I think we're aligned. That smooth wave does no harm, the stepped is less likely to, and the square - for many things - is a roll of the dice for many pellet stoves.
portable generator back up for pellet stove
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Not here. This place has run from one to seven days every year for ten years on juice from construction site/open frame generators. The only thing electric that has died around here is the refrigerator this year while on grid power. Maybe the genny use killed it. Hard to tell. It was 28 years old.
I ran the server farm and com rack in the basement when I was running a business out of here for a week in a snowstorm/outage on a Devilbiss 5,000 watt job site genny. Never trashed a thing. The only issue was that the megabucks UPS units hated it and I had to shut them down. The datacenter grade HP servers and T1 gear just hummed along.
Love the Heat
Member
Utilitrack
Feeling the Heat
CamperWill have you used this unit yet? I just bought the last one at HD for $599 in preparartion for what appears to be a prolonged ice event in Central Maine this weekend. Let me know your results please. Thanks
Micmann
New Member
Yes. I converted a 8000w Briggs and Stratton Elite series portable generator when i first got it. Never put a drop of gasoline in it. It will run on either gasoline or propane. I have a bunch of 20lb tanks and one 100lb tank. The 100lb stays stored for the real emergency. The 20lbs are for my grill and the generator. I can get about 6-8 hours on straight full run on one 20lb tank. I love it. Never worry about storing gasoline that can go bad or gum up the carb and lines. I do have to make sure I keep up with oil changes and I use synthetic as the combustion is hotter than gasoline, but the generator hasn't overheated. The only issue with LP gas is if it is really cold. The small 20lb tanks can freeze before being fully emptied. The fuel consumption rate cools the tank and in the cold can do so too quick. One option is to use a larger tank like a 40lb or I just swap the 20lb tanks after a few hours, let it warm up and swap it again. No big deal.
Google propane generator conversion. There are many options. This is one http://www.propane-generators.com/
It's been a few years and I think I used this one, but can't remember exactly. http://www.propanecarbs.com/tri_fuel_kits.html It worked great. Had to cut the frame of the generator just a bit to fit the extension ring on the carb, but different generators will be different. I highly recommend it to anyone with a portable genny.
Woody1911a1
Feeling the Heat
wow @ $18.50 for a 20# refill thats almost $60 a day . hope you don't have any long term outages .
Micmann
New Member
With regard to gasoline the generator is spec'd for 9 hours run at 50% load with it's 7 gallon tank (typical for most 8kw-10kw gens). At $3.60 a gallon of gasoline it will cost me about $65-$70 dollars a day. Add more than 50% load and the consumption goes up. Propane costs me $15 a tank down the street which brings me a run cost of $45-$60 a day. What most people don't realize is it is very costly to run generators for fuel. Doesn't matter what it is, gasoline, propane, diesel. They drink it. A small home standby permanent generator can drink a 200 lb tank in less than a day. Install a large whole house generator system and you need to bury a submarine tank in the back yard and expect to fill it every 4-5 days. So yes my little 8kw is not cheap to run, but it's actually just a bit cheaper to run the propane than gasoline. And with the storage benefits, propane tops gasoline any day, IMHO anyway.
Another thought is when running a portable it is not always necessary to run it 24/7. And actually it's excess wear to start it and let it run for days. Ideally, depending on many factors of course, one would run it for hours at a time and then shut down for a few hours. This will extend the fuel usage and life of the generator. If it's extremely cold out the run hours will certainly change, but a balanced on/off time will prove beneficial.
Lastly in a real bad scenario, gasoline may be real hard to come by. Propane can be a very good alternative. Especially since with the conversion it will run both.
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Woody1911a1
Feeling the Heat
can't disagree with anything you've said . it all makes a good argument for also having a 2k inverter that makes almost zero noise (think nite time ) and only burns 1 yep ONE gal of gas in 8-12 hrs 
Dgopetactical
Feeling the Heat
Not here. This place has run from one to seven days every year for ten years on juice from construction site/open frame generators. The only thing electric that has died around here is the refrigerator this year while on grid power. Maybe the genny use killed it. Hard to tell. It was 28 years old.
I ran the server farm and com rack in the basement when I was running a business out of here for a week in a snowstorm/outage on a Devilbiss 5,000 watt job site genny. Never trashed a thing. The only issue was that the megabucks UPS units hated it and I had to shut
them down. The datacenter grade HP servers and T1 gear just hummed along.
No doubt when I can afford it I would love to get a ups back up for short term power loss. With what I'm seeing here and with my research I'm beginning to think that I should not loose sleep over using my so called dirty generator to run my stove for the long term if needed as long as I control the load.
Micmann
New Member
Yes a 2k inverter is very nice and cheap to run! Believe me I wish i could get away with just that, but i needed a little more for septic pumps and other stuff.can't disagree with anything you've said . it all makes a good argument for also having a 2k inverter that makes almost zero noise (think nite time ) and only burns 1 yep ONE gal of gas in 8-12 hrs
IHATEPROPANE
Minister of Fire
can't disagree with anything you've said . it all makes a good argument for also having a 2k inverter that makes almost zero noise (think nite time ) and only burns 1 yep ONE gal of gas in 8-12 hrs
This is exactly right. The key to me is figuring out what you need to run during an outage. In the winter that means pellet stove a couple CFL lights, tv and occasionally the fridge. I bought a cheap Chinese inverter for this. Would use about 4 gallons in 24 hours max.
In the early spring I need a little more power. Got a 3500 watt Champion for the sump pump and fridge and TV. This would be 8 gallons a day max.
Those bigger gennies are nice and you can run everything but they need a lot of fuel.
Woody1911a1
Feeling the Heat
let's see ... beer , pellets , more beer , some hooch aka pot , oh and munchies !
Love the Heat
Member
Thx for the info, really appreciated. Those two links are the one i'm looking.
Regards
I am about to pull the trigger on the generac ix 2000. I am just looking to be able to run the stove, tv, satellite, and the fridge. I plugged everything into my kilowatt device and I will be fine with this one. I don't see a propane conversion for this little inverter yet. But that would be awesome if it could run off propane.
Wow... this is a lot of information lol...a lot to take in..still really confused... will have to do some research.
Micmann
New Member
Call a few companies. They may just have something they don't have listed or could suggest something. Some of the makers are small and don't update their sites as fast as models of generators hit the market.
P38X2
Minister of Fire
No disrespect to your choice, but a quick scan of reviews on this model yields VERY unimpressive results
Just a heads up, nothing more.Yea everyone is entitled to there opinion. ThanksNo disrespect to your choice, but a quick scan of reviews on this model yields VERY unimpressive results
PelletN00b01
New Member
My stove is on an UPS that will go about an hour and beep loudly in the night. That is the prompt to get the generator going.
For the over nights I got a Honda EU1000i running on propane. Keeps the stove going but doesn't make a racket.
Daytime hours I have a bigger Honda...also on propane.
Might eventually change the UPS to an inverter with some deep cycle RV/Marine batteries for an 8 plus hour run in case the power goes when no one is home. And here I though having a pellet stove was supposed to save money....
For the over nights I got a Honda EU1000i running on propane. Keeps the stove going but doesn't make a racket.
Daytime hours I have a bigger Honda...also on propane.
Might eventually change the UPS to an inverter with some deep cycle RV/Marine batteries for an 8 plus hour run in case the power goes when no one is home. And here I though having a pellet stove was supposed to save money....
P38X2
Minister of Fire
IHATEPROPANE
Minister of Fire
No disrespect to your choice, but a quick scan of reviews on this model yields VERY unimpressive results
I have an ETQ (no longer in business) 1800i which was the same as the Generac and Honeywell. I am not sure if they are made by different manufacturers now but my experience has been very good.
There are a couple of things however. It is very important to have the correct oil level. For easy starting always have it full and have fuel on for a minute before starting. Primer blows. Besides that it is quite, fuel efficient(not as much as a Honda ) and output is very clean. While you are at it take a look at a Champion inverter.
They can, and do. But if you want heat when the power's out, you gotta power it somehow. A wood stove is actually the least expensive, most reliable backup heat if you already have on safely installed and maintained, but most of us have decided those benefits aren't enough to outweigh the benefits of pellets. And even a dino burner needs to have the blower or circulator powered. No matter how we look at it, there's just no cheap way to deliver reliable, clean backup power. It does make one appreciate the electric company a bit more, I must admit.
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