With a little prodding from GotzTheHotz I'm doing a post on what I have done with mine.
First if you have not watched it the video from Mike Pepler some where in the early part of the video he comments how the fireplace is meant to be used in the garden. Thats UK English for your backyard patio. He lamented other than the electricity used to run the fan the unit is completly carbon neutral. Well speak of lacking in imagination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZPvLpexXFw
So the fix was easy, just add a solar panel Well considering the fan takes 2watts, not much and the unit is meant for use after dark there is a small challenge!! Since I just replace two batteries from my APC UPS I have the old ones left. For this job lots of capacity left.
Solar panel some surfing in Frys Electronics I found http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50022-Battery-Trickle-Charger/dp/B0006JO0TC Sunforce 50022 5-Watt Solar Battery Trickle Charger.
It is a trickle charger when used on a car battery, it is a battery charger when used on a 12v 17A battery
I recycled some parts from other projects. The clips photo. The battery clips come as part of solar panel kit. You need add a cigarette lighter socket. You will need to strip the wires back near the clips and solder wire to wire the clips are plated and will not take solder. I used heat shrik and tape to insulate. Then you will need a cigarette lighter plug to DC power coax connector. The one in the picture came from another kit I scrapped. There is a wire kit you can order from Woodgas web site, or just go to Radio Shack.
So you clip it onto a battery and put the panel in the sun. The stove fan will run faster on just the panel as voltage jumps to about 15 volts, clipped to battery its what ever the battery needs. In the power pack pic there is another extension cord set I made up. If there are ANY clouds or creeping shadows you want to run the fireplace on battery. With out the fan this is a smoke pot!!
Also of note the stove uses a bridge rectifier so polarity is a do not care.
As for solar I have house PV, battery bank, and an electric car. Just some thing else that needed a solar retro fit.
First if you have not watched it the video from Mike Pepler some where in the early part of the video he comments how the fireplace is meant to be used in the garden. Thats UK English for your backyard patio. He lamented other than the electricity used to run the fan the unit is completly carbon neutral. Well speak of lacking in imagination
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZPvLpexXFw
So the fix was easy, just add a solar panel
Well considering the fan takes 2watts, not much and the unit is meant for use after dark there is a small challenge!! Since I just replace two batteries from my APC UPS I have the old ones left. For this job lots of capacity left.Solar panel some surfing in Frys Electronics I found http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50022-Battery-Trickle-Charger/dp/B0006JO0TC Sunforce 50022 5-Watt Solar Battery Trickle Charger.
It is a trickle charger when used on a car battery, it is a battery charger when used on a 12v 17A battery
I recycled some parts from other projects. The clips photo. The battery clips come as part of solar panel kit. You need add a cigarette lighter socket. You will need to strip the wires back near the clips and solder wire to wire the clips are plated and will not take solder. I used heat shrik and tape to insulate. Then you will need a cigarette lighter plug to DC power coax connector. The one in the picture came from another kit I scrapped. There is a wire kit you can order from Woodgas web site, or just go to Radio Shack.
So you clip it onto a battery and put the panel in the sun. The stove fan will run faster on just the panel as voltage jumps to about 15 volts, clipped to battery its what ever the battery needs. In the power pack pic there is another extension cord set I made up. If there are ANY clouds or creeping shadows you want to run the fireplace on battery. With out the fan this is a smoke pot!!
Also of note the stove uses a bridge rectifier so polarity is a do not care.
As for solar I have house PV, battery bank, and an electric car. Just some thing else that needed a solar retro fit.
