how to protect from power outages without a generator?

[ThePizzaMan]

Hey guys

Can't use or afford a generator at this time. I am not so much worried about the lights..but the pumps and fans. So how do you guys protect yourself from this? Is there a cheap affordable way to do it safely for like 24 hours?

Thanks

TPM

 

[Private Joker]

Maybe get 12 volt pumps and fans set up with a couple of big RV batteries on trickle chargers?
If power goes out you could just go turn them on.

Do you need pumps running if no lights are on? Fan only would give you a longer run time.

 

[Iron_Lion]

Grow in soil and have a sunny window is your best shot at surviving without power. There is no way to generate enough power to run pumps and stuff without a generator, unless maybe you have a solar panel array or elaborate battery system and a DC/AC converter.

 

[F. Dupp]

A tornado touched down one block from my grow this last spring. No power for 6 days. I was able to keep the pumps running by using a power inverter hooked up to a car battery during that time. The pumps would only come on for 1 minute every 2 hours (instead of 1min on 5min off like usual) but because the lights were out they didnt need much water.

The plants all remained healthy. The stretched like a MFer, but they survived.

 

[CannaBunkerMan]

No need for power, use gravity. All of my hydro feed and drain lines are standard garden hose. All I need is a 5 gallon bucket with a garden hose adapter coming out of the bottom end. Remove feed hose from pump, attach to bucket. Then you'd fill the bucket with feed water, then hang the bucket from the ceiling (above feed outlets). Kind of like a plant IV.

My plants were fine from 4 days without power, with only a single feeding a day on my top-feed drip hydro system.

 

[DevilWeedSeeds]

budget

budget

I watched at Costco for about a year and got a 3000 running watts, 4000 start up watts for $280. Not sure what you budget is but you can get small generators for very good prices if you watch for them. Years ago before I had one I would just hand water while the power was out. One good thing about rockwool is that it will hold you water for a couple of days without drying out.

 

[rives]

The easiest way to accomplish this, and probably the cheapest, is to use a computer UPS (uninterruptible power supply). It will automatically switch over and power whatever is plugged into it in the case of a power outage, and they come in a huge variety of sizes. You would need to find out what your total connected load is and size it so that you would power the load for however long you want. In checking the one that I have connected to this machine, it says that I have 132 watts of load connected to it and it will last for 53 minutes if the power goes out. It has a nameplate rating of 1200va.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

Thanks guys, because only half of my grow is hydro(and to be honest, I may get rid of it altogether soon)...I was thinking more along the lines of the inline fans for odor control...that really is by biggest concern at this point.

So what you are saying is..the cheapest way to go ahead with this..is to get tons of ona gel..and an ona bucket and call it a day...

I mean, even if I got one of those $500 generators...I am in an apartment...so... it's kind of weird...no?

Also...the power will probably be going out for more than an hour...so I need a few days of electricity...

I guess this cannot be accomplished without spending $10,000

TPM

 

[F. Dupp]

Thanks guys, because only half of my grow is hydro(and to be honest, I may get rid of it altogether soon)...I was thinking more along the lines of the inline fans for odor control...that really is by biggest concern at this point.

So what you are saying is..the cheapest way to go ahead with this..is to get tons of ona gel..and an ona bucket and call it a day...

I mean, even if I got one of those $500 generators...I am in an apartment...so... it's kind of weird...no?

Also...the power will probably be going out for more than an hour...so I need a few days of electricity...

I guess this cannot be accomplished without spending $10,000

TPM

You cannot run a generator in an apartment. Getting busted would be the least of your worries cause the carbon monoxide would kill you fairly quick. They are also very LOUD.

I tried running a small generator inside after the tornado cause my grow was in a shitty neighborhood and the gen. would have gotten stolen outside. A tiny little generator, prolly the smallest they make, made the whole house toxic in about a half hour. It was placed in a corner bedroom of the second floor with the door shut and all the windows in the room wide open.

If your only concern is the smell buy some shitty overpowering incense at the local headshop. That should mask the smell during any short term power outages.

 

[supermanlives]

a big battery bank and inverter.