I've been looking for some ideas on back up power. We've had 5 powercuts in the last week alone. Some last upto a few hours at a time. Our tank is only cycling but cools down quickly(we not the warmest house in canterbury) so I need somega backup for the longer cuts.

Some options I've considered

Petrol genset

Solar

Deepcycle battery ready charged for powercuts.

Any ideas?

Computer UPS?

If you can put up with the beeping on a UPS, it's probably the easiest. If your tank is cooling down that fast, it's obviously not very big and therefore the power usage of your heater wouldn't be too much. Could probably get a few hours out of a $150 UPS.

petrol generator = expensive and annoying, plus you have to be there to turn it on (expensive to make an auto starter)

Solar = only works during day

DeepCycle battery = expensive and still need to switch it over unless you want an expensive spill over circuit installed.

UPS= great idea, only beeps when power is off, pluss you can rip out the beeper if its really that bad

petrol generator = expensive and annoying, plus you have to be there to turn it on (expensive to make an auto starter)

Solar = only works during day

DeepCycle battery = expensive and still need to switch it over unless you want an expensive spill over circuit installed.

UPS= great idea, only beeps when power is off, pluss you can rip out the beeper if its really that bad

Deep cycle plus the UPS would probably be ideal if you want to go more than an hour or two. But you'd need to figure out how long the battery will last running the heater, since that's what you're apparently most concerned about. Heaters eat a LOT of power.

Computer UPS?

I have UPS on all my incubators and last for up to 8/9 hours no problems but when I put the on the turtles tanks with the last power cut

they only last about a hour and a half before they really start to beep ...

You could also insulate your tank with polystyrene on the back, sides and base to help retain the heat.