I have pellet stoves in my home. We are expecting an ice storm over the next few days. If it actually happens to the degree that the news weathermen say, we might lose power for a while.
Question is can you burn the pellet stove without electricity? I know it's possible, but how difficult is it to keep it going? Seems like I'll have to constantly feed it wood pellets.
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Eric, Sorry I didn't see this earlier. You have either answered your question, frozen, or made alternate arrangements by now.
Some pellet stoves are electric ignition and all that I know of have motor driven augers. It would be a real constant hassle to have to hand feed a pellet stove because you can't "load it up" and have it run unattended for a good while. I suppose a hamster exeercise wheel could be geared down to run the auger and the hamster trained that when it got cold to run and get warm. Calibrating the hamster might be a challenge.
A tad late now but I suggest you explore the alternatives available to you for a second (backup) source of heat that is not dependent on commercial power. You can run a generator to run the electric part of a stove/furnace but a non-commercial utility dependent heat source is a very good thing for outages. I have a gas log fireplace that is rarely used for anything but a decoratioin but it heats nicely and uses no power from the grid. I have a parlor stove in the sitting rooom, sun porch, and basement. The parlor stoves are DIRECT VENT propane gas logs in a small but very heavy cast iron stove. They have piezo-electric (manual clicker) ignition and can be operated manually with on/off switch or by a milivolt type thermostat.
Although our ovens are electric the stove top is 5 gas burners with electric ignition but you can light the burners with a match.
It is a good idea in any area where power outages are a definite probablility to have a backup heating method that is safe and relatively convenient for a few days. Our area was out of power in 2000 for 3 days. A few miles from here they were out for up to 3 weeks.
Gewt used to the idea that there will be ice storms that threaten power This is not typically an every year thing but it is rare to go too many years without one.
Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
Pat-
Luckily, we've survived so far and have not lost power. We're in the middle of our third and final wave of precip. We've been real lucky here and have gotten lots of sleet and no freezing rain. Thus, no power outages like they are getting south and east of us. Wow, what a mess. Ice is some awful stuff to mess with, but sure makes for some good sledding. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
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Eric, Take this as a warning shot over your bow, a suprise inspection and readiness drill. Consider all the ramifications that you would be dealing with RIGHT NOW if you were out of power and do what you have to so so that next time (AND THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME) yoiu will be warm and safe.
My total EXTRA preperation was to get a couple jerry cans filled with gas for the generator for just in case. After the CRISIS passes I'll use the gas in my beater. Oh, and I put oput an extra bale for the stock in case it was nasty and I was too lazy to drive my heated cab Kubota a 1/2 mile round trip.
Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
You might be able to run the stove on a battery and inverter.
Egon
Egon, That is a very good suggestion IF the stove doesn't have electric start. It doesn't take all that much power to run the thermostatic controlled auger (if equipped) and or the blower that fans the flame but the electric start is a fair load and will up the requirement for the inverter.
An inverter would be a much nicer (and safer and quieter) solution for overnight unattended operation.
Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
Pat-
Point taken. I'll do some generator shopping after this frenzy is over.
I drove from home (Sapulpa) to Wewoka today. Highways were great, side roads were hell. I'm heading down to Idabel tomarrow, then to Lindsay from there. Looks like I'll be adding some travel time to those trips.
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Eric, If you are willing to take the small gamble that since you dodged the bullet this time that the rest of the action the next few weeks will not be a calamity then you will probably stand a better chance finding a selection of generators after the crisis passes and everyone is back on their grid tie.
Some oportunists run out and buy generators and sell them out of the back of their pickup at huge markups in disaster areas not unlike the sleaze who were charging older folks tremendous prices for removing downed limbs so they could use their driveways or whatever. It was shameful what some of these predators were charging the elderly who had no real alternative easily available to them.
Anyway, you will likely find a better selection after stores get a chance to restock. Generators are suce a comodity that I advocate saving $ and shopping the net vs the big discounters like Sam's Club. Beware, there is a growing tendency on the part of the big boxes to have name brands made just for them. For example you may find a Troy Built or Husky mower model at Home depot or Wal-Mart that you can't find anywhere else so you can't comparison shop so easily. I recently bought three microwave ovens at Wal-Mart and found some of their models were made exclusively for them so direct comparison shopping was impossible. Luckily, microwaves, like generators, are not so difficult to compare feature wise that not being able to compare the exact same model number at more than one store is no big deal.
Wewoka is where the brick factory is that made the brick for our new house. The dealer told me that one of the biggest portions of the cost of brick was the trucking so I was lucky the brick I wanted was made so close. It turned out to be nearly the cheapest I couild get but was absolutely our first choice and is very nice. Have you found anywhere in Wewoka better for lunch than the pizza place? They have Sunday buffet specials that include bottomless drinks but I have never been there during the week.
When we lived in Lindsay we were on Creek street (indian tribe name not flowing water) which runs between the grade school and highschool. Our house was 2 1/2 blocks from the high school and 3 1/2 blocks from the police station on main street. I used to work in one of the Rexall Drug stores mopping floors and emptying trash.
The neighborhood through which the streets named for the 5 civilized tribes runs had an interesting cost cutting measure in flood control, the dips at the end of each block instead of culverts. I used to ride my bike way faster than folks could drive because I wouldn't bottom out if I went through the dips at speed like a car would. I atteneded there while they were building the band building but before the current high school classroom building was built. I went in the "OLD" building, 2 story brick.
One year it flooded so bad that the Washita river was out of its banks and flooded the north side of the river west of town clear up to the highway. Folks were running ski boats within yds of the highway.
So far we have only had one outage here that I noticed. It was about 1 1/2 seconds. about 6 yrs ago this area was down for 3 days while folks off the main line were out for weeks.
Do some requirements analysis on your needs for a generator. Will it only be for emergency power? Will you want to run a welder out of your truck? Do you want automatic like Gary has (threads here on that) Is unattended operation an issue? Is the hoiuse left empty for more than one or two nights? Do you have a freezer full of expensive meat? How long woiuld it be safe with no power? We haven't been away for more than two nights at a time so I haven't felt compelled to go automatic yet but I may. If I get another generator it will be bigger than my current 5000 Watt continuous unit so I can use it to run an air compressor and the plasma at the same time for field work. As it will then double for the emergency power source I will try to get an electric start model (preferably with recoil backup) so my wife can start it easily and it could be automated.
That is another consideration. Will your wife be able to start the back up generator if you are gone when the need comes up? Will you want to put in a transfer switch (manual is fine, especially if the generator isn't automatic and requires human intervention.)
It isn't Kosher (code?) but some folks just switch off the main breaker and run a "suicide" cord from the generator outlet to a house outlet. Actually for a decent sized generator you need at least two suicide cords and maybe more. For the uninitiated... a suicide cord has a male plug on both ends. If you plug one end into a power source the other end can electrocute you. If you plug in the "load" side first, it isn't so bad.
Here is the drill:
1. Turn off your main breaker so you don't backfeed the utility and electrocute a repairman
2. Turn off all breakers for cuircuits not to be supported by emergency power, leaving on the circuits of interest such as freezers and refrigerators and TV. Unplug unneccessary loads onj the circuits to be left on.
3. Mark the breakers for the suicide cords but leave turned off till after the generator is fired up. If able plug the suicide cords into circuits you were going to leave on such as the frige, freezer, or TV or ... plug the suicide cord(s) into outlet(s) on at least 20 amp circuits (if using two cords then use outlets on different breakers)
4. Start the generator and warm it up a bit and then switch the breakers on that have the suicide cords plugged into them.
The breakers for the suicide cord circuits will "backfeed" the entire breaker box so any breaker that is turned on will distribute power.
DOUBLE CHECK THAT THE MAIN BREAKER IS OFF so you don't hurt a lineman.
Youhave power until the generator runs out of gas or the low oil sutoff kills it or ...
You don't have to run the generator continuously to keep a freezer or refrigerator pretty safe. A few hours twice a day helps a lot and can coincide with other activities like fixing meals or watching TV in the evening.
Irrespective of what sort of generator installation you want, you should have a clear, concise, and easy to understand under stress set of instructions on how to switch to emergency power and back to the grid after power is restored. Preferably this will be in large easy to read in reduced illumination type size and style and in a laminated format that will take some abuse. Of course with an automated system, when it works, you just have to be aware that not all circuits may be powered up and that heavy users like an electric dryer may not be "on" emergency power.
I have a generator in my pickup camper that runs on propane and starts and stops at the touch of the remote button. I have considered that for a long term outage I could park the camper next to the garage and plug into the camper. I could add a "T" fitting so I could supply its propane fuel from my set of 2 each 1000 gal tanks and not worry about running the little bottles dry. That genny is a bit low in output but would handle the friges and freezer. In the camper it can do a roof air conditioner or the microwave but not both at the same time due to starting surges. It does about 20 amps or so.
Pat
[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
"I'm not from your planet, monkey boy!"
My brother works for Cummins in OKC. As employees, they got an opportunity to purchase an Onan generator priced to the public for $1,200 for $415. He's gonna buy me one. They come in next week. I believe it is a 5000 watt. At that price, I'll take it. It also runs on gas, which I figured it would run on diesel, being a Cummins product.
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Onan has made both gasoline and diesel powered generators for many years. In 1973, I had a little 2.5 kw single cylinder gasoline powered Onan in my little Winnebago motorhome, and in 1992, I had a 7 kw twin cylinder gasoline powered Onan in my big Bounder motorhome. But I was also commander of police communications when Dallas built the new (current) city hall and we had two monstrous diesel generators for backup power. I've forgotten just what size they were, but they were the first ones I'd seen that had water cooled mufflers, and we had ear muffs (ear protection) hanging on the wal just outside the room they were in because you didn't even want to open the door to that room if they were running without ear protection.
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