Pellet stoves are one of the best space heaters available: they are efficient, cheap to run and they provide that comforting radiant heat. But they do have one downside: when the power goes out, your pellet stove stops operating. For this reason, you will want to seriously consider installing battery backup for your pellet stove.
Not only does an electricity failure mean you will have no heating source, but it can also result in your house filling with smoke! This is due to the fact that everything in the pellet stove runs on electricity, from the pellet feeding system to the venting fan.
So what can you do about this?
Luckily there are a few different methods you can use to provide backup power for your pellet stove. Some of the options are quite cheap, while other methods are more costly – but also provide backup power for a much longer period of time.
Battery Backup For Pellet Stoves
Pellet Stove Battery Backup System
A new product just released in 2022 is the pellet stove battery backup system model 933 manufactured by SEC America Corp.
It offers continuous power to the pellet stove, even when there is a power failure.
This is a purpose designed solution, and is also probably the simplest method.
How Does It Work?
The 933 Pellet stove battery backup system is basically an inverter system. It takes 12 volts and converts it to 120v.
- The model 933 plugs directly into the power outlet
- the pellet stove plugs into the model 933.
- A deep cycle battery (not supplied with the 933) is connected to the model 933
The pellet stove backup system keeps the battery charged, and when a power outage occurs – it uses the battery to keep the supply connected to your pellet stove – meaning there is no downtime at all.
Depending on the size of the battery you choose and the type of pellet stove you own, the system may be able to run for up up to 20 hours!
The SEC America Corp Model 933 is available on Amazon here.
Power Inverter and Batteries
The second option for battery backup for your pellet stove is the cheapest (although not the simplest, especially when compared to the Model 933 battery backup system): using a power inverter and batteries.
How does this work?
A power inverter is an electronic device that converts low voltage (12 volts DC) to a higher mains voltage (120V AC in the USA).
So in even simpler terms, this is pulling 12 volts from batteries and converting it into mains voltage for your pellet stove to run on. See the image below for a visual guide.
Now there are a few important points to note before rushing out to buy an inverter and batteries:
- The inverter must be a “pure sine wave” inverter and not a “modified sine wave” inverter. See this article for the differences and the reason why.
- Choose an inverter that is at least 1000w
- The batteries must be “deep cycle” batteries.
So keep this in mind when shopping for your parts.
Example Pellet Stove Battery Back Up System
See the image below for a sample setup you can try.
This setup uses the following parts:
And you will also likely need a deep cycle battery charger, which can be obtained fairly cheaply here.
How does this pellet stove battery backup work?
When the power goes out:
- Get out your power inverter and charged battery
- Connect the battery output to the input on the inverter (make sure you have the correct polarity)
- Plug the pellet stove into the power output of the inverter
- Your pellet stove should operate as normal for up to 6 hours on the lower heat settings
Of course, the main downside to this system is that the inverter backup system is not always connected and you need to have your batteries kept charged just in case of a power outage.
Longer Battery Life
The set up mentioned above lasts for up to 6 hours.
There are two ways you can extend the amount of time your batteries keep your pellet heater running for:
- Connect more batteries
- Use batteries with a larger AH rating
You can extend this by hooking up multiple batteries in parallel (not in series).
You can see an example of series and parallel connections at this site.
Of course the more batteries you use, the more you have to keep charged!
Pellet Stove Battery Back Up Calculator
Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)
The simplest method to provide backup power to your pellet stove is to use an uninterruptable power supply (herein referred to as a UPS).
How does this work?
A UPS is an all-in-one device that contains batteries, a charger, and the electronics required to convert low voltage to mains voltage.
To use a UPS with your pellet stove you plug your pellet stove in directly to the UPS, which is in turn connected to mains power.
Because UPS’ are generally made to be small and compact, they usually won’t keep your pellet stove going for more than an hour. So it is recommended that they are used only to safely shutdown your pellet stove or while you start up the generator.
Here are our recommendations of UPS’ that work well with pellet stoves:
- APC BR1000MS 1000VA UPS
- CyberPower R1500LCDRTXL2U 1500VA UPS – this is a larger UPS so will last for longer periods without power
Generator Backup
And now for the most obvious way to provide backup power to your pellet stove during a power outage – a generator.
Buying a generator really is a case of choosing one to suit your specific needs. Which generator you need depends on numerous factors such as how many items you want to keep powered, what type of items they are and for how long you need to power them.
Amazon does have a good range of portable generators, but I really suggest you do your research before purchasing one.
I just got a Bluetti EB3A for $239.
I just ran 2 tests on my Englander stoves and worked great with pretty much identical results. We typically get regular short disruptions usually only a few minutes or sometimes several hours, so this covers most situations at a relatively reasonable price.
The EB3A has a 268wh LIFEPO4 battery and ran my stove for 2:28 pulling .216kwh for an efficiency of 81%. I was running my stoves backed down so the fan was only on 1 and feed rate at 2, pulling about 86v, as it’s not very cold.
Ideally I want to get a unit that will run a minimum of 8 hours, most likely 1000wh unit but the run around $1000.
Plus is I only need these for 5-6 months for the stoves but will have plenty of uses during off-season.
I have a 100ah lithium LiFepo4 12v battery and 1000w pure sinewave inverter. My Heatilator pellet stove runs for 19 hours.
Hi there, wondering if you can give some advice – we are going to build a log cabin and our property is off grid. We are planning for a one floor plan. Our power source is: battery, generator, solar and propane. The cabin is not accessible in the winter but still can get cold at night in May, August – October. We are trying to determine what is best for us: wood burning, pellet or propane. Our neighbours have wood burning and another plans on having propane. The unit we decide on will not be installed by a professional or there will not be professional cleaning. We will be doing this. Unfortunately, very difficult to have any trades to visit that far. Putting cost aside, and we need to also think about insurance – is there any information or feedback you can supply?
Hi Charlene, since you are off grid totally I probably wouldnt rely on a pellet stove. Personally I would think that wood burning is the best option.
I am 89.45% sure you can open the battery compartment of the UPS, attach some black and red #12 or larger wires to the existing battery terminals (nottrivial) and connect them to external big 12 deep cell car-sized batteries.
I would suppose at some point you’d exceed the duty cycle of the UPS and it would get hot and fail, but maybe not, maybe a UPS good for an hour could be extended to 8 hours with external batteries.
I use a the first method you shared — a deep cycle battery and a power converter. But needing to be hooked up manually for each use, this doesn’t take away the risk of consequences from the undesirable midnight outage.
Would it work to always keep the stove powered by the inverter, hence always running off the battery power, while simultaneously recharging the battery? Akin to the electrical systems in my truck being powered by a battery that is under constant charge from the alternator, is it possible to create a similar system for my stove to be powered by a battery under constant charge from the house current?
At best, I have layman’s knowledge of electrical systems so replies using less technical terminology are most appreciated.
As long as it can provide constant power, then yes – it would work.
If your main concern is the smoke problem, why can’t you and how would you just have the exhaust blower set up to come on when a outage occurs. Rest of stove is off and not needed, blower only needed maybe an hour and I do suppose the exchanger blower may need to run to cool off the stove.
Shawn,
I have installed a regular UPS. I also installed a fire alarm UL listed relay. One side of the relay was connected to 120 volt wall outlet not the ups output. The other side of the relay was cut into the the thermostat wire( one side only).
So, what will happen is, the stove will run on the ups all the time. If the power goes out the relay will open the thermostat wires. This with tell the stove that temp has been obtained and shut the stove off. My stove runs for 20 mins on shut down. My ups should run from 35 to 45 mins. Saves the smoke build up.
Also I tried to run my stove off a generator and it just threw errors. The generator power is not clean. If you run the generator into the UPS and then the stove the power will be clean enough to run the stove.
That’s a great idea John! I would love to see some pics and talk to you about posting the ideas in the article itself! Ill end you an email to touch base and discuss there.
I was talking with a Rep at APC and he told me that they have upgraded the unit you have listed (APC BR1000G 1000VA UPS) to an APC BR1000MS, which should work better. $145.00 and $12.00 shipping
Thanks for the info Kathleen, I have updated the model we recommend!
Did the APC BR1000MS rep tell you battery size will make no difference in your runtime? 100 amp hour or original 7.5 amp hour. you only get what they list on the load/runtime chart they show in manual.
Is there any kind of switch that can be used with a pure sine wave setup that will act like a UPS?
In other words one that is always plugged in and will automatically switch on in the event of a power outage.
Last year the power went out in the middle of the night while I was sleeping and smoked backed up into the house. I was actually fortunate to wake, because the room I was sleeping in was thick with smoke. Literally couldn’t see across the room.
A UPS won’t keep the power on long enough, should the power go off, say an hour after falling asleep. I’d like to be able to feel secure going to sleep with the stove going.
Hi Shawn, apart from a generator that automatically kicks on on a power outage, your best bet might be to get a larger UPS – but of course that increases the cost. Alternatively you could try modding the UPS to add additional battery storage. There is a bit of a guide here. But want to be very careful.
UPS with the relay switching when it loses power sounds like the way to go.