bluetmax
09/02/2007, 02:58 PM
I need some suggestions really from anyone who may have an idea or a solution about this, but I thought those of you who are DIY electrical enineers may have the best ideas. lol My tank is a 64 gallon primarily SPS (technically it would be considered mixed reef I suppose) that is located in my upstairs bedroom. The tank has several powerheads in it (generating their own heat and a lot of flow) and in addition to that, it is lit by a 400 watt metal halide, and two 64 watt PC's. During the summer, in southern Mississippi, the heat and humidity are horrendous. The central air and heat, being located down stairs, was unable to adequately cool the upstairs because of the size of the home, and I suppose the fact that warm air rises/cool air sinks. I purchased a window unit for the room, and my temperatures usually stay around 78 (at night) to 81 degrees in the day time. The problem I am having is that our electric company is about as reliable as a Rio Powerhead whenever it comes to reliability. We have numerous random power outages - mostly brief (30 seconds tops) - but some for a longer period of time. The portable unit that I formally cooled this room with would come back on after an outage, but it was not keeping the room cool at all during the summer (I suppose it did not have a high enough BTU rating) with the tank. There are two fans that are connected to timers that come on with the lights, and with these in addition to the window unit I am able to maintain my temperature in an acceptable range. However, when the power goes off, the lights come back on, but the window unit does not. Does anyone have any suggestions, other than dropping a few hundred dollars on a chiller, as to someway that I could "re-engineer" the window unit to either come back on, or the halide to stay off, once there is an outage? I worry sick everytime I leave my home that no one will be around to keep my tank inhabitants from being boiled alive if there is an outage...