We often don’t consider what we’ll do if something goes wrong because of today’s contemporary conveniences until it’s too late. Pellet stove owners must have a backup plan for operating their pellet stove during a power outage unless they have an alternate heat source, such as a wood-burning fireplace. This is especially true in rural places, where power outages can persist for hours or days.
Pellet stoves must have access to electricity in order to function. The stove will be unable to switch on or ignite without an alternate source of power. The most alarming scenario is losing power to your pellet stove while it is in use, as this can result in a dangerous puff-back, putting you, your home, and your things in jeopardy (learn more in our free downloadable eBook).
Having a battery backup system installed on your pellet stove is the most reliable way to keep using it during a power outage. When the power to your stove goes out, the battery backup automatically kicks in to keep your stove running. The device works by bridging the gap between your heating appliance and the AC wall outlet where it is plugged in. To learn more about how a pellet stove battery backup works, read the complete description.
Even if you have a good battery backup system, there are a few things to keep in mind when using your pellet stove during a power outage.
Your heating appliance will not run eternally with a battery backup. It is critical to precisely determine the amount of time your stove will run so that you can be prepared. The quantity of batteries you’re utilizing, the average currant draw, and other factors all effect operating time. Calculate how long your stove will run with a battery backup with our calculation tool.
Losing power to your pellet stove while it’s running can be dangerous. You can plan for appropriately shutting down the machine once you’ve determined how many hours of operation you can expect from your battery backup to avoid an unsafe situation.
If the power loss is projected to persist longer than your heat sources, make plans for alternative accommodations. All homeowners, especially during the winter months, should have an emergency backup plan that covers a variety of eventualities.
Another popular technique for powering a pellet stove during a power outage is to use a generator, but generators have their own set of drawbacks. For more details, see our generator vs. pellet stove battery backup comparison.
The most important thing is to have a pellet stove backup plan, regardless of which power source you use. Invest in a pellet stove backup system that provides reliability and peace of mind this winter to keep yourself, your home, and your family safe.
How much energy does a pellet stove consume on a daily basis?
The MagnuM Baby Countryside stove’s igniter requires 175 watts, and it takes three to five minutes to light wood pellets in a stove (it may take longer in some situations), with the igniter running for 10 minutes. The igniter costs 1.4 cents (.175kw x.08). If the igniter is turned on for ten minutes, it will only take ten minutes out of sixty in an hour, resulting in a lighting cycle cost of 1/6 x 1.4 cents =.233 cents. The use of the igniter on a Magnum Pellet stove will vary with individual usage, but if it went through a relight cycle twenty times in a day it would take .233 cents x 20 = 4.66 cents or less than a nickel a day (with wet or poor fuel it may take 2-3 cycles for the unit to light properly).
The Breakdown of How Electricity is Used in a MagnuM Pellet Stove
The fan motors, auger motor, and stirrer motor (if standard) all consume between 2.5 and 3.0 amps. Because voltage multiplied by amps equals watts, 110 volts multiplied by 2.75 amps equals 303 watts per hour of use. With a kilowatt costing $0.08 on average, the average electrical cost to run a stove is.303kw x.08 = 2.42 cents per hour. A stove would use about 58 cents per day if it ran for 24 hours (2.42 cents x 24 hours =58.176 cents). Many times, a stove is not needed or used 24 hours a day, therefore the actual cost is determined by the number of hours a stove is used by a homeownerfor example, if it is used 12 hours per day, the electrical cost is roughly 29 cents per day.
It’s worth noting that the fan on a Magnum stove’s heater exchanger does a fantastic job of pushing heat into the room and helping to circulate heat around a houseespecially in a lower level or basement where hot air rises throughout a structure. In addition to convection heat, Magnum Pellet burners produce radiant heat (like the intense heat of the sun). A maize stove provides better heat circulation than wood stoves or heating appliances without a blower (in many cases higher thermal efficiencies with a corn stove). A blower is required by a forced air furnace and various other forms of heating to move the hot air around a structure, and they consume as much as or more electricity than a corn stove. Although electric baseboard heat does not require a fan, the average electricity used to heat a given space will be substantially higher than with a corn stove.
Electricity Calculations
Note that meter fees and other charges from an electric company are not included in these estimates. The voltage will range from 110 to 120 volts, with a slightly higher electrical draw during startup. Visit or “Google” several websites or contact your electric utility for further information on appliance electrical usage.
How much does it cost each month to run a pellet stove?
Monthly Cost of Pellet Stove A pellet stove might cost anywhere from $1,040 to $3,090, yet it only costs $35 to $45 each month to run. A pellet stove is typically used in conjunction with a home’s existing heating system. Stoves, like fireplaces, work best for heating a single room.
Is it possible to plug in pellet stoves?
Pellet stoves will come with a standard plug that can be connected into any conventional electrical outlet in the home. A pellet stove should not be connected to an extension cable; instead, it should be connected directly to a wall outlet.
Is it true that a pellet stove is less expensive than electric heat?
Because it is less expensive than electric heat and produces no pollutants, a pellet burner is an excellent choice for heating a large home. Pellet stoves are significantly more energy efficient than wood-burning stoves, saving you money on your utility bills.
Pellet stoves come in a variety of styles, so you can pick one that is ideal for your home. Pellet stoves come in both freestanding and insert variants, allowing you to pick the one that best suits your needs.
A pellet stove is an excellent choice if you need a cost-effective solution to heat a large home. Pellet stoves are a terrific way to keep your home warm during the winter months. You can easily program these heaters to switch off when they reach the correct temperature, which can save you money on your monthly energy bill!
How many pellet bags do you burn every day?
A pellet stove can burn through a conventional 40lb bag of pellets every 24 hours based on the typical pellet burn rate of 1.67lbs.
How long do wood pellets last in a 20-pound bag?
Another option is to get pellets from a third-party vendor. On Amazon, CookingPellets is a popular pick. They charge $37 for 40-pound bags of their “perfect mix” wood pellet blend.
That works out to slightly more than $1 per pound in both cases. The pellets are burned at a rate of 1 to 3 pounds per hour in the smoker. According to Traeger, each 20-pound bag delivers 6 to 20 hours of cooking time (at high or low heat).
Let’s see how that compares to a 20-pound liquid propane tank. One 20-pound (4.7 gallon) tank costs roughly $24 where I live. This should provide roughly 7.2 hours of continuous grilling time on a basic two-burner grill (30,000 BTU) (high heat). The majority of grilling projects, on the other hand, are short and messy, taking about 30 minutes to finish. It’s not uncommon for me to go months without refilling my tank.
The strength of a smoker, on the other hand, is low-temperature slow cooking. Cooking sessions might last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. St. Louis cut pig ribs should be cooked for 8 hours, and beef brisket should be cooked for 12 to 15 hours. That’s a lot of fuel, as well as a lot of money.
How much does a 40-pound bag of pellets cost?
A pallet of pellets is made up of 50 40-pound bags (which equals one ton). The cost per pallet is $269, or $5.38 per 40-pound bag.
Is it possible to leave a pellet stove running overnight?
Modern pellet stoves will be controlled by a central control unit that collects data from a variety of sensors throughout the stove and analyzes and optimizes the fire for the most efficient burn.
A pellet stove accomplishes this by using an auger to regulate the rate at which pellets are fed to the fire, as well as a combustion blower to regulate airflow into and out of the stove.
As a result, a pellet stove will automatically supply heat via each fire, requiring no manual intervention.
The only thing we need to do to get our pellet stove to heat our living room automatically is to make sure that:
- The stove has been programmed to turn on automatically, and the required room temperature has been set.
Everything else will be taken care of by our pellet stove. We can admire the flames when the stove is on thanks to the glass panel on the front of the stove.
However, we may not always want to remain in our living room for the length of a fire, and instead choose to simply warm the space up for later enjoyment.
So, can we leave our pellet stove unattended while we go about our daily lives?
Although it may seem strange to leave a fire blazing in your home without your presence (as is typically necessary or highly encouraged with other types of fireplaces such as open wood burning fireplaces), leaving a pellet stove unattended can be acceptable and extremely safe.