Incubators & Power Outages

[cschneider]

I am going to attempt breeding next season, so I will be checking out incubators, or making my own soon. My question to the experienced breeders, what do you do when there is a power outage? Where I live, power outages are very common and I would have to have some kind of back up battery or generator hooked up to the incubator, I'm assuming. What are some things you guys and gals do to prevent temp changes in a power outage?

[Area 51 Exotics]

We have a Generac Auto switching generator.

Easily the best investment ever!!

[hross]

i am curious as well about using on/ off thermostats with my generator. I am aware that proportional thermos. will not work. anyone with experience?
howard

[RichsBallPythons]

On/off thermostats or proportional will be fine on a generator. As long as you dont reach the continuous power limit your fine.



I have an indoor propane heater i use to keep room temps up and 3000watt generator to run incubator and all heat tape in racks. Propane heater is easier than plugging in a 1500watt space heater. I get about 8 hours per 16 oz tank so it works well.

[pitoon]

this past year i had the power go out for several hours. the temps dropped to the high 70's and maintained at those temps until the power came back on. all the eggs hatched out fine. but my heart was pounded every minute until the power came back on....and worse thing about it was that it happened while i was away for work. i got the phone call from my wife....yeah my heart dropped when she told me.

ball python eggs can handle lowers temps much better than higher temps. if you think your outages will be more that several hours. i would think about getting some sort of generator or large UPS to back you up several hours until the power comes back on.

Pitoon

[cschneider]

Thanks for the advice. I want to be as prepared as I can be, and I would be so disappointed if I lost a clutch because of a loss of power.

[Hypnotic Exotic]

this past year i had the power go out for several hours. the temps dropped to the high 70's and maintained at those temps until the power came back on. all the eggs hatched out fine. but my heart was pounded every minute until the power came back on....and worse thing about it was that it happened while i was away for work. i got the phone call from my wife....yeah my heart dropped when she told me.

ball python eggs can handle lowers temps much better than higher temps. if you think your outages will be more that several hours. i would think about getting some sort of generator or large UPS to back you up several hours until the power comes back on.

Pitoon

Question: When it did come back on, did the temps spike before stabilizing? My incubator is so well insulated that the heat continues to rise after it reaches the temp it's set to before coming back down and stabilizing (which is why it runs for a few days prior to eggs going in). I would think I'd have a problem if the power went off for an extended period.

[RichsBallPythons]

Question: When it did come back on, did the temps spike before stabilizing? My incubator is so well insulated that the heat continues to rise after it reaches the temp it's set to before coming back down and stabilizing (which is why it runs for a few days prior to eggs going in). I would think I'd have a problem if the power went off for an extended period.

if temps drop a lot yes they will spike. To avoid this you set t-stat low. and up the temp 1oF at a time till your back up to optimal temps so theres no spike.

[pitoon]

Question: When it did come back on, did the temps spike before stabilizing? My incubator is so well insulated that the heat continues to rise after it reaches the temp it's set to before coming back down and stabilizing (which is why it runs for a few days prior to eggs going in). I would think I'd have a problem if the power went off for an extended period.

to be honest i did not see any spike as this season i incubated all my clutches very high at between 90-92degrees.

however the chance for temp spikes is always there.

i also run my incubator for about a week before i put any clutches in it.....it's a coke fridge.

Pitoon

[Hypnotic Exotic]

if temps drop a lot yes they will spike. To avoid this you set t-stat low. and up the temp 1oF at a time till your back up to optimal temps so theres no spike.

Yeah, that's what I figured but can't exactly do that if you aren't at home when the power goes off. Fortunately, doesn't really happen in my area unless we get a hurricane in which case I'd be home.