Why do people feel the need to always point this out ?

With a cheapo generator anyone can run their central heat, except electric heat.

bostonbaked said:

Not much of a question but I'm just curious. I so often hear people say " You know, if the power goes out and you use a pellet stove you will loose your heat" If the power goes out I loose my heat now. If you have a boiler or a furnace you will also have no heat. So why do people act as if this is a pellet stove only detractor ? Just venting because every time someone points this out I want to scream. Anybody else feel this way About it ? Just wondering. BTW, This year with a cheapo generator, I'll be the only one around my neighborhood who (will have heat in an outage.)

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I dunno. But even without the generator and no power I will still have heat. Guess that is why I heat with wood. ;-)

I myself have a small wood insert. I think its performance depends pretty much on the fan. I haven't tried it yet without the fan.

I think that why that is mentioned so often is because it's a consideration only when it compares to a wood stove which we all know requires no electricity to run. I agree that perhaps it is overstated in that as with any other heat source, if the power goes out the heat does too.

More than likely everyone has gone without electricity at one time or another, but it can be much more of a discomfort and hazardous in the very cold winter months - every year people die of exposure in their own homes due to lack of heat. Yes, a UPS can help. When my power goes out, my UPS will take over and beep every 30 seconds to alert us that the power is out which will allow me more than enough time to fire up my small generator to take over.

Some people have those large whole-house generators which is a great idea, but can be a bit expensive for many (like me). What a lot of people don't realize is that a small 1000 to 2000 watt generator would be more than enough to run a pellet stove, but is also enough to run my oil burner with 4 zones as well. My boiler may draw 2 amps and each circulator less than 1 amp each for a total load of perhaps 4 to 6 amps on average. 6 amps X 120 volts is only 720 watts (for example) which a small generator can handle with enough left over to run a couple of lights. Heat is the most important thing, I can always put important refrigerator items into a cooler or two and put them out on the porch in the cold if necessary.

One additional thought to consider is that with a pellet stove that has direct venting, smoke into the living space can be a big deal if it happens, which a UPS and small generator can help with.

Steve

Yeah, power outages affect most people's heating systems except those with free standing wood stoves.
I wish I had one, but aesthetics ruled over my wishes.

We lost power last season sometime in mid-January for about 6 hours.

I fired up the 2700watt portable generator and ran a bunch of extension cords all over the living area of the house. I powered up things as I needed to.

1. Fridge. Had to keep the beer cold (and food in freezer frozen)
2. Enviro EF-2 pellet stove
3. Couple of painter type clamp on lights
4. Cable Box
5. TV (nothing else to do in the middle of a power outage)
6. PC with CRT monitor (kept the kids busy)

I ran all of that with my little portable (on a wheeled stand) generator that I bought at Home Depot a year before. The little genset barely noticed the loads except when the fridge compressor came on.

Think I burned about 3 gallons of gas. But, I was the only house in the neighborhood with lights, heat, and TV. The neighbors all came over and we had a great time.

I look forward to those special friendship building community events in the future.

---Nailer---

I've noticed the same syndrome...

It does seem appropriate, when comparing a wood stove or fireplace to a pellet stove, but otherwise..."NA".

I decided that in my own personal situation, its pretty much a moot point anyway, because we hardly ever lose power. I've been in the same spot for 14 years, (2 of which set record snowfalls), and the longest outage we've ever had was about 8 hours. just not something I'm gonna lose sleep over.

I've also found a similar "twist" on this syndrome, irt the arguments over "direct venting", vs. going "up and out/out and up" for the purposes of having a draft to suck smoke out of the stove in the event of a power failure. "you might get soot on the side of your house". well, I get that, already, with my power-vented oil furnace. when it gets dirty/out of adjustment, thats what happens. and it makes a terrible mess. really hard (impossible) to get the soot off the siding. But it happens, and somehow, I've managed to survive.

nailed_nailer said:

We lost power last season sometime in mid-January for about 6 hours.

I fired up the 2700watt portable generator and ran a bunch of extension cords all over the living area of the house. I powered up things as I needed to.

1. Fridge. Had to keep the beer cold (and food in freezer frozen)
2. Enviro EF-2 pellet stove
3. Couple of painter type clamp on lights
4. Cable Box
5. TV (nothing else to do in the middle of a power outage)
6. PC with CRT monitor (kept the kids busy)

I ran all of that with my little portable (on a wheeled stand) generator that I bought at Home Depot a year before. The little genset barely noticed the loads except when the fridge compressor came on.

Think I burned about 3 gallons of gas. But, I was the only house in the neighborhood with lights, heat, and TV. The neighbors all came over and we had a great time.

I look forward to those special friendship building community events in the future.

---Nailer---

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Off Topic!!


Wow, you really got all that stuff to run off of a 2700 watt generator?

I had a 2500watt one that could barely run just the fridge.

they point it out becasue ( my opinion) pellet stoves "look" like wood stoves and some gas stoves. wood stoves and gas stoves can be used without electricity..
instead of seeing them as competition to an oil or propane boiler/.furnaces....

so-- they point otu teh difference.

if your unit looked like a furnace, and was installed in a absement- they probbaly wouldn't feel the need to poiint it out

and yes- it bothers me too

bostonbaked said:

Not much of a question but I'm just curious. I so often hear people say " You know, if the power goes out and you use a pellet stove you will loose your heat" If the power goes out I loose my heat now. If you have a boiler or a furnace you will also have no heat.

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I'm just curious. Why do people sometimes type "loose" when they mean "lose"? I'm just saying...

I got the same argument when I was buying my stove. It didn't seem to matter to them that their oil heat would go out if they lost power but it did matter to them that if I lost power my pellet stove would go out.. The hypocrites.

Get the generator, then sit inside all warm and cozy when the power goes out. Make sure you call all those people who criticized you and tell them how warm and toasty you are and ask them how their oil heat thing is going.

bostonbaked said:

...I have been telling people in the neighborhood about the new stove. Most of them know nothing about pellet stoves but they almost all seem to say the same thing. "If the power goes out you won't have any heat you know." I quickly add that neither will you.......

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IMO, people that don't use wood or pellets just don't think when it comes to a discussion like you mention. As far as they know, the heat in their house "just comes on", with no thought to the electrical part.

Dojistar said:

I'm just curious. Why do people sometimes type "loose" when they mean "lose"? I'm just saying... It didn't seem to mater to them...... The hypocrites.

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I guess the same reason some people say "mater" when they mean "matter" :lol:

bostonbaked said:

I have been telling people in the neighborhood about
the new stove. Most of them know nothing about pellet stoves but they almost all seem to say the
same thing. "If the power goes out you won't have any heat you know." I quickly add that neither will you.

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Sounds to me like your neighbors are jealous and trying to rain on
your parade.

zeta said:

....Sounds to me like your neighbors are jealous and trying to rain on
your parade.

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I agree w/ that reason too....their annoyed they didn't think of getting one first.

I'm with those who really need heat in the cold of winter. Where I live we commonly have periods of -30F for 3-10 days or so, and a couple of these each winter. A blizzard and down power lines would freeze the house up in short order. And I have nothing against a pellet stove, gas furnace or oil burner. The need is for heat, so whatever can be done to insure that is the right choice, if you face a disaster from an extended power outage.

A similar, but not quite so dire, situation in the heat of summer and losing a freezer and refrig full of expensive food.

We have a free-standing wood stove for the house (no electric required) and a gasification boiler system for the shop (electricity needed). We have battery backup for the boiler, an LP millivolt space heater backup for the house (no electricity needed), and a generator to power lights, refrig, freezer, well pump, and computer. We keep about 30 gal of gasoline on hand, rotated stock, so that we won't be caught with a generator we can't run because no gasoline.

A generator and transfer switch can be had for $500-1000 dollars. That's less than one year's house insurance bill. The backup systems are cheap insurance, so far as we are concerned, and even cheaper peace of mind.

Most gas stoves and fireplaces will work 100% when no power is present.
Most wood stoves also.

People who are buying a "back up" source of heat like the idea of being able to run in the event of a power failure. And, you would be surprised how many people BOUGHT pellet stoves without totally understanding that it would not work in a power failure.

That, in itself, is a good reason to point out that particular fact. For most people....and most people don't have generators handy...a pellet stove will not provide emergency heat.

Pellet stoves, like any appliance, have their pros and cons - but it is not a "feature" that they need electricity.

As to why that "bothers" someone...well, that is too long of a story - human psychology and all that. I have many theories....

macman said:

Dojistar said:

I'm just curious. Why do people sometimes type "loose" when they mean "lose"? I'm just saying... It didn't seem to mater to them...... The hypocrites.

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I guess the same reason some people say "mater" when they mean "matter" :lol:

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Touché

I don't experience power failures often, never had interior smoke problems. But backup is gas fireplace. I also use it to take the chill off when baking just doesn't cut it.

bostonbaked said:

Thanks macman, Craig did not like my response and it was deleted. :lol: :coolsmirk:

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No prob, Baked....I DID see your response before it was yanked.....I would have liked to see that. :lol:

After the 10th person said the same thing to me "if power goes out you have no heat" I felt the same way. I got to the point that I started threatening people who said it just to stop them. Since I have been in my house-16 years, there has been only one time that the power was out for more then 12 hours, 2 times that the power was out for 12 hours, and whatever many times under 6 hours. Other then the 3 day power failure (my wife freaked because she had no coffee and almost ran out of cigarettes and we could not get off our block for 1 1 /2 days) It has been nothing more then a minor inconvenience. I had no heat during those failures from my oil burner, I have an emergency Kerosene heater if need be. Less then 6 hours of no power, my house is insulated enough that it dropped by only a few degrees. If it becomes a headache, I'll buy a cheapo generator for $200 or less to run the stove and the TV, but I doubt it will be an issue. :coolsmile: