Power inverters for apartments?

[Geraud]

Hey guys,

I looked around and I could not find anything about that, since most here are lucky enough to be able to use a generator.

For those of us who cannot do that (even on a balcony, having a generator in Manhattan is in general an issue), I was looking around for alternative solutions.

It looks like it is possible to connect a car battery to an DC-AC inverter.

Has anyone tried this before?

I found a very good "how to" about it, but obviously nothing beats first hand accounts... especially since a lot of us have sadly had to use that recently.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...ttery-backup-any-tank-any-size-step-step.html

 

[Widdy]

Similar build to what you've linked.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?107976-DIY-VorTech-Battery-Backup

I haven't tried it myself, just started looking around. I have a tray of unused UPS batteries I can chain up and test. But time hasn't permit me to get to it yet, and I have a Yamaha inverter generator on order that'll probably deflate my motivation. G'luck!

 

[Geraud]

Thanks for the link. I was thinking about trying something like that before stocking heavily again, if only to run in a "less power" mode, aka lower temperature, little light, etc etc. To see how long it lasts.

 

[Widdy]

My same thoughts as well. The biggest obstacle is the heater, that'll be your biggest power draw; even with a 75-100w heater, it'll deplete batteries pretty quickly. Which usually (hopefully) isn't an issue if you have a source to recharge. But in the case of Sandy, it's bleak.

I went on a hunt for 12v aquarium heaters also... found one in Australia for pico/nanos only @ 50w.

 

[Geraud]

I was wondering if things like the chemical hot pockets they use in the boxes during winter shipments can help there. But indeed for a week, that is a whole lot of them.

 

[marrone]

I use a Marine Deep cycle battery connected to an inverter and it works pretty well. The better thing to do is get 2 golf cart batteries and connect them to an inverter, as the golf cart batteries will have more Amps, which you'll need to start some of the large pumps that we run. The golf care batteries will cost you a lot more than the Marine Deep cycle batteries, almost twice as much for each battery/

 

[Affordable Aquatic]

I have a generator but dont run it 24 hrs during blackouts (I've had 4 in the last 2 years). I have a marine deep cycle group 27 battery which I hook up to an inverter. Deep cycle batteries are the best choice because they are designed to discharge nearly their entire capacity and do it over and over again hundreds of times before the battery fails. During the last storm, I used one to run powerheads and a second for heaters. 1200 watts of heaters killed the battery overnight, but the one running the powerheads ran for days. I charged the batteries during the day while the genny was running.

 

[NYC Joe]

Interesting thread. Signing up.
I just got a ecotech back up battery. But would like to have my sump running too.
It's a mag pump of that helps.

I was thinking about golf cart batteries too. With an inverter.

 

[B.BASH]

Sears has recharchable jump start batteries which may make more sense my feeling is if you have a car or similar battery hanging around for a long time when you need it the full power wont be there also golf carts get charged on a reg basis you need a cell that can be charged on a Reg basis to ensure the full charge is there when you need it

 

[marrone]

You need to get a drip charge, which you can use to charge the battery over time. I basically have my battery sitting around and drip charge it every so often, especially if I know a storm is coming and we probably may lose power.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum...emergency-measures-use-now-power-outages.html

lots of ideas here. Power inverter with a trickle charger and deep cycle marine battery is suggested. Lots of chat, lots of info, lots of links but a great read.

 

[DavidS]

Here are some results which you may be interested. I was out of power for 4 days and the only power for my 30 gallon was a Hurricane - Catgory 2 air pump. Temperature got down to 60 degrees in the tank.
On the 3rd day I purchased an inverter and the Duralast marine/RV 12v battery. I plugged in two pumps (16W total) a 50 Watt heater, a 108W LED lighting, and a 12 Watt light for my HOB refugium. After it was running awhile, I noticed the temperature was still below 70 degrees so I decided to add another 50 Watt heater. Shortly thereafter the battery drained.
In all, it ran the aquarium for about 5 1/2 hours.
After power was restored, I recharged the battery and tested it, just running one 50W Heater and a 4W pump. They ran for about 25 hours.
So my guess is, I could run 2 pumps (no heater) for a good 3 days.
Which brings me to the following question:
Given a situation where the water temp is 60 degrees, would you go with a backup with a heater and 1 pump for 1 day or two pumps for 3 days, prior to recharging?