Using a generator during power outage

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m159267

m159267

Burning Hunk
Mar 12, 2009
218
East-Central MO
Hi All

Is it OK to power a pellet stove (Harman P38) with a small generator (1850 watts) during a power outage? I know the current provided is not the cleanest so I thought I would power an APC 900 VA UPS (used for my home theatre system) and plug the stove into that. That should smooth out the current. We are subject to outages and with the temps plummeting this weekend along with high winds it would be a great backup.
 
The UPS documentation states ..."A distinguishing feature of the Back-UPS RS is automatic voltage regulation (AVR). AVR instantly adjusts both low and high voltages to safe levels, so you can work indefinitely during brownouts and overvoltage situations, saving the battery for power outages when you need it most." Is this the online type...? It sounds like it. It's one of the main reasons I purchased it for the home theatre...
 
Make sure the generator is started and running at normal speed before connecting any power cords. Disconnect the cords before shutting off the generator. Don't let it run low on fuel and start sputtering when the electric devices are plugged in. Make sure it isn't overloaded and bogging down the engine. That will go a long way to ensuring you have clean 60HZ power to your stove. The UPS with AVR can still let some low quality power through, it just keeps the voltage closer to normal before kicking in the battery.
I agree you should be fine with your UPS if you follow the generator procedure above.
 
m159267 said:
The UPS documentation states ..."A distinguishing feature of the Back-UPS RS is automatic voltage regulation (AVR). AVR instantly adjusts both low and high voltages to safe levels, so you can work indefinitely during brownouts and overvoltage situations, saving the battery for power outages when you need it most." Is this the online type...? It sounds like it. It's one of the main reasons I purchased it for the home theatre...
Click to expand...

That doesn't say anything about cleaning the power, and it also sounds like it only does anything at all if the voltage moves away from 120.

If it did line conditioning, I have a feeling it would say so.
 
The AVR sounds like it 'fixes' the voltage, but it doesn't necessailly clean up the 'shape' of the voltage - ie Line current should have a nice sinusoidal shape to it. may cheap generators output something that looks more like a square wave with the corners filed off

do a search of old posts - this was discussed, and people even took an osciliscope to their generators, to see how clean they were.
 
I would like to see an honest comparison of UPS/Generator power and Utility power during stormy winters.

Could it be that winter utility power transients (house lights blinking) and and noisy common line loads could be worse than the outputs of UPS or Generators? I am no expert; just asking the question.
 
I'd put the UPS on your pellet stove and keep it there...protect that board!!
 
The little generator should be fine. The non inverter ones produce a true sine wave. As said, as long as you start it up and let it warm up before using it it should be fine. I wouldn't plug other loads into it that come on and off, like a refrigerator or something, that can load the generator down and then abruptly stop producing spikes.
 
Thanks for all the educating replies. I feel I have a good back-up heat source during cold weather and the all too often power outages. Can't say enough how the little P38 performs. It has been running consistently since Wednesday night assisting our geothermal unit. Each night has been below zero since Wednesday (-10 last night).
 
Might want to fire up the genny and see if the system will run your stove before you need it in an emergency. I have read alot of posts that you can't run these stove on anything other then a sinusoidal inverter. I have read posts that if you try to run the UPS off of a small generator with a poor wuaility power that it will just keep kicking over to the UPS battery.
 
I will echo what turbo said, some UPS don't like generator power and will not consider working off it promptly sucking down the battery and not charging or letting generator power pass through.
 
m159267 said:
Thanks for all the educating replies. I feel I have a good back-up heat source during cold weather and the all too often power outages. Can't say enough how the little P38 performs. It has been running consistently since Wednesday night assisting our geothermal unit. Each night has been below zero since Wednesday (-10 last night).
Click to expand...

Well, you caught my eye with 'geothermal'. I have regular SEER 15 air source heat pumps and lament my not going the extra bucks for geothermal. My COP is 3.0 or 300% efficient when above 50 degrees but drop rapidly when close to 30. With geothermal, you should be staying at close to 3.0 no matter what the outside temp as long as your tubes are buried low enough or in bored holes. What prompts you to go to pellets/corn rather than the heat pumps?
 
Find an electronics person and have them put an oscilloscope on the output of your generator, UPS, or inverter. Compare the waveform distortions to utility power and know the difference.
 
sparing the electronics scientific explanation, can someone just let me know what I should buy to help me if I need to go on generator power .. one of these "conditioners" .. where I can buy it and approximately how much ... Maybe an amazon.com link .. I will ask my wife for it for Christmas ... Thanks!
 
Bottom line is I will be purchasing a Yamaha EF2000iS for the P38 (in basement family room) and future pellet insert -- upstairs family room (replacing my highly inefficient fireplace). I'm hoping for now to make it through the coldest December we've had a many a year here in the Mid-West. Who knows what January & February will bring. If I have a power outage I will not run the P38 on my current generator. I do not want to take the chance on damaging the P38 electronics.
TO tjnamtiw: I still run my geothermal - the P38 helps supplement it. With my basement I am conditioning 3800 square feet with a 5 ton system. The P38 keeps my geothermal running easy without 'sucking' my loop field of all its heat. Otherwise I could easily be using 'auxiliary' heat -- all electric heat backup during extreme cold snaps. Been sub-zero here for the past several nights ( I live in a rural area). Running the P38 24/7 for several days really assists the heat pump. I bought a ton of pellets in the fall but if things keep going as is I'll be buying a lot more!
 
Well, like many things on the internet, it depends who you ask. I am getting a Pro watt pure sine wave inverter just to be safe. Most of the posts I read say to use pure sine wave power to spare the delicate electronics of the stove, either via pure sine wave generator or pure sine wave inverter. The inverter you will have to run off of a battery that has something charging it like a car alternator. The pure sine wave generator is a complete package in itself. The CPU and APC's just protect from surging and clamping when the power does shut off and they might run the fan long enough to extract the smoke while your fire dies out.
 
I just picked up the prowatt 600w inverter and i'm in the process of getting all the wiring together in case there is a power failure.
Chuck
 
chuck p said:
I just picked up the prowatt 600w inverter and i'm in the process of getting all the wiring together in case there is a power failure.
Chuck
Click to expand...

Please let everyone know how that works for you. As I have said in posts. I bought one, and used it and it works fine. I haven't used it for long, just so I can test it. I don't own a home O-scope so I don't know what the true sinewave really looks like for it.

Mark :)
 
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