What keeps your pellet stove going during a power outage?

[Darryl]

You are prepared well done!

I'd say so, LOL!
I have a 7,500 watt Honeywell that runs my entire house, well pump, fridge, lights and tv, pellet stove, you get the idea. Next to the pellet stove, it's one of the best things I've ever bought!

 

[imacman]

Whole house 12kw Generac.

 

[MikeinRI]

I think a point all the later model Harmen owners must realize is tha the APC or Triplite model they suggest (750's) will not run the stove at all but instead puts in a special shut down mode.

 

[JohnRXL]

I like the idea of the generator but I think ill keep it to something a little more compact for now.

 

[DneprDave]

You are prepared well done!

That and a 1400 gallon a day reverse osmosis freshwater system, has my wife accusing me of trying to make our house into a ship!

No, I don't run the R.O. plant every day!

Dave

 

[P38X2]

I use whatever the Superdome doesn't use

 

[MikeinRI]

 

[rwthomas1]

You do not need a huge generator to run the house IF you are careful with how you use power. I setup my inlaws and my mother with two Honda EU2000i's each running in parallel, for a peak of 4Kw and 3.2Kw continuous. Yes, they don't run ANY of the 220volt loads, but who cares? Neither has a "critical" device. The gennys run lights, fridges, TV's, boilers, etc. no sweat. Both houses have oil heat with domestic hot water tied to boiler. The gennys are setup with extended run tanks so I can refuel every 48 hours or so. My own house will run on ONE EU2000i. Yes, thats only 2Kw peak and 1.6Kw continuous. No hot water heater or 220v obviously, but fridge, tv, pellet stove, lights, etc. Just don't turn it all on at once and the entire house has CFL bulbs. Works for me. Have a 250 gallon fuel trailer that is filled before any major storm. Enough to run my little EU2000i for months.

Pellet stove has a dedicated UPS that will carry it for one hour plus if needed. RT

 

[tjnamtiw]

I have a gas generator and am looking into something that is not dependent on gas or propane. Thinking and planning some solar panels, some deep cell batteries and an inverter for a more lengthy solution to a major grid failure. Gas is only good if it is fresh and the gas station has electricity for its pumps. Storing solution for a large quantity of gasoline is not an option. Grid goes down for months during the winter, you're screwed.

Anyone have a small solar array with some deep cell batteries as I have described?

Just put mine on line today! 6 deep cycle batteries, 8 panels of 145 watts each in series sending 115 volts DC to a MPPT Morningstar charge controller rated for 60 amps. It will run the stove no problem as long as I don't use the igniter. Pure sine wave inverter too. 35% back from the state and 30% from the Feds.

NOTE: Not as good or as professional as jtakeman, but good enough for a beginning. Another set of cells and batteries next year?? Morningstar can handle it. Not sure the wife can!

 

[N.E S4]

Honda EU6500. Soon solar will replace the generator.

 

[Mike D]

6.5kw generator bought last summer when everyone else was having fun in the sun and not remembering what Irene brought in Sept 2011. Came in handy this past fall (fridge, freezer, pellet stove, tv, etc.)

 

[rwthomas1]

Every time I price a solar system I can't make the numbers work. Too much money for too little output. A Honda EU2000i will set you back about $1K and it will run the basics in your house for 2 gallons of gas a day. The cost of the solar will buy a lot of gas.
RT

 

[nate379]

I run my whole house on a $100 1980s 4kw Generac gen set. Sure it probably wouldn't handle every light on along with the TV, fridge, boiler, washing machine, dishwasher.. (you get the idea), but it does just fine for normal electric needs... and the 8hp motor isn't too hard on fuel either.

You do not need a huge generator to run the house IF you are careful with how you use power. I setup my inlaws and my mother with two Honda EU2000i's each running in parallel, for a peak of 4Kw and 3.2Kw continuous. Yes, they don't run ANY of the 220volt loads, but who cares? Neither has a "critical" device.

 

[nate379]

Exactly, not to mention the very finite life span of the batteries, which means the system has a fairly high maintenance cost. Just a 1/2 dozen batteries will cost around the same as a Honda 2k gen set.... pretty sure that gen set will last longer than 6-7 years if it's just used during power outages.

The battery bank solar setups are well worth it if you live in an area with no grid power and rely on generator power though... burning even just 5 gallons of fuel a day is very expensive over a year... figure in the area of $6-7k a year!

If a person was that worried about not having power, a pellet stove isn't exactly a smart choice, you'd be setup with a source of heat that needs no power to use. Keep a cord or two of firewood on hand along with a decent wood stove and don't have to worry about keeping the house warm when there isn't any power.

Every time I price a solar system I can't make the numbers work. Too much money for too little output. A Honda EU2000i will set you back about $1K and it will run the basics in your house for 2 gallons of gas a day. The cost of the solar will buy a lot of gas.
RT

 

[N.E S4]

Every time I price a solar system I can't make the numbers work. Too much money for too little output. A Honda EU2000i will set you back about $1K and it will run the basics in your house for 2 gallons of gas a day. The cost of the solar will buy a lot of gas.
RT

I like the convenience of the solar system. I've done some search, if you do it yourself the price is not too bad. It's about the price of my Honda Generator. I can use it year round I plan to power half of my house with solar. Especially in the summer time for the AC.

 

[briansol]

I use a simple ups (1500 cyber power... lasts about an hour without ignitor). 750's wouldn't run mine either. for a few bucks more, just get the big one.

any more than that, it's something serious... and if necessary, i'll un-install my stove and burn wood raw in the fire place.

or, just shut the water off, and take a vacation somewhere and come back in a few days :D

 

[TheMightyMoe]

A good inverter, 1 or more deep cycle batteries or hook the inverter up to the vehicle. Cars can idle fine for hours if needed.

What specific inverter do you use?

 

[exoilburner]

1. My Oil Furnace & Pellet Furnace are fed by UPS output thru a power transfer switch. (power to one furnace only)
2. UPS fed by Generator isolation switch box.
3. Isolation switch fed by generator and furnace circuit breaker in breaker box.

Utility power failure causes UPS to automatically switch to it's internal battery power and keeps the pellet furnace going for about 45 mins while I start the generator. When the generator is switched on the UPS automatically switches back off it's internal battery power to generator power (and recharges). An added benefit is the UPS cleans up surges, sags and a lot of the winter interference in utility power when it doesn't go completely out. In 5 years have never had an electical or electronic component fail.

 

[Harvey Schneider]

My Mt Vernon AE runs from a 12V battery directly.

 

[save$]

my back up is a k 1 heater. Used that for a week when we had the ice storm in '98. I buy fresh k-1 in the fall each year. Small cost compared to other options. Haven't lost our power for more than a day since that ice storm. Could go to the travel trailer and turn on the propane furnace, but never has gone to that point.

 

[DonD]

I have a regular (non-sine wave) 1100 watt inverter that I run off the car battery when we have a power failure. This keeps the phones charged and the fish tank filters running. I always planned to run the pellet stove off it too if I lost power when it was cold, but have not had to yet. With the upcoming storm I'll probably try it before the storm hits.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NIG2FG/ref=wms_ohs_product

What is the consensus on running a pellet stove off a modified sine wave inverter?

Long term plan is a battery bank, sine wave inverter, battery charger and propane generator to keep the batteries charged to keep a few essentials (water pump, pellet stove, fridge) running.

 

[briansol]

it could be dnagerous... it might not be. it really depends on your stove. i'd at least try to run it through a ups/etc that 'cleans up' the input wave if you can.

basically if you can HEAR a difference in your stove, you shouldn't use it.

 

[DneprDave]

If you get a generator with a huge flywheel, it's gonna have a clean sine wave, it can't help it.

Dave

 

[ivanhoe]

i had bought a UPS Noma battery pack which worked for a couple of years then died. so i built my own system consisting a IOTA 30A switch panel,TBS 600w puresinewave low frequency inverter, 4stage Cotek charger and two 6volt Trogan batteries in series. cost me close to $1k but i have a long lasting quality back-up. 5000w generator when i'm home for the rest of the house which will be connected with a switching unit in the future.

 

[rwthomas1]

I'm very well versed in marine electrical systems, I've owned a cruising sailboat for years. Solar is not cheap. Period. A sailboat, correctly setup with solar, will keep the batteries charged and run the refrigeration. Its a good corollary to a house but the problem is many houses have electrical demands that way, way exceed the capacity of solar systems. The last grid-tie solar system I saw, on a friends house was a 7Kw roof array, with inverter, etc. that back-fed the grid and he got paid when pumping juice back to the utility. Two problems, the system retailed for $40,000 of which state and fed tax incentives paid 3/4 of it AND the utility paid him 25cents on the dollar for the juice he sold them. To add a battery bank to that system to make it a true "off-grid" system would have been expensive. If a sailboat needs 3-400Ah in capacity then a house will require at least twice and likely four times that. That is $2K in batteries.

All this said, I've seen good off-grid systems of moderate capacity done for $15K, with backup genset. Still pricey. A $1K Honda EU2000i, as long as you don't have a sump pump, well pump or need other heavy 220v loads, is all you need.

RT