Scream if the power goes out...

July 3, 2012 4:40 AM

Every now and then, the power fails in our garage. This wouldn't be a problem, except that's where our freezer lives. I'm looking for ideas to alert me when the power fails...

In addition to the master fuseboard in our kitchen, our garage has a fuse board of it's own.

Occasionally (I think after power fluctuations / brown outs / minor power cuts) the fuse for the sockets trips. The kitchen fusebox stays live, as does the garage lighting circuit.

So, I need some sort of telltale that will set off an alarm in the kitchen should the garage sockets lose power.

Anyone any suggestions? Either homebrew or commercial.

I'm in the UK, so I can't legally hack the lines in any way.

posted by sodium lights the horizon to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

This doesn't answer your direct question, but have you had an electrician look at the fuseboard? This doesn't sound like normal behaviour. It might be cheaper and simpler to fix that than install an alarm system.
posted by caek at 4:48 AM on July 3, 2012

You can look for a Failed Circuit Alarm (this one is for US voltages, my quick search did not find one suitable for the UK). I also suggest that you fix the underlying problem, but this sort of thing may suit your needs.
posted by nightwood at 5:11 AM on July 3, 2012

There's this commercial solution designed for the UK, but it's relatively expensive.

You could look at this, which is much more affordable but provided with a US plug. According to the specifications, it is compatible with voltage between AC 85v-265v, and 50hz so it would work in the UK - you'd just need to swap out the plug for a 3-pin UK. Depends on how much you trust this sort of product.

To make something yourself, you'll need a relay and a sounder that will run from a battery when the circuit you make through the relay is completed where no power is being supplied. Seeing as you're working with mains electricity, I'd suggest against this unless you know what you're doing, as it has the potential to seriously injure or kill.

I'd also echo caek's comment and have an electrician check your setup. It may be a simple case of the circuit being overloaded when all the appliances come back on together, or something more serious.
posted by NordyneDefenceDynamics at 5:18 AM on July 3, 2012

If you could plug an electric clock into that circuit it would reset after a power outage and flash the incorrect time, maybe?
posted by StephenF at 5:40 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

Many UPS devices beep very very very loudly when the power goes out. That plus a cheap LED clock ought to help you out.
posted by SMPA at 6:44 AM on July 3, 2012

There's an old-fashioned low-tech method that won't alert you when a power failure occurs, but will let you know if one happened: the ol' upside-down tray of ice cubes over a bowl method --- if the power fails, the cubes will melt and drop down into the bowl. No power failure, no dropped ice cubes.
posted by easily confused at 6:46 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Rather than tracking electricity, in the lab reuse temperature sensitive freezer alarms. You can get complicated ones that phone you down to simple ones that just make a loud noise. That way you know about the safety of your food regardless cause (since leaving the door open too long can also cause a problem). A quick Google shows some options on amazon bad utility night be another thing for you to look at anyway.

I do also think a UPS system would be a better option, since that would protect your food even if you're not there so restart the electricity. You can buy them for computers and stuff easily enough.
posted by shelleycat at 6:50 AM on July 3, 2012

I think your problem is that brownouts are a sign of low mains voltage, and low voltage will cause the compressor motor of your freezer to draw much more current, and that trips the breaker.

Most freezers will have an internal (and auto-resetting) thermal breaker to keep the motor from burning out from low voltage.

If you can confirm that yours does have such protection, you may be able to solve the problem simply by replacing the garage "fuse board" breaker with one that can handle a larger current.
posted by jamjam at 10:04 AM on July 3, 2012