RDWC Power Outage Prep

Hey folks,

just got a call from the electric company and they told me power was going out tomorrow morning at 8am and could last 4-6 hours. Here is what i'm doing to mitigate stress during the power outage

I bought a power inverter and a deep cycle battery from the local big box guy. It easily runs my water pump, air pump and exhaust fan.
Each of those uses probably 1.5 amp max and that's with a safety factor.
4.5 amps for a day is no problem. Actually had to use it a couple times during the summer.

A UPS is great for keeping air pumps running automatically during an outage. Just size it so you can get the run time you require.

Renfro said:

A UPS is great for keeping air pumps running automatically during an outage. Just size it so you can get the run time you require.

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Even better Renfro! That way you don't have to rush home from work when the wife calls and says the power shit out.

Yeah and you can find used ones cheap, super cheap because they need new batteries. So get it cheap, hook up some amp hours at the proper voltage and walla.

One time back in missouri, we had a power outage at home (no grow) due to an ice storm. I had an old rack mount UPS and a couple forklift batteries (massive fuckers). Hooked it all up and had power for the fridge a CFL light and a fan or a tv instead of the light and fan. lol Had a fireplace so we didn't freeze. Got through the outage that lasted a couple days.

Renfro said:

A UPS is great for keeping air pumps running automatically during an outage. Just size it so you can get the run time you require.

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Exactly what I use. I only have my circulating pump using the battery but in his case he could have the air pump plugged in. Easily would last 6+ hours if you get a big enough one. Think mine was $80 from best buy.

Yeah really as long as the voltage was the same...I think its just a small 12v in there. Even a atv/motorcycle battery would do, if you were needing to fit it back in the case. If not fuck it lol, run some wire out of the case to some serious amperage. Like you were saying.

5BY5LEC said:

Yeah really as long as the voltage was the same...I think its just a small 12v in there. Even a atv/motorcycle battery would do, if you were needing to fit it back in the case. If not fuck it lol, run some wire out of the case to some serious amperage. Like you were saying.

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Yeah the larger battery just means more run time (and longer charge time if the UPS was to charge it). The UPS's inverter decides the max draw.

Yesterday, I put one of my 100W solar panels in my 4x4 tent on one of the side walls with a 1000W HPS bulb. Panel puts out 19V to my MPPS solar charger, which is connected to a 100Ah deep cycle battery, with a 3000W DC-AC inverter attached.

I figured why not collect up some of that light that just burns away as heat.

The grow room can help power itself

spek9 said:

Panel puts out 19V

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how many milliamps?

Renfro said:

how many milliamps?

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It's dynamic due to the nature of the solar charger, but on average ~1.3A with no load on the battery, and the battery at near full capacity. Just put it together yesterday and haven't used the battery yet, so I don't have any real metrics at this time.

25 free watts lol. You wouldn't rather have the light at least partially reflected towards the side of the plants?