Bad Timing For A Power Outage

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velvetfoot

velvetfoot

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Dec 5, 2005
10,203
Sand Lake, NY
We had a power outage last night just after I stuffed the firebox of the Hampton 300i insert for an overnight burn. Luckily, I guess, the fire hadn't taken off yet, and I closed the air all the way. I didn't stay up all night watching it, but it seemed to do okay. Kinda scary.
 
I'm confused. What would be wrong with having a power outage while burning your stove??:confused:
 
So it has a fan and it was cold? We too were subjct to a 16 hour outage Thanksgiving... I was concerned with smoke puffing back on my pellet insert - but never happened. The Jotul free stander was cranked and because we are on a well, was able to not only keep warm, but also melt snow for the toilets.
 
I always thought you could run an insert like a stove without the blower. Didn't think the blower was that critical other then to get heat into the room, but not for safety reasons. Will it over fire without the fans working?
 
It worked out okay. It put out a fair amount of heat and didn't seem to overheat. Also, it wasn't too cold outside. The firebox was warm, so the draft was good. I was worried about overheating without the fan running.
 
ckitch said:
I always thought you could run an insert like a stove without the blower. Didn't think the blower was that critical other then to get heat into the room, but not for safety reasons. Will it over fire without the fans working?
Click to expand...
Apparently not. :)
 
Blowers are optional on some inserts.

Power went out here a few weeks ago, about an hour into laying laminate flooring in my living room :mad: Waited about twenty minutes, then got the generator out. At least it stayed off for another hour or so.
 
As others said, the blower is optional. Its purpose is not to keep the temps in the proper range, but rather to move the heat from inside the fireplace outwards toward the room. You can run the insert all the time without the blower if you'd like.
 
If a power outage occurred at my parents house they would take the surround off from around the stove to get a little more heat radiation, I don't think any UL listed stove needs a blower to function as designed (in a safety aspect) but I kind of know the feeling especially when you read about possible over fires so many times here on this website. Keep you splits larger.
 
I had a glowing insert top once on startup, when fan was off and I let it go a little too long before pushing in the air control. Since, I never use the insert without fan.
 
One of the great benefits of wood heat is having heat in a power outage. It's come in handy for me being in a rural place. I assume the blower is 110 vac. You could get an inverter, 12vdc to 110vac. They make them all sizes and they are relatively inexpensive. Plug it into the car and the fan. Based on the consumption run the car to keep the battery up.
 
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kennyp2339 said:
If a power outage occurred at my parents house they would take the surround off from around the stove to get a little more heat radiation, I don't think any UL listed stove needs a blower to function as designed (in a safety aspect) but I kind of know the feeling especially when you read about possible over fires so many times here on this website. Keep you splits larger.
Click to expand...

After I installed a blocking plate above my insert, I cut holes in the surround and finished them with air grates. I get a fair amount of hot air coming through those grates. See my recent posts in this forum regarding blocking plates...

I don't have any concern about running my insert without the blower. I've never seen it overheat with or without the blower going...and the blower doesn't seem to have much effect on the stove temperature. It does help move the warm air into the upper part of the house, so much so that I only use the blower at outside temps below 30 degrees.
 
I think would be impossible to have a wood burning appliance listed if it required the use of a blower to keep from overheating. Or maybe it would have huge clearances. It's not like the fire goes out when the power is shut off, and power outages are unpredictable, so it couldn't be listed as "xx inches to combustible surface when the blower is running". If that makes any sense.
 
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The only reason I decided to always keep the blowers on is because I'm worried over time the heat may damage the blower motor. With the blower on it pulls cool air across the motor. Without the blower on, the entire side that had the blower heat soaks and gets quite warm.
 
I have a good size UPS hooked up to my blower for the short term power outages. If it was a longer outage I would take the surround off to allow air to circulate around the insert shell to help cool it off. If need be I could hookup the genset to the house if I know its going to be a while before power is restored.
 
So you're going to get a generator, to run the blower on the wood stove if the power goes out?

Simpler is better than complicated. Get a wood stove that doesn't need a blower.
 
The original post was about inserts, none of them heat well without a blower.
 
Yes, that is one reason I wouldn't get an insert.
Just one of several.
 
Yup, having a blower makes a HUGE difference.....went the first two years without on ours
 
the op was about being afraid to run the insert without the blower. Having a generator or inverter can keep your lights on, and the food in your fridge cold. The blower does make a huge difference, especially with flush inserts. I don't always run my blower and haven't over fired.
 
I didn't overfire, but I've done it once in the past when starting up with no fan. I put the air rod in all the way and it kept it under control. I wasn't sure how it would react. The outage started just after I started the fire, rather than when I got the fire going really well prior to shutting down. I'd be more nervous if power was lost then.
 
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