Serious power cuts - what are the options? [Archive]

ojdewet

08-20-2008, 02:22 AM

We have a crisis in our country with electricity supply as our demand has surpassed supply and our government was a bit late in realising this. The implications are that we have occasional load shedding (forced electricity cuts) when the grid gets unstable. Combine this with very old substation infrastructure in our area (with regular tripcs) and this is a recipe for disaster - we have at least 2 powercuts a week on average and yesterday's was 12 hours.

I urgently need some advice: what are my options for back-up electricity to keep my tank going when the power cuts? I have no idea where to begin as we never used to experience this kind of problem.

Cheers
OJ

Nanu

08-20-2008, 03:14 AM

...here in India we have the same issue, all my air pumps now run on an APC UPS which keeps them going.
YOu can look for a small UPS or get an inverter for the entire house.
The fish can do a few hours without the air pumps but 12 hours is pushing it.

Don Trinko

08-20-2008, 08:07 AM

In the "Generaters and back up power" section there are a lot of good ideas abought this. Don T.

korbi_doc

08-20-2008, 09:18 AM

I agree with Don, read on....my fishroom has a Tripplite inverter (Jehmco) hooked up to a deep cycle battery which automatically turns on with power outage..the fish at least have air...for long outages, batteries can be added or one could hook up to the truck....the room is very warm anyway, even in winter, but eventually I'd like to have a whole house generator...

Dottie ;)

pete321

08-23-2008, 05:12 AM

Am I to presume that you are not in the USA?
Where are you? I think we are in the same place experiencing the same problems.
What size setup do you have? This will determine what power options you need. Is the room where your tank/s are in insulated?
What is the frequency of your water changes and what is your stocking rate?
All these factors put together and your type of filtration and air pumps will determine what back up power you will need and how long you will need it for.

Ed13

08-23-2008, 11:02 AM

Am I to presume that you are not in the USA?
Where are you? I think we are in the same place experiencing the same problems.
What size setup do you have? This will determine what power options you need. Is the room where your tank/s are in insulated?
What is the frequency of your water changes and what is your stocking rate?
All these factors put together and your type of filtration and air pumps will determine what back up power you will need and how long you will need it for.
I believe he is in South Africa.

pete321

08-23-2008, 11:12 AM

Thought so! But he has an USA flag below his name.
Give me a shout, I am also in South Africa and can advise.

Ed13

08-23-2008, 11:19 AM

Thought so! But he has an USA flag below his name.
Give me a shout, I am also in South Africa and can advise.
Oh I see. But when you put it that way... neither of you have your location in your profile;):D or the proper flag for that matter:)

korbi_doc

08-23-2008, 12:22 PM

:D Hmmm, there's no flag in mine either, just location, wonder why? Were we supposed to add it ourselves? lol...

Darrell Ward

08-26-2008, 02:20 AM

:D Hmmm, there's no flag in mine either, just location, wonder why? Were we supposed to add it ourselves? lol...

If I remember correctly, on your profile page, if you type in the country in which you live, you'll get the little flag. Apparenty, the poster had the wrong country showing on their profile page, and thus got the wrong flag.