Is there any way of stopping smoke from entering the house during a power outage?
Can the pellet stove run off a portable battery generator?
Can the pellet stove run off a portable battery generator?
power outage and smoke
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To answer you first question make sure the venting is sealed well and the stove seal are good. A good vertical rise in the stack will assist in naturally drafting the stove.
As for the backup power...well that is a loaded question. But generally yes. You should put your stove make and model in your sig. Some model stoves can run directly of 12V dc.
You can do a search on the subject. Quite a few threads have popped up over the last few days on this very thing.
As for the backup power...well that is a loaded question. But generally yes. You should put your stove make and model in your sig. Some model stoves can run directly of 12V dc.
You can do a search on the subject. Quite a few threads have popped up over the last few days on this very thing.
Frankly, I think everyone should pull the plug at least once to see what happens in the event of a power outage... if you don't have a tall chimney, you're likely to get smoke in the house no matter how well you think everything is sealed up... These stoves are air tight "enough" but not perfect... This is why i have a no power alarm and a battery backup... Little CYA goes a long way.
I have and found my basement install is unique. Both the vent and OAK become exhaust as they are higher than the stove. As they start to natural draft the air wash flappers open to let air into the stove. Luckily No smoke for me. I's still like to get a UPS(battery backup) and relay(hooked to the stat circuit) to run the stove out. I don't get any smoke, But there is an oder I can live with, But prefer it was a non issue and controlled itself.
The relay would break the stat circuit and put the stove in low fire mode. The UPS would need to be stout enough to run the stove on low for half an hour(controller has a time hold to keep teh unit on low JIC it calls for heat again). The relay would keep the stove isolated from the stat JIC it did drop and call for heat again while power is still out. Once power is restored the stove would again be able to start as the relay would close the stat circuit again. Although the stove control defaults to low after an outage at least it would start and hopefully keep the house warm. I'd need to set teh controllers heat range once I got home or woke up.
I had fun thinking of ways around it, Now I just need the funds and motivation to get it done!
Ended up doing this about a month ago. Needed to change a breaker in my box and completely forgot I was pulling the circuit the stove was on. Anyway, no smoke in the house. It was a good to know and gave me some comfort. I have a 14 foot liner in my chimney, which helps with the draft.
I suspect a lot of folks are going to discover how it all works.
The issue has been beat to death repeatedly on here.
The stove makers have mentioned it in their manuals.
To prevent smoke back you need a natural draft in your system.
What you may need in the way of a backup system is likely to be different than what others will need.
I tested my system after it was installed just to make certain I had a decent natural draft in the system.
The issue has been beat to death repeatedly on here.
The stove makers have mentioned it in their manuals.
To prevent smoke back you need a natural draft in your system.
What you may need in the way of a backup system is likely to be different than what others will need.
I tested my system after it was installed just to make certain I had a decent natural draft in the system.
That's what you want. Exhaust up the venting system and out of the house when the combustion blower isn't running..
Most manufacturers recommend a 3 foot or larger rise to help with a natural draft. If you have a chimney liner, that is about as good as you will get when taking advantage of the natural draft. Honestly, as mentioned, just try it. So you know what to expect.
Bioburner
Moderator
Natural draft is why some manufactures have test ports to check with manometers etc to get an idea of how much, or to much can suck out the heat. Mine with it running is 3/4 of an inch of water, more than the manufacture recommends but not bad. Lowers my effeciency but I have no worry of powerout smoke but have a UPS to condition and give me a warning about power out and over half hour of power out juice before having to worry about deciding what to do next. I have a no power needed propain stove to provide comfortable heat with ambiance for extended periods.
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Buy a Cyberpower Pure sinewave UPS model 850PFCLCD, and plug the stove into the output of that. Then connect the N.O. contacts of a relay in-series with your auger motor. Connect the the coil of the relay to the 110VAC outlet that the UPS is plugged-into (Do not connect the relay coil to the 110VAC output of the UPS). When the utility power drops-out, the relay opens its contacts and the fuel feed will stop, and the stove will burn itself out while the UPS continues to run the exhaust blower. As long as the UPS has a enough back-up run-time with your stoves exhaust blower (about 70 to 100Watts), longer than it takes your burn-pot to run out of fuel and burn completely out ( 5 or 10 minutes), you will have no smoke in the house. This is what I did with my stove, which has no vertical flue length.
Relay $9.95 at RadioShack
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049721
Relay $9.95 at RadioShack
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049721
4Dtvman
New Member
With my 24 feet of 4 inch pipe going up my chimney I can un plug my stove with the door open and I get no smoke in the house.
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I too have a cyberpower ups and a time delay relay that opens the thermostat circuit unti normal power has been restored for 10 minutes. The stove goes into a normal shut down(like the thermostat was satisfied) and stays off for at least 10 minutes and goes back to normal operation once normal power is restored. Mine is a direct vent with no rise. Works good with no smoke in the house.
My basement install is different... I actually have POSITIVE pressure in my stove when the combustion fan is off. Get the magnehelic to zero, attach the hose to the stove and the needle goes about .03" below zero. Bummer. That's why everyone needs to experiment with their setup to see the results. Then you know how big of an emergency a power outage will be relative to the stove.
Ended up getting the new "E" version board which has "battery backup mode" which pulses the combustion fan until the esp sees 100 degrees or less. Have that hooked up to a smallish Tripp Lite battery backup to prevent smoke spills. Cap that off with a Honda 2000i genny and I'm ready for any sort of "Snowmageddon". Amazing how much it costs to save money.
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