Does anyone have a battery backup for power outages?

Hi friends!

It’s me again. I was just reading on Nextdoor, that someone up here by me lost power in the last snow storm while they were at work. When they came home, their house had filled with smoke, because their pellet stove hadn’t had a chance to cool down when the power shut off.

Someone recommended getting an automatic battery backup to assist with cool down in the event of a power outage. Does anyone know anything about these? Anyone have one? How does it work?

 

They are called a "UPS" UNINTERUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLY.
They transfer to the backup battery within a nano second.....

The UPS plugs into the wall and the stove plugs into the UPS.....

 

If you have at least 3 foot of vertical flue, smoke in the house would be extremely rare.

 

I have a UPS on each of my stoves. If a stove is running when the power goes out, it will gracefully shut down the stove by pulsing the exhaust fan (I guess that uses less power?). Harmans suggest specific UPS' that they have tested as working as described. Some people have actual battery backups on their stoves, hooked into a marine battery I think. But, I don't really know much about that.

 

I have a non sine wave, it's not one that harman has on their list but works as it should and shuts the stove down. A sine wave UPS will keep the stove running until the battery goes dead or power is restored or a generator is hooked up.

 

More popcorn content..

No UPS here. None needed. We have a 30KW diesel fired backup genny plumbed into the tractor diesel (500 gallon) bulk tank that assumes the ENTIRE load from the farm in 45 seconds after the utility drops out (45 seconds allows the engine and generator to stabilize). Has a trickle charger on the starting battery and a vacuum transfer switch and provides seamless power. Ours is 3 phase and single phase 110-220. I've had it at least 10 years and other than routine care, it's flawless. When utility is restored, it transfers back in 15 seconds.

I recommend a standby to everyone. Don't need one as large as we have but far as I'm concerned, it's the only way to go.

 

Thanks for the helpful advice. I just found Harman’s list of them and bought the Tripp Lite that they suggest.

 

Good to know! Thanks

 

Do you have a link to the list and one to the item you selected? I may get one for my Harman XXV.

 

Here ya go, buddy! It’s over 50$ off right now too! Harman recommends this exact model.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000FN8G0S?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image

 

Thanks. Do you have a link to the page that you referenced for the recommendation?

 

I can try to track it down. I found it last night. Here is a screen shot from the owner’s manual online. Check out the first bullet point from the top. Sorry it’s a crappy pic.

 

thanks. Just found it. Appreciate the info.
https://downloads.hearthnhome.com/installManuals/Addendums/HAR-0040U_BatteryBack-upOptions.pdf

 

That’s a good point. I wouldn’t think the smoke damage would be too severe. But with small kids in my house, I’d rather not take any chances. Plus I wouldn’t want to open any windows to air the house out in the event of an outage, and lose the heat I do have. If your burn pot is full when the power goes out, it could potentially smolder for a long time. But you’re right - the smoke created would most likely be more of an annoyance than anything.

 

Yeah. I agree. Seems weird. It was just a random person complaining on the Nextdoor app. I don’t actually know them. I should be more specific when I say “Nextdoor.” There is some chance “house full of smoke” may have been a bit of an exaggeration on their part.

 

Losing power is a great way to tell if your door gaskets are getting on the bad side. Smoke fills the chamber then goes out the method of least resistance. Sure, probably most of it will still go out the exhaust if you have a rise, but some will still go into the room. And it doesn't take much smoke to irritate, especially if you have family members with asthsma, CoPD or other issues.

Plus, having a UPS will smooth out any spikes or lags in the current, which from what I have read on the Interwebz, is better for the control board.

That is a pretty good price. I have the APS (which used to be recommended but they discontinued that model). Both are 6-7 years old and even back then they were around $80 on sale. Maybe I need to replace them - I know after a while the battery goes bad. Hmm, now you have me thinking, which isn't something I like to do at 3AM

 

You can get replacement batteries on 'Zon or fleaBay. Much cheaper than a whole new unit. 6-7 years is probably about right for replacement. Make sure you pull the actual battery out of the unit to get the correct replacement model#.