when the electric goes out?

[lamina1982]

So not pellets but i have a keystoker 90 coal stove.
What do you guys run for battery backups to kick in instamtly so dont lose your fire?
I see couple companys make them but almost 700$..must be cheaper option.
Also for a generator do you use standard generator or a pure sine output generator to protect the electronics?
Thanks

 

[PelletFiend]

We took a hit and bought a Honda EU2000 generator. They aren't cheap. They weigh about 40 pounds meaning my wife can deploy it. With a 5 gallon marine fuel tank and a feed through gas cap on the generator, I can run it for days.

We also have a transfer switch on the house to power the main things, like fridge, pellet stove, and main area lights. Our pellet stove draws about 600 watts at startup and then anywhere from 150 - 400 watts running depending on fan speed. This would hold us over in the dead of winter, comfortably, but not exactly living in luxury…. we would not have hot water.

 

[TimfromMA]

I have an APC XS1500 wired to a pair of 90aH marine batteries.

 

[Wilbur Feral]

I have an APC XS1500 wired to a pair of 90aH marine batteries.

Also use an APC UPS, but a bit larger and hooked up to four 110AH marine batteries. Will run my two pellet stoves, FIOS system, router, switches, a media center PC and two refrigerators for about 12 - 14 hours, with enough left over to power a flat screen TV for about three hours. Allows me to turn off the generator overnight, saving on fuel and making it much quieter.

That's admittedly a bit more than most people need, so you might want to simply purchase an office-type UPS that you know will run with your generator, and plug your stove into that. A sine wave generator is expensive, and a UPS that will power your stove and work with the generator will likely be much less expensive.

 

[TimfromMA]

The problem I have is that my APC doesn't communicate with the stove so I had to be present and manually shut the stove down before the batteries got too depleted. Probably the easiest way to do this is to have sufficient battery power to run the stove out of pellets.

 

[TimfromMA]

Another problem is charging. My APC will charge the batteries but it will take several days to do so. Once either my generator is connected or line power is restored, I put the batteries on a proper deep cycle charger which only takes a few hours to recharge the batteries.

 

[Jdmurphy]

Another problem is charging. My APC will charge the batteries but it will take several days to do so. Once either my generator is connected or line power is restored, I put the batteries on a proper deep cycle charger which only takes a few hours to recharge the batteries.

I'm running a very similar setup with a modified APC and AGM batteries. I also have the same charging concern. Would you mind telling me the charger you are using? I've been trying to calculate how many amps are needed to recharge the batteries over X period of time.

 

[TimfromMA]

I'm running a very similar setup with a modified APC and AGM batteries. I also have the same charging concern. Would you mind telling me the charger you are using? I've been trying to calculate how many amps are needed to recharge the batteries over X period of time.

(broken image removed)

 

[tjnamtiw]

I have 6 6volt golf cart batteries in series/parallel to supply 12 volts to a 2000 watt pure sine wave Xantrex inverter fed by 6 145 watt solar cells in series to a Morningstar MPPT controller. I get about 100 to 120 volts DC at 7 amps on a sunny day to the controller which feeds up to 60 amps to the batteries. If needed, I can charge the batteries with my 5000 watt non-pure sine wave generator. 25 gallons of gas await the inevitable AHBL DAY (All Hell Breaks Loose) coming to a town near you.

 

[stmar]

There are a multitude of options, just depends on how complicated you want to get and how much $$ you want to spend. The one thing I would suggest is to get a good quality inverter generator, I have the Honda EU2000 for similar reasons as PelletFiend: easy to handle (less than 50#), clean power, economical (10 hrs per gallon) and dependable when you need it to start (it's a Honda). Worth the money in my opinion.

 

[SKOAL MAN]

I got this bad boy at harbor freight on sale to $30! Power seldom goes out for more than an hour so it runs off the battery out of my boat. If the power goes out for more than that I can just hook it up to the car!

 

[Tonyray]

We Have 10 circuit Interchangeable[mix/match any combination] Transfer switch run via Generac 7500 watt Generator..
That said, I don't think it's a good idea[ fro us anyways] to run the delicate circuitry of our Harman with the Fluctuating power from a Standard Generator.
Easier just to run the Oil Furnace in the event of an outtage along with all the other 9 circuits we need thru the Genny..

 

[Mr. Spock]

I have 6 6volt golf cart batteries in series/parallel to supply 12 volts to a 2000 watt pure sine wave Xantrex inverter fed by 6 145 watt solar cells in series to a Morningstar MPPT controller. I get about 100 to 120 volts DC at 7 amps on a sunny day to the controller which feeds up to 60 amps to the batteries. If needed, I can charge the batteries with my 5000 watt non-pure sine wave generator. 25 gallons of gas await the inevitable AHBL DAY (All Hell Breaks Loose) coming to a town near you.

So you did get your solar up and running. We talked about it a last year if memory serves. Are you getting the harvest you expected?

 

[SKOAL MAN]

We Have 10 circuit Interchangeable[mix/match any combination] Transfer switch run via Generac 7500 watt Generator..
That said, I don't think it's a good idea[ fro us anyways] to run the delicate circuitry of our Harman with the Fluctuating power from a Standard Generator.
Easier just to run the Oil Furnace in the event of an outtage along with all the other 9 circuits we need thru the Genny..

If its behind your surge protector, what does it matter?

 

[moey]

Sometimes the easiest solution is to install a transfer switch and run your central heating system for whatever time your power is out. Often the most cost effective as well.

That said our pellet stove is backup in case we lose power our central heating system draws to many amps on startup probably over 100amps instantaneous draw from the geothermal heat pump. I have a standard generator and a inverter generator both of which can be hooked up to the transfer switch. If we lost power for a long duration in the winter I would run the inverter and the one circuit for pellet stove and one for the refrigerator with the inverter. Until my wife complained there was no hot water then Id probably go hide.

 

[TimfromMA]

I like the idea that I can switch off the noisy generator at night and still keep warm.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Yep, it's been up and running about 1 1/2 years now. No problems. It runs a chest freezer and a chest freezer converted to a refrig. I know I could, instead, run the stoves plus a fridge no problem in an emergency plus some lights although I have plenty of kerosene lanterns and kerosene. I did it first because I love to tinker but really to be ready when the ISIS loving crowd that's infiltrated our borders wipe out the grid. All the gas operated generators in the world won't be worth crap after that happens. I can at least keep the freezer full of venison and the fridge full of veggies and fresh meat/sausage/cheese.

 

[Wilbur Feral]

To recharge, 12V chargers capable of servicing Marine or AGM batteries with 10+ amp output can be had now for under $50 (found mine at Walmart). I use those and the gas generator on transfer switch to keep the 110AH marine batteries recharged. Takes the better part of a day to recharge so I have one for each battery. But works well and got us through almost a week without power last year, with the generator off all night.

 

[TimfromMA]

My charger is actually designed for a 24V system so it has 2 load connections plus a ground.