Power outages and GENERATORS

[JerseyWendy]

I hope this is not something that has already been covered. :-[

Yesterday we had a power outage - again. My neighborhood is quite prone to those, and I freak out each and every time. The power went out at 1:20PM and they predicted it to be back by 7:30PM. Needless to day, I panicked. Luckily we were back nearly 2 hours later, but I have to admit, some of my fish were huffing and puffing by then. I run 2 VorTechs, and one of them is connected to the Battery Backup. Hopefully after the swap I'll have both of them hooked up to the backup. However, the Vortech only run at 1/2 speed during outages.

Ok, enough babbling. Here's my question. Does anyone know anything about generators? Can anyone possibly recommend one? I don't want to ever be put in the predicament where the power is out long enough that it may cause my tank to crash, so therefore we are seriously looking into generators now.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[jonathan.]

I hope this is not something that has already been covered. :-[

Yesterday we had a power outage - again. My neighborhood is quite prone to those, and I freak out each and every time. The power went out at 1:20PM and they predicted it to be back by 7:30PM. Needless to day, I panicked. Luckily we were back nearly 2 hours later, but I have to admit, some of my fish were huffing and puffing by then. I run 2 VorTechs, and one of them is connected to the Battery Backup. Hopefully after the swap I'll have both of them hooked up to the backup. However, the Vortech only run at 1/2 speed during outages.

Ok, enough babbling. Here's my question. Does anyone know anything about generators? Can anyone possibly recommend one? I don't want to ever be put in the predicament where the power is out long enough that it may cause my tank to crash, so therefore we are seriously looking into generators now.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Apparently Petco (the one in Howell) had a power outage too. Thought we had a generator. I guess not. Most of our fish dead, apparently. :

 

[JerseyWendy]

Apparently Petco (the one in Howell) had a power outage too. Thought we had a generator. I guess not. Most of our fish dead, apparently. :

Oh man, I'm so sorry.

I think the generator will be a "must have" (soon).

 

[jonathan.]

Apparently Petco (the one in Howell) had a power outage too. Thought we had a generator. I guess not. Most of our fish dead, apparently. :

Oh man, I'm so sorry.

I think the generator will be a "must have" (soon).

For someone with a lot of money in her tank, I think it be a wise investment for you. Frankly, it'd be a lot cheaper to buy it now than to have all your fish and coral die one day, have to replace all of that, and THEN still have to buy the generator.

I think you should spring for it.

 

[ds4x4]

Wendy it depends on what you are planning to run from the generator.. If it is just your tank depending on the draw i would Recommend the Honda Generators. We have two at the firehouse, One small one and one larger with a huge quartz light and power strip.. They are very very quiet even with a full load on them. They are very fuel efficient and even have an eco mode to throttle back depending on the load.

You should deem some equipment Emergency Only that you would need in a 12 hour period. then add up your Wattage and select a generator size. you may even be able to run the fridge

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/models.aspx?page=models&section=P2GG&category=home

EU2000iA



* 2000 watts, 120V
* Ideal for TV/DVD, satellite, fridge, coffee pot, and more
* Super quiet
* Easy to carry - less than 47 lbs!!
* Fuel efficient - up to 15 hrs on 1 gal of gas
* Inverter - stable power for computers and more



EU3000iSA



* 3000 watts, 120V
* Power for your furnace, fridge, microwave, most 13,500 BTU RV AC units, and more
* Super quiet
* Convenient electric start
* Fuel efficient - up to 20 hrs on 3.4 gals of gas
* Inverter - stable power for computers and more

 

[JerseyWendy]

AWESOME information, Brandon. Thank you so very much.

 

[mikem]

Wendy. Next time give me a call and I'll run one down to you. Mine will run your whole house.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Wendy. Next time give me a call and I'll run one down to you. Mine will run your whole house.

ROFLMAO

Good to know. Are you serious? What type do you have, Mike?

 

[mikem]

I don't remember the brand name. I bought 2 in the bigining of the summer when my AC unit keep blowing fuses. One is 8500Watts, the other one is waiting to get delivered to Brian. My AC unit went after that so I bought a new AC. Never blew a fuse again. So it sits here doing nothing, taking up room . I wouldn't buy one when theres a loner out there for you.
120v 240V

 

[Rbu1]

Portable generators are good as long as you can get home to connect them when the power goes out. Hum the question is how do yo know if the power is out if you are not home? If you can be notified that power is out and can come home to hook up a generator then portables are good. In my case I could not come home so I opted for an emergency standby unit by Generac. It is a 16kw unit that runs on natural gas. The unit automatically comes on by itself it it needs to and has an automatic transfer switch. I must say this is the best peace of mind you can have. THis unit powers 3/4 of my 2500 sq ft house.

 

[Tazmaniancowboy]

Rbu1 I ahve always wondered ho much those units run for purchase and installation. Would you mind telling me how much it ran you and was this added to an existing house or a pkg when you bought the house?

Taz

 

[Rbu1]

I actually installed the unit myself. I think it was right around $3500.00 installed. I think if you hire someone you are looking at 8K. I work for PSE&G so I was able to have a person from the gas department run my gas line for me.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Mike, I will most definitely keep you up on that offer. We're having way too many outages. Some are the extremely annoying ones that last for under 5 minutes. But others go on for hours, and like I said, I don't want to wait until something happens to my tank. Let's just hope I won't be calling on you during an ice storm or so. :-X

Since I'm "usually" home all day, I believe we would be ok with a manual start up unit. Of course I'd love to have one that is wired into the house, like the one you describe, Rbu1, but even though Alex is quite the handy man, I don't think he'd venture into doing something like that by himself. Won't we need an additional circuit breaker box for the unit alone?

 

[JasonR]

For the past 8 years or so I have had a Generator in my Garage
I bought it a Costco for about 400.00 it is a 5000 Watt nothing special
If the weather is bad I usually would stick around the area in case to power went out.
If it did I would just run a Extension cord to my main power switch for the tank and get it back up and running
I would also run a cord for a light or two in the house and maybe the fridge.
I put the Generator on wheels so it could be rolled easily from the barn to the house
It is still that way today

Jason

 

[Rbu1]

Mike, I will most definitely keep you up on that offer. We're having way too many outages. Some are the extremely annoying ones that last for under 5 minutes. But others go on for hours, and like I said, I don't want to wait until something happens to my tank. Let's just hope I won't be calling on you during an ice storm or so. :-X

Since I'm "usually" home all day, I believe we would be ok with a manual start up unit. Of course I'd love to have one that is wired into the house, like the one you describe, Rbu1, but even though Alex is quite the handy man, I don't think he'd venture into doing something like that by himself. Won't we need an additional circuit breaker box for the unit alone?

I am the least handy person I know. Hooking these units up is SIMPLE..... The hardest part is running the natural gas line to it. When you buy the unit it comes with a transfer switch that includes all the breakers. You just have to wire it to the existing circuits that you want protected. Do you live in PSE&G territory? I can tell you the reason for your outages if you are.

 

[ds4x4]

Your all welcome by the way.. we get the nuclear reactor, you guys get the cheap power..
forgot my smiley ;D

 

[JerseyWendy]

Do you live in PSE&G territory? I can tell you the reason for your outages if you are.

Yep, we sure do. : Oak Glen Development in Howell to be exact.

And we would need a new circuit board - ours is filled to capacity.

 

[reneeRN]

Hi Wendy.
I have two backup systems. My first line of defense is a battery. An old car battery. This is only for my reef stuff, not the house. I have it in a tupperware container in the basement and hooked up to it is a power inverter, plugged into the inverter are my heaters, and four koralia 4's.

UUUHH, Maybe i should post a picture of it, let me know if there is any interest in that. ;D

ANYWAY>>This will run for hours and hours. I never tested it when the heaters had to kick in, and I am sure it will run much less time. These items are running at all times, and constantly drawing from DC. The way I do that is I have a car battery charger plugged in the AC, constantly charging the car battery. If the power goes out the charger shuts off and the Koralias continue on their merry way without interruption. It is like a giant DIY computer UPS. Only it lasts longer than 3 minutes.
The second backup is a tiny coleman $100 generator I bought at walmart years and years ago. I have it just outside my basement window with an extension cord going thru the window. I only had to use that once, because i didnt build that diy battery backup yet. It is only waiting as a secondary backup.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yes, Renee, I'd love to see a picture. The only problem I foresee is aesthetics. We don't have a basement to hide possibly unsightly equipment in.

 

[hayabusa2003]

Do you live in PSE&G territory? I can tell you the reason for your outages if you are.

Yep, we sure do. : Oak Glen Development in Howell to be exact.

And we would need a new circuit board - ours is filled to capacity.

Wow Wendy, you must live down the block from me Funny thing is I haven't had any power outages all week.

What are you looking to run during these power outages? I've been thinking about getting a UPS unit to run a few tunze's, and maybe my return pump and skimmer. They have 1000+watt units available that will provide power to computer equipment for a few hours, so I would think tunze's being 8watts, my skimmer is 18watts, and my return pump is 70watts...would be a cheaper and automatic alternative to a full blown gas powered generator.