H2OME

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Keeping reptiles warm when the power goes out

Pythons, geckos, bearded dragons and turtles all rely on you for heat. A long winter outage is one of the biggest risks a keeper faces.

Cold-blooded means power-dependent

A reptile room runs on heat mats, ceramic emitters, basking lamps, UVB tubes and thermostats, plus filters and heaters for turtles. When the power stops, enclosure temperatures fall towards room temperature, and on a frosty rural night that can drop well below what a tropical species needs. Keepers end up wrapping vivariums in blankets, filling hot water bottles and running the car heater with a tub on the back seat.

What it would keep running

  • Heat mats and ceramic heat emitters
  • Basking lamps and UVB tubes
  • Thermostats and timers
  • Egg incubator
  • Turtle tank heater and filter

No thermostat confusion

Thermostats and timers that lose power can come back with the wrong settings, or a dimming stat can restart a lamp at full output. With the battery and inverter in UPS mode the power never drops, so every stat keeps its programme and every lamp stays on its cycle. The fuel cell keeps the battery charged from stored hydrogen, designed for multi-day outages, not just an evening.

Because there is no engine, there is no exhaust drifting into the house, which matters in a room full of animals sensitive to air quality. Nobody has to run extension leads from a generator through a window either, which keeps the reptile room sealed and warm while the storm passes.

How it works →
The H2OME loop: an electrolyser splits water into hydrogen, the hydrogen is stored in a tank for weeks, a fuel cell turns it into electricity for your home, and the water returns to the loop.

Breeding season and incubators

For keepers who breed, an incubator full of eggs is the most fragile load in the house. A few hours too cold can end a clutch. The system is designed to treat the incubator like any other socket, so it simply keeps running. It charges on cheap night-rate power or from wind or micro-hydro, and round-trip efficiency is 30% or less, so heating enclosures on stored hydrogen costs more than heating them on the grid.

Questions

Will my thermostats lose their settings?

They are designed not to see an outage at all. The battery and inverter run in UPS mode, so there is no gap in supply for a thermostat or timer to reset on. It is worth testing your own gear during the pilot.

How long could it heat a reptile room?

That depends on how much hydrogen is stored and what else in the house is running. Heat mats and emitters are modest loads, and the store keeps for weeks, so it is designed for long outages. Runtime would be sized in the pilot.

Is it cheaper than heating on the grid?

No. Round-trip efficiency is 30% or less, so stored power costs more than three times as much to make. It is there so your animals stay warm in an outage, not to lower your bill.

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