Best Hurricane Backup Solution?

[aaron186]

I live in Florida. I own a gas generator but I cant use that during the active part of a storm. I was wondering what the best solution would be to run my tank during the first 24 hours of a storm when I cant get outside. I was looking at some of the power bank solutions like the Ecoflow River that's on sale for prime day now. I wont need to run heaters (will be hot in house without AC) but would like to keep my flow and dosing pumps running if possible. My tank is using apex with 2 cor return pumps, a UV sterilizer (ill turn off), 4 maxspect gyres, and 2 MP40s and 4 versa pumps. I have the ecotech backup battery I can use but its about 2 years old now and likely needs replaced soon.

Can someone recommend what power station I should be looking at? How big should I go? Would prefer something polished and user friendly over a car battery or similar

 

[aaron186]

Here’s my apex info if this helps:

 

[C_AWOL]

Keep in mind that the ecoflow river can only power a maximum of 288w (less due to conversion and efficiency loss) for 1 hour. Based on your maximum wattage on the apex that will be at best ~30 minutes of continuous use.

https://a.co/d/8EYaeOl

The delta 2 is the smallest one I would suggest (is a better buy than the river) and the lfp chemistry is a lot longer lasting cycle wise and handles being kept at 100% a lot better than nmc chemistry with significantly less degradation long term.

At your maximum wattage, it can run your tank for ~2 hours instead or if you run just a powerhead at full power (like a vortech) it should be able to run for ~25 hours (longer if dialed down)

Edited with correct product*

 

[VintageReefer]

Keep in mind that the ecoflow river can only power a maximum of 288w (less due to conversion and efficiency loss) for 1 hour. Based on your maximum wattage on the apex that will be at best ~30 minutes of continuous use.

Amazon.com

a.co

The delta 2 is the smallest one I would suggest (is a better buy than the river) and the lfp chemistry is a lot longer lasting cycle wise and handles being kept at 100% a lot better than nmc chemistry with significantly less degradation long term.

At your maximum wattage, it can run your tank for ~2 hours instead or if you run just a powerhead at full power (like a vortech) it should be able to run for ~25 hours (longer if dialed down)

The link you posted is just the expansion battery and requires the main unit to function. It’s not standalone

For a good priced 1000wh unit with ups function this is the best deal now. I bought one today

Amazon.com

a.co

$560 on sale for $460 and then there is a 35% coupon that makes it 300$. Best deal on Amazon as far as these devices go

Automatic cutover to battery and auto cutover back to ac when power is restored

 

[VintageReefer]

You don’t run the whole tank on these. You typically just run a return pump. If you need to run a heater then you are better off with a gas generator

 

[VintageReefer]

My return pump on my 75g is 19 watts.
My current lithium power station is 520wh. This runs my return pump automatically providing filtration, current, and oxygenation for:
(520wh x .85) / 19 = 23.2 hours

The unit I linked to is 1008wh

(1008wh x .85) / 19 = 45 hours of runtime for my return pump

If you get one of these devices you almost certainly will want to ensure you have adjustable dc equipment as it’s usually half the power of ac and you can dial back if needed to extend battery runtime

 

[C_AWOL]

The link you posted is just the expansion battery and requires the main unit to function. It’s not standalone

For a good priced 1000wh unit with ups function this is the best deal now. I bought one today

Amazon.com

a.co

$560 on sale for $460 and then there is a 35% coupon that makes it 300$. Best deal on Amazon as far as these devices go

Automatic cutover to battery and auto cutover back to ac when power is restored

Good catch! I corrected the item to the right one.

 

[VintageReefer]

FYI I bought my 520wh backup for $250
The 1000’s are normally 500+

The sale + coupon you can stack on for the one I linked is a steal at $300. Gotta love prime day!

 

[Reeferbadness]

Best long term solution: solar with tesla power wall - will refill your battery when the sun comes out and 1 power wall = 13.5 mW - enough to power a house + 2 x 200g fish tanks long enough to have the sun refill. I have 2 power walls stacked. Expensive - yes, but it also saves you a ton on electricity when the power is fine and off the grid ok for days/weeks during the summer. I actually got this set up originally due to fire issues here in CA - where they can shut off your power for days at a time if high fire danger and didn't want to chance the tanks crashing.

Never going back.

 

[VintageReefer]

How does the monthly payment on the powerwalls + solar panels compare to the monthly electricity bill you had prior ?

Yes someone would save on electricity but they would be trading for a loan payment on the panel / battery system.

Two power walls is roughly $17,000 and that’s not including the solar panels you need on your roof. Easily $25,000

Don’t get me wrong I love Tesla power walls and would get one in a heartbeat. But it wasn’t realistic or affordable for my region and my electricity is very low compared to other states. Also op has a generator they just want to have something power the tank during the storm itself when they can’t get outside to activate the generator. 300-400$ could achieve this

 

[dmsc2fs]

Since this is a short term solution until the generator can be dragged out and started I wonder if another option might be better. A HOB skimmer with the cup removed and hung off the tank will give some circulation, and O2 exchange and it will easily run for a long long time on a battery backup.

Something like this one

My last hurricane I wasn't able to get my generator started and I used air stones and battery bubblers to keep my tank alive for 2 days. I have since replaced the generator.

 

[Reeferbadness]

How does the monthly payment on the powerwalls + solar panels compare to the monthly electricity bill you had prior ?

Yes someone would save on electricity but they would be trading for a loan payment on the panel / battery system.

Two power walls is roughly $17,000 and that’s not including the solar panels you need on your roof. Easily $25,000

Don’t get me wrong I love Tesla power walls and would get one in a heartbeat. But it wasn’t realistic or affordable for my region and my electricity is very low compared to other states. Also op has a generator they just want to have something power the tank during the storm itself when they can’t get outside to activate the generator. 300-400$ could achieve this

I pay only about $800 for the entire year. I would be looking at $400 - $600 a month so you can do the math - push out over 10 - 20 years and the savings are very good ie: low end $400 a month x 12 monrths x 10 years = $48k. It's likely considerably more and solar + power wall should be good for 15 - 20 years

 

[fishybizzness]

I have one of these hooked up to 2 deep cycle marine batteries. We have regular power outages sometimes for extended periods. I've run my gyres and return pump all night a few times.

 

[VintageReefer]

I pay only about $800 for the entire year. I would be looking at $400 - $600 a month so you can do the math - push out over 10 - 20 years and the savings are very good ie: low end $400 a month x 12 monrths x 10 years = $48k. It's likely considerably more and solar + power wall should be good for 15 - 20 years

That’s actually really good
Solar panel alone, not including battery backups, we’re coming in around $300 a month for me

 

[Gumbies R Us]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/training-for-hurricane-season.930184/ This thread has some helpful info!

 

[KStatefan]

These power stations that are available now make it easy to have automatic back up system ready at all times. I use the Ecoflow but there are many others. I just have my return pumps and controller plugged in which will give me about 13 hours of run time.

 

[aaron186]

Thank you guys. I do plan on eventually going solar but the cost right now isn’t worth the investment. I had a few companies come out and it’s about 70-90k. It will be about 500-600 a month to mostly negate my power bill which is about 300-400 a month. It’s about 20 years till ROI and I’m not sure I’m staying here that long. Prices are coming down as tech improves so I think I’m going to wait a few years and make sure it’s a good investment. I have a gas generator but that won’t help during the initial storm. I just need to run my returns and a power head or two I think.

I appreciate the help with wattage. I’ll take a look at the units you suggested

 

[aaron186]

Tagging onto this. I have a Cor 20 and a Cor 15 return pump. The Cor15 can only power off the 1 link so I don’t think I can run it without powering the apex power bar. Is my best bet just to unplug the Cor 20 and run it off the generator instead of the apex?

 

[aaron186]

The link you posted is just the expansion battery and requires the main unit to function. It’s not standalone

For a good priced 1000wh unit with ups function this is the best deal now. I bought one today

Amazon.com

a.co

$560 on sale for $460 and then there is a 35% coupon that makes it 300$. Best deal on Amazon as far as these devices go

Automatic cutover to battery and auto cutover back to ac when power is restored

How does this compare to the other one listed above by Awol ?

 

[Zelly]

If no one has mentioned it yet a UPS (uninterrupted power supply, like a big battery) could be a good option