Power Outages/Backup Generator Advice?

Hey guys,
I'm sure all of us have the same fear of going out of town for the weekend in the winter and returning home only to find racks and incubators full of dead animals, due to power outages. I'm guessing a lot of people on here probably have some sort of backup generators in place and I was wondering if anyone could advise me on what the cheapest solution would be for some sort of backup generator unit that would automatically kick on during a power outage...

An uninterrupted power supply (UPS) typically doesn't last very long.

Automated generators are typically whole-house so you're looking at $10-15k. If you don't have natural gas service at your home then you'll have to pick between propane or diesel.

The right answer is of course move to Florida where the real snake breeders live. LOL. I am only half kidding. Reliable power failover is not cheap.

I use a portable generator when the power goes out for an extended time but I have to be home in order to do this.

If you want power backup to go on automatically - it can get really expensive. I checked into this option thru Generac and it was going to cost upwards of $10,000 so I opted for my little portable unit that only cost me $500. Used it recently and worked like a charm.

Thanks for the info you guys. I was afraid something automated would cost a fortune. I guess i'm going to have to pick up a little gas generator at some point and just hope the power never goes out in the winter while i'm out of town...

We lost power for 3 days this past winter and I put my snakes in snake bags and into an insulated box with a hand warmer pack taped to the side making sure bag couldn't touch the hand warmer by crumpled newspaper in between. I had battery operated temp gauges (before I got a temp gun) and checked hourly, leaving the top open if it got too warm. It worked in a pinch but of course it wouldn't work if you are out of town. Befriend someone familiar with snakes nearby and perhaps have them check in while you are gone. You can also have the power company text you of any power outages at your residence and then call the backup person. Just some ideas for those living in cooler climates and counting on electric to stay on to keep our reptiles warm.

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Originally Posted by 1777carol

We lost power for 3 days this past winter and I put my snakes in snake bags and into an insulated box with a hand warmer pack taped to the side making sure bag couldn't touch the hand warmer by crumpled newspaper in between. I had battery operated temp gauges (before I got a temp gun) and checked hourly, leaving the top open if it got too warm. It worked in a pinch but of course it wouldn't work if you are out of town. Befriend someone familiar with snakes nearby and perhaps have them check in while you are gone. You can also have the power company text you of any power outages at your residence and then call the backup person. Just some ideas for those living in cooler climates and counting on electric to stay on to keep our reptiles warm.

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^^^^^ Actually this is a pretty common sense solution to the problem, hand warmers are not going to cut it if you have a lot of animals but a backup kerosene heater and human intervention is probably the best way to go. Of course being a magician you could always teleport them to Key Largo for a week :).

I've also done the hand warmer trick during a winter power outage (you just have to make sure you have a supply at the house). When I lived in Vegas and there was a power outage in the summer, I filled 2 liter bottles with cool water, wrapped in towel and put in the cages so the snakes could cool off. Luckily in a big city power outages are usually not more than a few hours. Once we move to a more rural area, we'll also be looking into one of those small portable generators.