gas stove with wall thermostat

[mushroom]

This may be a silly question but I'd rather get an answer before the power goes out than wait and find out the hard way. My house is heated by a gas stove operating off a programmable wall thermostat. Now of course I know gas works when the power goes out, but what about the thermostat? will my stove still run when there's no power, or does the thermostat have its own power like a battery? (I've never had to change a battery in a thermostat so I don't think so)

We're facing high winds with temps in the teens here and my house barely stays warm even with the stove running constantly. If the power goes out, me and the dogs will freeze if the stove won't run. I can't see any kind of brand name on the stove so I can't give you that info. (the house is a rental and the stove was there when I moved in)

Will the thermostat still allow the stove to run when there's no electricity?

Would there be some kind of manual override on the stove in the event of power outage and the thermostat not operating? All I can find is an old on/off switch that's been disconnected, and a red button that appears to be for relighting the pilot light.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

The power is generated by the pilot. (millivolt system) You should have a bypass switch on the stove that overides the thermostat. If you dont, you can jump the TH/TPTH on the terminal block on the valve. The programable will still work as long as its battery powerd, which im sure it is. I would keep a spare battery around.

 

[begreen]

It depends on the thermostat. Some are strictly transformer powered, some use batteries in them for backup power and some just use the batteries. Our pellet stove was on a digital Lux thermostat that ran on 4 AA batteries. These batteries would last a year or more.

This doesn't solve starting an electronic ignition system if there isn't a standing pilot., but that could be done with a small UPS.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

I dont know of a single direct vent gas stove on the market with electronic ignition. But thats a good point about the UPS, there are plenty of elctronic ignition fireplaces on the market. Pelletstoves usually use 12 or 24 volt thermostats. DV gas use millivolt systems, and the programable thermos work off of batteries. If i had a DV stove, i would use the standard thermostat, its pretty failsafe.

 

[hearthtools]

I dont know of a single direct vent gas stove on the market with electronic ignition. But thats a good point about the UPS, there are plenty of elctronic ignition fireplaces on the market. Pelletstoves usually use 12 or 24 volt thermostats. DV gas use millivolt systems, and the programable thermos work off of batteries. If i had a DV stove, i would use the standard thermostat, its pretty failsafe.

NON heater rated Gas fireplace are ALL Electronic ignition. By code decorative gas stoves can not have a standing pilot.
there are a lot of them out here in track homes. Heat and Blow OOP heat and glo made a lot of them.

Some Gas stoves with Variable valve remotes controls that are 110 volt need power or the Flame will be on low with no power.
They come with a Key to turn the valve up manualy if you have no power.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

I dont know of a single direct vent gas stove on the market with electronic ignition. But thats a good point about the UPS, there are plenty of elctronic ignition fireplaces on the market. Pelletstoves usually use 12 or 24 volt thermostats. DV gas use millivolt systems, and the programable thermos work off of batteries. If i had a DV stove, i would use the standard thermostat, its pretty failsafe.

NON heater rated Gas fireplace are ALL Electronic ignition. By code decorative gas stoves can not have a standing pilot.
there are a lot of them out here in track homes. Heat and Blow OOP heat and glo made a lot of them.

Some Gas stoves with Variable valve remotes controls that are 110 volt need power or the Flame will be on low with no power.
They come with a Key to turn the valve up manualy if you have no power.

Im not disputing the fact that some fireplaces are electronic ignition. I stated that i have never seen a electronic ignition stove. One may exist, but 99.9% of the DV stoves out there are standing pilot. Unless your talking about the solenoid controlled nova sit's and the honeywell valves... then yes, they do require power . I have never seen them on a stove, but i suppose you could put one on aftermarket (sit's). Still, thats not the rule, its a very very small excption.

 

[hearthtools]

I dont know of a single direct vent gas stove on the market with electronic ignition. But thats a good point about the UPS, there are plenty of elctronic ignition fireplaces on the market. Pelletstoves usually use 12 or 24 volt thermostats. DV gas use millivolt systems, and the programable thermos work off of batteries. If i had a DV stove, i would use the standard thermostat, its pretty failsafe.

NON heater rated Gas fireplace are ALL Electronic ignition. By code decorative gas stoves can not have a standing pilot.
there are a lot of them out here in track homes. Heat and Blow OOP heat and glo made a lot of them.

Some Gas stoves with Variable valve remotes controls that are 110 volt need power or the Flame will be on low with no power.
They come with a Key to turn the valve up manualy if you have no power.

Im not disputing the fact that some fireplaces are electronic ignition. I stated that i have never seen a electronic ignition stove. One may exist, but 99.9% of the DV stoves out there are standing pilot. Unless your talking about the solenoid controlled nova sit's and the honeywell valves... then yes, they do require power . I have never seen them on a stove, but i suppose you could put one on aftermarket (sit's). Still, thats not the rule, its a very very small excption.

You are correct
I have not installed a electronic Egnition unit in over 10 years
but Travis had and has an after market Modulation Valve remote that is a aftermarket kit.

 

[mushroom]

Well thank you all for such quick replies. I looked at the thermostat and it's a Lux, and it does have 2 batteries in it! so as long as I didn't break it getting to the batteries it looks like we'll be ok. Seems to still be running ... but the WHOLE THING popped off to get to the batteries.

 

[seaken]

If I were you I would re-connect the on/off switch. A lot of techs disconnect the on/off switch if a thermostat is used but it is usually better to keep both switches active. If the T-stat fails the on/off switch can be used.

Does your unit have a standing pilot? If so, you will be fine in a power outage.

 

[hearthtools]

We alway keep the switch connected and SHOW the customer where it is just in case the thermostat fails or the REMOTE CONTROL is lost of stops working

We ALWAYS wire the thermostat or Remote Directly to the valve so there is no weak link.

 

[Gooserider]

I don't know about gas stove thermostats, but I know whole house thermostats, or at least everyone that I've seen, use a transformer to drive the circuitry and do the switching. The batterys are just to retain the memory backup for the programming and the clock. If the power goes out, so does the transformer, and the heat switching.

I would reccomend figuring out which breakers drive everything and simulating a power failure by pulling the breakers to see if stuff stays lit, and if not coming up with appropriate bypass / override strategies.

I haven't worried about it that much - the woodstove won't go out even if the blower quits. :coolsmile: Worst case we roll out the sleeping bags on the living room floor, but we won't freeze...

Gooserider

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

furnace thermostats, and pellet stove thermostats, have transformers because the appliance there controlling are hooked to 110. The millivolt ones dont, there is no source of 110, just a small pilot generator. In no way would a breaker affect the circuit on the thermostat for a direct vent gas stove.

 

[Gooserider]

furnace thermostats, and pellet stove thermostats, have transformers because the appliance there controlling are hooked to 110. The millivolt ones dont, there is no source of 110, just a small pilot generator. In no way would a breaker affect the circuit on the thermostat for a direct vent gas stove.

Well obviously if there's no power going to the unit then it won't be hurt by a power failure, :lol: but if I had a setup like described I'd want to be sure there wasn't anything being snuck in somewheres. If I did see power going in, I'd want to do a simulated power failure as I suggested just to be sure there wasn't anything critical depending on the juice. I figure it's a fairly easy, no-cost test to make sure there aren't any problems.

Gooserider

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

Agreed