UPS for Brownouts?

[ewolff]

I am thinking about buying a UPS for power outages. Has anybody done this? I am curious as to how long it would run If I am just powering the essentials.

 

[blang]

I have backups on all my fish tanks. The power went out one day and if I remember correctly, the backups lasted about 6 hours. Unfortunately, the outage lasted 2 1/2 days, so I ended up buying battery operated pumps. They were too noisy to run at night so I had to turn them off. I lost only one fish at the end of the outage.

For the short power outages, I think they are great. I would purchase the biggest one you can afford.

 

[DaLoach]

good idea! connect the minimum equipment to maintian the system. usually just the filter is sufficient.
bigger is better here. run time is based on the power consumption of connected equipment.
if its real valuable (read reef) then a gas powered generator may be worth the investment

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I would say the bare essentials are the filter and the heater. Don't want the water getting too cold..

 

[ewolff]

I was thinking Filter, Heater, and Air Pump.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

If the filter provides enough surface aggitation, no need for air pump.

 

[rich311k]

I would say the heater depends on the time of year. In the summer I would think it is not essential. The heater draws a lot of power as well. It takes a while for a tank to get cold and if the heater is not running the filter will run longer.

 

[trotty]

i use a car battery and a 12volt/240volt converter on only the filter. i've never had a power out for more than 8 hours and it did it fine on 4 tanks. total power of the filters was about 110 watts..... I only have a 300watt converter.(I did try a 300watt heater and it cut out...)

I thought if worst came to worst i could always swap the battery in the car and just go for a drive to recharge.

 

[JB]

i use a car battery and a 12volt/240volt converter on only the filter. i've never had a power out for more than 8 hours and it did it fine on 4 tanks. total power of the filters was about 110 watts..... I only have a 300watt converter.(I did try a 300watt heater and it cut out...)

I thought if worst came to worst i could always swap the battery in the car and just go for a drive to recharge.

I have also used the 12/120 volt converter, 1000 watt.
my plan involves plugging it into my car lighter socket, running an extension cord into my fish room, then I just leave my truck idling in the driveway.
This way I'm covered no matter how long the power outage.
I run minimal equipment on several tanks, including my reef tank.

jb.