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back up generator

yes 16kw generac. Runs off natural gas and automatically transfers when there is a loss of power. Does about 80% of the house.....and all the fish tanks of course ;D
 
Rbu1 said:
yes 16kw generac. Runs off natural gas and automatically transfers when there is a loss of power. Does about 80% of the house.....and all the fish tanks of course ;D

Where did you end up buying yours? I have considered that for a while and know I should. Any particular tips?
 
my buddy lives in Cape May, just got his power back from Saturday (4 days without power!!!) He went and just picked up a portable generator at Lowes for $329 which was a 3500watt Peak generator. It worked great and not invested. It was enough to run his heaters and pump. Didn't lose anything. But you need to plug your stuff into the generator manually. Not perfect but it worked.
 

Sunny

NJRC Member
Article Contributor
i would like to run my fridge and tv, as well as my tank. i chose a 5500 watt generator from lowes. i learned after losing 90% of my fish and all of my inverts in an outage a couple years ago. not to mention in this weather, you could run a space heater if you had to, and chances are, you will want to have that option.
 
I am looking into a 17kw natural gas fed backup one for the house. My parents have a 15kw Bryant in their house in the Poconos. They have frequent power outages up to 2 weeks there. They love theirs. We are pretty lucky with Public service in north Jersey. But all it takes is a storm to bring down a few utility poles and I could be days without power. A worthwhile investment that will add value to your home if you can afford it. It should run me about $5,000 installed. It all depends on how the IRS treats us this tax season.
 
R

reseter5

Guest
i have a buddy with solar and luckily his house is all electric.. heat and all.. and the solar kept everything going while the power was out.. he has some battery backup storage thing for night time... spent like 80k on the whole thing .. but makes back like 500 a month from the electric company plus the rebate he got when he did it a few years ago.......
 
A UPS is pretty cheap.
I bought a 1300VA UPS and basically have all the essential pumps running off it. I keep the lights on a different circuit. Lights can be off for a long time but not pumps. I even have my heater on a different circuit going to the wall plug. If that goes off no biggy I have enough pumps to keep the tank warm enough around 75 -80 degrees.
If the power goes off I can probably keep the pumps running for a day by estimates.
 
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