I’ve Come Home To No Electricity!
April 8, 2009 · Print This Article
Nothing ever works as it should do does it?
I came home from work today to find that we had no electricity. A quick check showed that we had electricity with the exception of the kitchen and the dining room which therefore meant that we had not had not had a complete power outage but something else must have happened.
My wife was panicking as she wanted to make dinner which put me in a bit of a pickle – food or aquarium!
The aquarium came before my stomach and rightly so.
A quick check showed that a breaker had gone. A quick flick and power was returned. The breaker stayed open so I have no idea what caused it to trip but at least power was restored and my wife was happy as she get on with cooking dinner.
Everything in the aquarium sprung to life – water pumps started pumping, the skimmer starting skimming, lights came on and everything was back.
Looking at the clock on the oven it showed that the power had been off for just over three hours.
Enough time for water to cool down but I am luck as I have a UPS (uninterruptable power supply). This is basically a big battery which when electricity is available passes the power through to whatever is plugged into it. When electricity is not available it powers the relevant devices using it’s batteries and when power is restored the batteries recharge.
As I work in the IT industry I was able to obtain one of these many years ago.
I only have the heaters and the return pump plugged into the UPS as this allows me to protect the aquarium inhabitants whilst providing the maximum amount of battery time as possible. This allows me to keep the aquarium water warm, keep water moving through the sump and provide a small amount of water movement in the aquarium.
The UPS I have with the devices I have plugged in gives me just over 5 hours of battery life before the batteries become exhausted so I had a few hours left on it which was lucky as if it had happened earlier in the day the batteries would have run flat and then I could have been in trouble.
I might have to get a larger UPS when one next becomes available at work which if large enough could run the aquarium for a day or more.
This is the first time that the UPS has ever been used so it goes to show that having a device which you may need at some point is a useful addition.
Just need to get an electrician now to check the wiring out and attempt to locate what cause the issue!
Related Posts - Two Become One! A while ago, about a year if my memory serves me right I agreed to look after my brother is laws reef tank whilst he...
- Which Aquarium Salt Should You Use A long time ago, before I commenced keeping a marine aquarium, seawater had to be mixed by hand using ingredients that had been individually obtained...
- Cool It The most popular lighting for reef aquariums, or to be more specific SPS reef aquariums, continues to be metal halide. This is because metal halides...
- Calculating Running Costs - Making It Easier Energy costs are substantial nowadays, which means that running an aquarium is affected. Once the aquarium has been set up and stocked, the major ongoing...
- Aquarium Lighting Advance In years gone by aquarists lit their aquariums with tungsten lights. They probably had no idea of spectrum, probably had lots of algae growth, and...
Related Websites - Green Hybrid Electric Vehicle Batteries With all the new choices emerging in the field of green hybrid electric vehicles these days, it pays to you know your way around them....
- Divorce or Save My Marriage? Get Help Now. Image by lepiaf.geo via Flickr Saving your marriage is a solution instead of separation in spite of the statistics and how couples in crisis may...
- Receiving The Most Benefits From Of A Solar Micro Inverter From SunFusion Solar If you are not fully sure as to what Benefits of solar micro-inverters are then you may be a little confused by the term. To...
- To Make Money On The Internet You Have To Get Up And Get To Work What I am discovering is many people who claim to want to make money online really do not want to work. What they really want...
- Productivity Lagging? Take a Siesta This post is from GRS staff writer April Dykman. I’ve discovered that one of the biggest benefits to being a full-time freelancer can be one...
Comments
Got something to say?