Simulating a Power Outage- Testing natural draft

[buzzzby]

Curious if anyone has intentionally pulled the power cord in the middle of a good burn to test the draft and potential of backing up. The Wife is concerned with me leaving the pellet stove burning when no one is home- fearing a power outage.

Thanks

 

[bungalobob]

Have not tried it myself, but I'd lke to read about your results. What type of stove do you have and what type of exhaust setup? Horizontal, vertical? I plan on getting battery back-up in the off season to ease those worries. I have a Harman and it is supposed to be pretty tight, but will see if I lose power, have not yet. Good luck.

 

[buzzzby]

Harman XXV with the Harman OAK in one kit and a 4 ft rise. I'll be testing this weekend when the wife is out shopping....and report back later.

 

[bungalobob]

With the 4ft rise should be OK, should be enough natural draft. There was a post a while back by someone who lost power with a Harman and they had horizontal exhaust, nothing but some burning smoke smell, did not fill house with smoke.

 

[Sawduster]

I have a Harmon P61a and watched what happened when I had a 3 hour power outage while at full burn. I have a five foot interior rise with a 90° going outside. The inside of the stove filled with smoke, but other than the slightest of smoke smell the stove kept it inside, and after about an hour the smoke inside the stove went away and the fire went out. After witnessing a power outage first hand, I decided it was not worth it to buy a battery backup.

 

[lecomte38]

I have had a few power failures with my Accentra insert, 18' chimney liner. No smoke at all, just a lazy fire until it burns out.

 

[tonyd]

I pulled the plug on my Castile .Smoldered and went out. No smoke. Insert with 5' of flex up the stack.

 

[nosaudioil]

We lost power around 2:30 AM Monday during the snowstorm. I woke up shortly after that to a silence caused by the lack of 60 cycle hum and went downstairs to check on our NPS40. No problems from smoke or burn smell. The NPS40 is corner installed with an exterior clean-out tee and a stack rise of just over six feet. It seems to have plenty of natural draft.

 

[THE ROOSTER]

I have the Harman battery backup, and used the six 6V batteries in my E-Z-GO golf cart, I re-wired it from 36V to 12V ... I drilled a hole to the basement and ran the electric cord downstairs... And in Jan. we lost power and the system ran the stove 10 hours, I checked voltage and the batteries still had 11.7 volts, so I figure 13-15 hours easy...

The 6 volt golf cart batteries are the way to go when using this system, in my opinion, because of the number of charges they can take Good luck...

 

[Lousyweather]

Dont forget, youve got an intake damper on that XXV, so without an appreciable natural draft, it likely wont draft well....or at all. I'd say youd be ok, as long as theres no leakage of gaskets or pipe.

 

[save$]

Power went out during the snow storm. Had a fairly notable smoke smell, but not one of the smoke alarms went off like they sometimes do when we burn candles or my wife is cooking.
Have a 3.5 foot rise. Power was out all night. House was 64 degrees when we got up in the Am. Odor was gone. When the power came back on, we quickly heated right back to 76.
Just seeing that fire in the stove made me feel warmer right off. Hope the cost of pellets comes back down. Hate to think of burning oil because it is more affordable.

 

[ChandlerR]

I tried this soon after I got mine. No smoke in the house and no smell. Eased my mind a bit. Now I don't need the battery back up right away.

Chandler