Its severe winter weather time again. What is your Outage plan?

[BetterJake]

I live in a townhome so my options are pretty limited. Ended up buying some milwaukee batteries and an inverter to run a higher output air pump. I also bought two additional battery powered bubblers.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

I have mine on a UPS for power glitches and short outages especially when not around but have a generator ready to go. For me a power outage is only an issue if I'm not home and more than a couple hours. then it would be to have the neighbor fire my generator up.

Anyone using their EV for power?

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

I have a generator and some extra gas as my main go to for outages, but I also have a Jackery 'solar generator' that is an alternative source.

 

[FMF0331]

 

[crazyfishmom]

Got a whole house generator a month ago. Pretended it was for the children.

 

[fish farmer]

That's what I borrowed from work. Small, quiet and they start right up.

 

[Dburr1014]

Anyone have experience with ATP uninterruptible power supplies? I have a few that would not program from work, but should work for short outages. I was thinking that it should work for a few hours. If longer I have a back up generator and few 5 gallon gas cans full.

I have a big one. Runs everything but light and heaters for 24 hours. Enough time to get the genny out.
That runs almost the whole house.

 

[Widdlyscudds]

There are no trees where our above ground lines run and 98% of our grid is buried, haven't had the power go out in over a decade, was different when I lived on the other side of town. Probably will start to collect some things this year as a contingency but at the moment I'm at the mercy of the power company.

 

[redfishbluefish]

We very rarely get outages. The very first time I used my generator was when we were hit with Hurricane Sandy. I live on the coast with the town surrounded on three sides by water (two rivers and the bay). My little generator ran for over 7 days, 24 hours a day and ran my entire tank, the heater for the house, refrigerator and basement freezer, the TV and a couple lights. I now have two generators, and they have their own mini shed:

As stated above, we rarely get power failures.......except, within the last week we had two. The first was last Saturday for five hours.....unknown reason, and the second was three days later for 1 hour and 15 minutes and can only guess downed power lines from heavy rain and high winds.

For me a generator (or some other means of electricity) is a mandatory piece of equipment.

 

[Danyole]

What's the difference between a inverter and a generator? Picked up a 4,000W Generator on BF and had to use it on Wednesday when I lost power for 7 hours. Had more than enough juice to power everything but I only had it run my heaters and return pump. Worked well enough for me except my dummy was procrastinating on setting it up so I had to go out in the storm to get oil and gas and set everything up in the dark

 

[vetteguy53081]

What's the difference between a inverter and a generator? Picked up a 4,000W Generator on BF and had to use it on Wednesday when I lost power for 7 hours. Had more than enough juice to power everything but I only had it run my heaters and return pump. Worked well enough for me except my dummy was procrastinating on setting it up so I had to go out in the storm to get oil and gas and set everything up in the dark

An inverter will transfer power to a household source whereas a generator will deliver household power from the unit

 

[WallyTime7]

Generac that powers the entire house. Kicks on within 10 seconds of the power going out, amazing.

Wife thought it was over the top - until it kicked on 4 times in the last 3 months. Now I look like the hero

 

[QuickrdenU]

Generac that powers the entire house. Kicks on within 10 seconds of the power going out, amazing.

Wife thought it was over the top - until it kicked on 4 times in the last 3 months. Now I look like the hero

What’s the total cost on one of these installed? Before I go get some quotes.

 

[Reef Devils]

As many states are facing winter weather warnings and watches, its time to again revisit an action plan or perhaps incorporate one in place.
We are expecting up to 14" of snow today with 45mph winds with potential for outages.
I have a Generator and just filled two 5 gal cans of gas on standby, I also have heat packs to tape to tank glass if needed and fireplace for added room heat and 3 battery operated air pumps.

How many have a plan or never thought of one?
What is your emergency plan and what can you share with others to best prepare for sudden weather?

We recently invested in a full house generator! Never have to worry again about losing power. It turns on 7 seconds after the power goes out and not too loud.

 

[Low Tech Reefer]

Each tank has a point of use UPS for "power bumps" main back up is whole house generator.

 

[SomeHappyFish]

I live in an apartment therefor my options are limited... I built myself a battery backup system which was roughly 200$; most of these were bought used...

Equipment required​

Battery: MK Powered 12v-18ah SLA 85$
Inverter: I don't know the brand unfortunately 30$
Relay: PROwatt SW Inline Transfer Relay 100$
Charger: MotoMaster Simple Series Smart Battery Charger/Maintainer, Fully Automatic, 3-Amp, 12V 60$
Wiring: Male & Female prong


How to wire:
1.Connect the trickle charger to the battery.
2.Connect the battery to the inverter.
3.Plug the Inverter to the PROwatt SW Inline Transfer Relay.
4.Plug the pump to the respective prong on the Transfer relay (its indicated on the wires)
5.Plug the Transfer Relay main power to an outlet.
6.Enjoy.

 

[cherith]

We invested in a Whole house generator 2 years ago and I tell you the peace of mind of having it is great.

Power goes out and less then 30 seconds the power is back on as we have the auto transfer switch

It was pricey but one of the best investments We have made.

We also have backup here in California—in the form of a solar battery which was very pricey. Solar is meager in the winter here in the huge inland San Joaquin Valley. The temperature has never dropped below 26° degrees that I can remember and I’m 77 years, but we have weeks of fog and overcast frequently, power outages come on summer afternoons when it’s 115° and absolutely everybody has their air conditioning on full blast. No need to worry about warmth for the tank, but I have a fan to cause faster evaporation to create cooler temps under water. There is also the option of RO ice in the freezer if need be. We have lots of stored energy under the summer sun. Our battery is a big one. My daughter lost everything in her tank a few years ago during a hot summer outage and she had no battery for air conditioning, fans or ice. RIP

 

[Rocktron1]

Winter..... What are you guys talking about?

It's summer here, 41deg Celcius today here in Perth

I'm about to go to beach for a swim

 

[Roatan Reef]

Battery backups on the 40B and 13.5 evo.

Generator for worst case scenario.

 

[907_Reefer]

I keep battery powered bubblers on hand for shorter outages, for longer during bigger storms the tank and fridge run on a portable generator.

Whole-house generator is 100% in my future plans.