the MP40 (which I suppose depends based on the intensity of the flow) and the quotient is the number of hours that the unit could power the pump? If that's the case, being run at half intensity (50% of 36w, according to the figure on BRS) then I'd get 133 hours or 5 and a half days, albeit without the heater which sounds like it would be even more intensive. I may be totally off here, just trying to wrap my head around the concepts.

I also saw that Vortech battery backups last for 36 hours on an MP40 (though it seems like the reviews are mixed, so maybe there's a better option here). But maybe between some sort of direct backup to the MP40, a big Delta unit, and/or some of their mobile solar panels (unclear if they'd do much since I have an east facing window), maybe that could do it? Looks to be brutally expensive but maybe that just is what it is..?

 

[Reefahholic]

spend $1200 and buy a jackery 1000 watt battery backup off amazon

I have the $500 500 watt one and it's already saved my tank numerous times. mine's a pico, so smaller battery was ok. you need the $1200 one

Link?

How long do you think the $1200 will last on my 105/G tank running a 500 gph D/C return pump on low, and 1 Jebao DC Wavemaker on low?

 

[lion king]

This is probably a stupid question, but how do I do the math to understand how long one of these units could power my necessities?

From what I think I've pieced together, it seems like I have to take the wattage from the battery unit, divide it by the wattage used by the MP40 (which I suppose depends based on the intensity of the flow) and the quotient is the number of hours that the unit could power the pump? If that's the case, being run at half intensity (50% of 36w, according to the figure on BRS) then I'd get 133 hours or 5 and a half days, albeit without the heater which sounds like it would be even more intensive. I may be totally off here, just trying to wrap my head around the concepts.

I also saw that Vortech battery backups last for 36 hours on an MP40 (though it seems like the reviews are mixed, so maybe there's a better option here). But maybe between some sort of direct backup to the MP40, a big Delta unit, and/or some of their mobile solar panels (unclear if they'd do much since I have an east facing window), maybe that could do it? Looks to be brutally expensive but maybe that just is what it is..?

1st you do have to calculate the needs for your tank, and yes heaters will use alot, and that's a calculation complicated all on it's own. Thankfully so far I have not lost power during times when I needed a heater, but once I did need to run fans. I did support 4 tanks along with other household items, no heater or ac. Think of it this way, it is nice to have some back up emergency energy for many needs. I can just say, the ecoflow units deliver. As I stated earlier, I use these units in my business daily.

 

[Big E]

These are top of the line, I have a few of these units and several solar panels. I've already used them on a power outage in my house and use them daily as power for my mobile grooming van. There's the delta line which I have 2 delta's, delta pro and 2 extra batteries. There's a smaller line, the river, analyze the output for your needs. If you have direct sun you could set one up with a solar panel and have no worries, or a larger unit could last for days. They are expensive but they are hands down the best.

https://us.ecoflow.com/collections/delta-series

Yes, that 1800w unit for $1000 is worth it and would be my first choice. Most outages are going to be local from storms, ect. so you can take a unit like that to a friend/relatives house with power and recharge it to 80% in less than an hour. A few hours would easily get you back to 100%.

A lot of these power stations regardless brands also have batteries that you can swap out.

To the OP.............call up the actual company get some some good accurate info on what they have available and run times, charging options, ect.

It would probably be a good idea to get a kilowatt meter and actually know what you need to keep your tank going.
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One last thing on this subject to anyone..............you skimp or are unprepared you're gonna lose your tank.

I've been there...........hadn't had a power outage for more than a few hours for over 20 years and one summer storm without power out over a week and I ended up with a dead reef. This was back in the early 90's. Today power outages are way more common and last longer than in the past.

For those that don't have house generators buy something today to get the job done right.

 

[brandon429]

Don’t run the the pumps during outages run airstones they are more efficient at gas exchange than any pump arrangement for two reasons: current draw and laminar flow vs eddy currents

water pumps produce eddy currents and use much more power they are only for power on times: flow is random and horizontal mostly mixing around in the tank. This is ok when power is on because you can quadruple the current in order to produce top to bottom water table mixing

in a power outage / battery / limited reserve setting even a weak air stone wins, it produces laminar turnover + surface boil which mixes top to bottom water table efficiently for current and actual gas exchange. Run one big air pump with it or two medium ones to keep the tank alive and just wipe off the saltcreep if it forms

if power outage happens in the winter you’ll need heater / the big backup / search Amazon for 1000 watt jackery but in summer two bait box bubblers, large, and a supply of lithium D batteries would be cheaper and last days. There are online charts that fish production facilities use to determine water current comparisons between bubble columns and eddy current pumps we’d have to search out to see specifics, but one small rising air column is more efficient at gas exchange than your whole pump setup. Where eddy currents win is for pleasing sps, delivering food to corals and removing coral sloughs as they randomly crash about surfaces but that’s not the priority in a power outage instance. Co2 and 02 exchange is the key and a rising bubble column always wins though it produces salt creep as a downside.

What I’ve forgotten we need to look up / don’t rely on reefers statements find an aqua culture article or chart / is whether an actual air stone with tiny bubbles is best, or just an air tube that produces large single bubbles is best. Can’t recall

 

[Reef Devils]

These are top of the line, I have a few of these units and several solar panels. I've already used them on a power outage in my house and use them daily as power for my mobile grooming van. There's the delta line which I have 2 delta's, delta pro and 2 extra batteries. There's a smaller line, the river, analyze the output for your needs. If you have direct sun you could set one up with a solar panel and have no worries, or a larger unit could last for days. They are expensive but they are hands down the best.

https://us.ecoflow.com/collections/delta-series

Ok thanks for the help

 

[Reef Devils]

Don’t run the the pumps during outages run airstones they are more efficient at gas exchange than any pump arrangement for two reasons: current draw and laminar flow vs eddy currents

water pumps produce eddy currents and use much more power they are only for power on times: flow is random and horizontal mostly mixing around in the tank. This is ok when power is on because you can quadruple the current in order to produce top to bottom water table mixing

in a power outage / battery / limited reserve setting even a weak air stone wins, it produces laminar turnover + surface boil which mixes top to bottom water table efficiently for current and actual gas exchange. Run one big air pump with it or two medium ones to keep the tank alive and just wipe off the saltcreep if it forms

if power outage happens in the winter you’ll need heater / the big backup / search Amazon for 1000 watt jackery but in summer two bait box bubblers, large, and a supply of lithium D batteries would be cheaper and last days. There are online charts that fish production facilities use to determine water current comparisons between bubble columns and eddy current pumps we’d have to search out to see specifics, but one small rising air column is more efficient at gas exchange than your whole pump setup. Where eddy currents win is for pleasing sps, delivering food to corals and removing coral sloughs as they randomly crash about surfaces but that’s not the priority in a power outage instance. Co2 and 02 exchange is the key and a rising bubble column always wins though it produces salt creep as a downside.

What I’ve forgotten we need to look up / don’t rely on reefers statements find an aqua culture article or chart / is whether an actual air stone with tiny bubbles is best, or just an air tube that produces large single bubbles is best. Can’t recall

lot have told me that a air tube with large bubbles is better because the more violent the agitation on the surface the more oxygen will get exchanged in the water. Thanks for the help tho

 

[brandon429]

Don't go off what you heard, search out aquaculture charts and articles. There's more surface boil with a higher number of bubbles, surface area.

Lakes that use air columns to destratify water during fish kill season never use straight bubbles they use air stones the size of a 55 gallon drum. If it was more efficient to not pay for those, they wouldn't

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015JC011381