Wood Stove Insert Electrical Safety

[EJL923]

Going into my third season with my insert, I started to think about the longevity of the blowers. These are on basically December through April. I was wondering what would happen if there was a problem and one of the motors seized or some other electrical problem while i wasn't home.

Im wondering if someone else had thought about this, and if they have any safeguards. Would a GFCI or AFCI add any protection in case of motor failure? Would the circuit breaker work here? My worry is an overheated motor causing a fire, and not the fire causing the fire.

All input welcome. Maybe some pellet guys could add something to this.

 

[rijim]

Not knowing what your installation looks like and what combustables are near your stove or blowers; it is difficult to know if there are some circumstance that may pose a greater fire risk. What I can tell you is that a GFCI is designed to open when the current flow in the hot leg and the neutral differs by 40ma or more so unless there is a short to a grounded surface or grounded conductor, it probably won't open. The AFCI is looking for current spikes at a frequency other than 60hz indicating that a potential arching situation is occurring; may or may not react to a motor failure depending on type of failure. Sizing the breaker or over current device down based on NFPA requirements is the better of the options you mentioned.
What does the manufacturers installation guide tell you; this is most times your best resource.

Jim

 

[Fake coal burner]

I use one of these for stove fans or in line type with 10 amp fuse fast blow. piece of mind. It will blow first before house breaker. leaving other circuits on bracker runing. Running 2 bath fans for stove blowers. Just don't mount it where it gets hot from stove.

 

[Agent]

Fortunately, your blower should be positioned where it would cause minimal damage should it catch fire (this is only a general assumption about stoves with attached blowers)
On a related note, I had a medium/large squirrel cage fan that moved air from my basement to the upstairs. It sounded like heck when it ran, but it was all I had at the time. Went to plug it in one time, and it was the last time. Noise, smoke, and a little flame/bright colors before I unplugged it. The thought of what that could have done, being in a location it could have caused a serious fire while I was sleeping was a little disconcerting.
I hope to hear about any possible solutions to keep this from happening to others.