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Battery Station for Pellet Stove

Discussion in 'Pellet Stoves, Pellet Fireplaces, Pellet Furnaces' started by IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022.

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  1. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    I have a UPS that will run my stove for about 90min. Allows for me to shut it down or get the genny running assuming I am home.
    Been thinking about getting one of those pure sine battery packs/solar generators that could run it through the night so I could avoid having my genny out in the open.
    Stove uses about 600watts over 8 hours so I would get one about that size.
    Any thoughts, experiences with these?
     
    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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  2. corncob

    corncob

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    Interestingly, I too hate (dislike) propane but it's cheaper than pellets presently.
     
    corncob, Dec 30, 2022
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  3. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    $4.29 a gallon here...
     
    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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  4. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    Which ups do you have?

    I bought an expandable unit where there is an option to add batteries on the back by a quick connect. I have plans to add a 24v battery bank and a solar charger with solar panels. I hate running my generator over night. Harbor frieght has solar battery controller/chargers and the solar panels.

    I'd luv to go off grid and put a chit load of solar panels in my field. Plus wind in case no sun. Run the hole shack and giv the everchit the middle deal. :D
     
    jtakeman, Dec 30, 2022
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  5. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    Don't think it's expandable. Thought about going the battery and inverter and charger or solar panel route. Thing is if I am not home my wife would never figure out the batter to inverter part...
     

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    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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  6. wildwest

    wildwest Moderator

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    wildwest, Dec 30, 2022
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  7. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    Thats why I opted for the UPS to be my invertor. It will do the cycle to battery automatically

    It may be possible to use the UPS as the invertor by adding a quick disconnect to the UPS. I've seen others add more battery capacity to the non expandable ups units. Higher mah capacity to be more specific.
     
    jtakeman, Dec 30, 2022
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  8. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    Sounds outside my skill set...
     
    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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  9. jtakeman

    jtakeman Moderator

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    Basically from what I've seen is they remove the internal battery and add quick connects to the red/black terminals. Poke a hole in the back or the box(add a grommet) and pass the wires through. Add an external battery pack is about all it is.

    Or go look on ebay for an expandable unit. I bought a new old stock unit cheap for my puter/tv. I had to replace the batteries as they were out dated. But the unit was brand new. I also bought one for the fish tank as well. That is the only one we bought the expanded battery for.
     
    jtakeman, Dec 30, 2022
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  10. corncob

    corncob

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    I pre bought an extra 500 gallons at $1.69 per so I'll run that out and switch back to corn and pellets. Have 4 ton of them in the barn from last year as well as 4 ton of seed corn. The new plus 95 condensing furnace is very frugal.
     
    corncob, Dec 30, 2022
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  11. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    That doesn't sound too bad actually.
     
    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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  12. CleanFire

    CleanFire

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    That may be a bit conservative IHP - UPS here also has 90 minute runtime, same UPS model: which means about 600w/hr.

    (calculated / batteries rated "1,000w", x .9 power factor / efficiency factor .. and .9 PF may be "generous", in the rating.).

    I would guess you will need 5k-6k of storage reserve: for an 8 hr. runtime.
     
    CleanFire, Dec 30, 2022
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  13. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    I ran mine with it hooked up to the kill a watt and it was at 0.610kwh after 8 hours.
    When it is running the ups shows 70-90 watts depending on auger turns.
    The UPS has two 9ah batteries so I figured another 600 watts or so would just cover it.
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2022
    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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  14. CleanFire

    CleanFire

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    Cool beans. FYI, .610 kwh * 8 hrs. of desired runtime = 4.88 kwh, or 4,880 watts of reserve needed: for an 8 hour runtime.
     
    CleanFire, Dec 30, 2022
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  15. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    0.610kwh is what it consumed over 8 hours.
     
    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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  16. CleanFire

    CleanFire

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    Correct. 610 watts, per hour. ( Need to multiply by the # of hours test was ran, to get the total watts consumed: during that period. )
     
    CleanFire, Dec 30, 2022
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  17. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    No, it wasn't per hour. It was for the total of 8 hours. Per hour the ups says about 80
     
    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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  18. CleanFire

    CleanFire

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    I'm sorry IHP, the #'s just don't add up, to me anyways. If the Kill-a-Watt meter showed .610 kwh, that is only -per hour- (and matches the estimated runtime capacity: of the PFC1500LCD unit).
     
    CleanFire, Dec 30, 2022
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  19. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    That is what it showed on the setting for usage over time. Used to calculate cost.

    Here are a couple pics...it's running a little high because I had to unplug the ups but you will see what I am saying.
     

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    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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  20. IHATEPROPANE

    IHATEPROPANE

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    It's been 12 minutes and has used 0.01kwh
     

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    IHATEPROPANE, Dec 30, 2022
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