Minimizing power usage with Whitfield Profile 20 (disable everything except augers)

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mellowg

New Member
Feb 7, 2011
1
WA
I just bought a Whitfield Profile 20 with self-ignition

The problem is that I am off-grid and use deep-cycle batteries and solar panels to power my home.

How can I minimize power usage for this stove?

I would like to disconnect the self-igniter and ignite the pellets myself using a starter gel. Is this possible? Anybody have any advice/experience to share?

Plus I want to disconnect the blowers. Is this possible?

Basically I just want the unit to bring power to the augers and nothing else.

Has anybody ever done anything like this before?
 
You sure as heck don't want to disable the blowers!!!!!! I don't have that stove but if it's like every other pellet stove, you need combustion air to burn the pellets and keep you from dying of carbon monoxide poisoning and if you don't have convection blowers, your stove will overheat almost immediately. There's another thread not too far back addressing power usage of stoves that you will find interesting. Some people have disconnected the igniter, so that is probably possible but then you must keep the stove running. If it has hi-low control from a thermostat, then you're set.

Don't disconnect the blowers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it won't work. Have you read your manual???
 
Disconnect the blowers? Seriously? Without them all you have is a wood stove that inefficiently burns pellets instead of logs. Besides not venting the gases or heat, or sending the convection heat into the house, as previously stated, the electronics will overheat and shut the stove down. That can't be an improvement over using a wood stove, which could use wood that you might be able to find for free in your area (unless you're in a desert or something). Since pelletsare so much more efficiently burned than wood in a wood stove, (not to mention cleaner) they give more bang for the buck since money doesn't go up the vent in the form of smoke. but it does go up the vent in the form of heat, maybe as much as half the heat produced by the pellets.

To be as efficient as possible, you might want to figure-out a way to capture the exhaust heat before it exits the exhaust vent. Some kind of water jacket, or lots of fins would help. I'm using 4 metal water pipe lengths inside of a 4" exhaust vent pipe since I had them handy. And I have a fan blowing on another section of the vent pipe. I'd guess that if you only have solar power, you definitely should disconnect the igniter since it's a major juice user. My old stove is manual ignition and natural materials can be used in place of commercial products. I use planed wood shavings and little pine cones wet with a little odorless lamp oil.

Someone needs to invent a steam-powered electric generator, then exhaust heat could create the power needed to run a pellet stove, even without sun or grid. That will be something that everyone would want. We need to go "Back to the Future" or as I prefer to say, "Forward to the Past". Jay Leno has an amazing steam-powered car, and it works beautifully. And doesn't need gasoline, I guess it uses coal -an American energy source.
 
If, and this is a very big if, your heat exchanger has enough thermal mass you might be able to remove the convection blower from the stove and run it on the lowest possible setting.

You aren't going to get a lot of heat that way.

The stove won't maintain any fire without an operating combustion blower.
 
Just use a woodstove and you're all set. Why in the world would you attempt to use a pellet stove if you don't have the power to run it?
 
BDPVT said:
Just use a woodstove and you're all set. Why in the world would you attempt to use a pellet stove if you don't have the power to run it?

Sometimes one just needs to experiment I guess.

There are some watt sippers out here once you get rid of the igniter (mine gave up after 2.5 heating seasons, I might replace it but not right now).
 
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