Power Outage

[Lyra]

What have you guys done during a power outage? I just purchased a battery operated air pump for emergencies.

We had a power outage a while ago, and it was one of those "oh crap" moments. I was at work and had to call my partner at home and walk him through what to do. It was kind of funny, the seconds following the lights at work going out (and I work alone and was in the building with a very creepy customer) was for my plant and not my own safety!!

Anyway I will tell you what I had my partner do since it could save someone's plant one day. My girl was pretty big which made things more difficult but she pulled through without showing any stress at all. I had my partner take her out of the bucket (I do DWC) and place her in a large bowl. We moistened a huge handful of paper towels with half nute water out of her bucket and half tap water. We wrapped the paper towels around her roots and then just kept them moist until the power came back on 30 hours later.

She didn't wilt and didn't look even a little stressed out. I just kept the tent open to let some natural sunlight in.

So what would you do, or what have you done? How prepared are you in the case of a power outage?

 

[Antics]

I personally have no real plans for power outages, when I have an outage here the longest it lasts is 2 hours, but usually only 30-45 minutes. I would have done the same thing, and just given sunlight until their normal lights out time.

 

[Dantes Monkey]

Where I live, power outages are a very real threat. Sometimes they are just brownouts that last a second or two, and sometimes (not very often) we can loose power for DAYS! I have a generator for those times when the power goes down for more than an hour or so, but I would like to put my grow on a battery backup as well. Glad to hear your plants handled it well.

Keep it Growing!

-Monkey

 

[trichomes]

maybe a 12 volt battery with a 12 volt-bilge pump would be a good investment,

you could run some 12 volt LED's at the same time, if you used a car size battery.

 

[Srilania]

I am actualy designing most of my research grow equipment to be primarily fed via a 12 VDC system already. However, while a car battery can do in a pinch, constant draining down deep then recharging will kill the battery and void the warranty. Car batteries are designed to give 1-6 large bursts over a short time and recharge right away, so running it down and charging from almost dead can kill the car battery and void it's warranty.

You're better off, if looking for a dedicated backup battery, a 12 volt deep cycle battery, found in your sporting goods stores for trolling motors, or your lawn and garden for electric lawnmowers or electric scooters. These are designed to give a constant long discharge before needing to be recharged. A side benefit to keeping a 12 volt battery like this is with 20-40 dollars, you can get an inverter, for running some AC powered devices during a blackout, or even a portable power system for a outdoor event or camping trip.

Also of note, if running a pure 12 VDC system, it allows for one to even use solar panels to charge the batteries AND power things with the excess power/ Several companies sell 400 Watt packages of solar panels, with charge regulators that feed power from the solar panel or the battery, depending on load and supply.

 

[Tead]

I live in an area subject to frequent outages.
While I do have a big diesel generator for extended outages, smaller outages I handle with my automobile and an inverter. It's way quick and easy to hook up the inverter and get things back up and running fast. For longer outages, I have some forklift batteries that I charge with the generator and use with the inverter when the generator isn't running (it's hard to keep a generator fueled enough to run 24hrs during and extended outage).
It's a pain in my ass when the power goes out... but I can deal with the challenge.