Wood Furnace, No Power, Real Hot

[YCSTEVE]

This weekend I loaded my Hot Blast Model 1400 like I do everyday. I loaded the stove pretty full with oak and locust and didn't think a thing about it. Well about an hour later the power went off due to some ice and snow. It didn't take but a couple of minutes and this stove got real hot. I had the spin draft at one turn and this stove was really starting to cook so I dampened it down all the way immediately and it still got hotter than I would have liked it to.

This stove can run with no power as long as you don't fill it above the feed door and you don't open the spin draft more than one turn.

If I would not have been home this could have been a real problem. This stove is well seasoned and in a couple of minutes I could smell the paint starting to cook.

I just wanted to share this experience so if it happens to someone else they won't be surprised.

 

[timbrjackrussel]

Furnace power backup system

I had a similar experience with my Surefire wood furnace last March, ice storm and loss of power. All this happened at 2 AM just after I loaded it full of White Oak, and was getting ready to leave the house at 4AM. I scrambled to get the generator going. But what would of happened if I was't at home? I made up a automatic power transfer switch good for 30 Amps. at 120 V.A.C.. It is safe that it can't connect the load (the furnace) to the power grid and the standby source at the same time. I use six 8C6V floor scrubber deep discharge batteries in a series parallel connection to power a 1000 watt inverter at 12 volts to produce 120v.a.c. to run the furnace. It is just like a LARGE computer back up supply. The batteries should run it about 36 Hours!! I have a telephone dialer that calls my cell if the power to my house goes off. When I get home if the power is still off, I pull the starter cord on the generator, load in some more wood and head out to help my neighbors.

 

[hanko]

Didnt you ever think what might happen if you lost power. I cant believe that it wasnt mentioned in your owners manuel. You are one lucky dude fellow. run dont walk and get a generator. Now as to not being home when you lose power ther is a kit available that opens an intake at the bottom and when the temp in the plenum gets over 250 degrees a link melts and opens a large door to let the stove cool itself. check charmaster.com they make such a kit for there stoves. Im glad you didnt have a major melt down, this is not a good time of the year to have things like that happen

 

[laynes69]

We have had it happen during the night when we were sleeping. Its scary, but as long as you have clearances in the ducting it does help, but they for sure aren't made to operate without power. If you have it loaded light and the damper barely open you are okay. Its not fun. Sometimes these units are set up like a gravity furnace, where the heat will rise. Its incase something like that would happen. Luckily everyone was okay. If its super windy, or ice is falling I will load ours lightly if leaving for a while. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Ken05]

Wow! Thats some scary stuff! You would think the engineers would design the furnace to idle or shut down when the power is out and then you could manually op it and balance it out. But to have it cook up out of control when you need it the most just does not make any sense.
I am liking my old school set up more every minute.

 

[Wood Junkie]

Most manufacturers offer the heat dump option to help prevent meltdown during power outages. Charmaster is the only one I've seen that recommends it with the purchase. I don't understand why most of the others have it as an option,but don't say anything about it.These modern furnaces will definitely cook when the blowers aren't working. Tis one of the reasons why my wood stove will stay in on the main floor after the furnace is installed.

 

[hanko]

Most manufacturers offer the heat dump option to help prevent meltdown during power outages. Charmaster is the only one I've seen that recommends it with the purchase. I don't understand why most of the others have it as an option,but don't say anything about it.These modern furnaces will definitely cook when the blowers aren't working. Tis one of the reasons why my wood stove will stay in on the main floor after the furnace is installed.

I have the charmaster with the heat dump, and I wouldnt go away with the thing stoked.

 

[YCSTEVE]

timbrjackrussel, that's an awesome setup. I've thought about trying to wire a couple of deep cycle trolling motor batteries up and some kind of inverter. I'm going to mention your setup to my neighbor who is an electrician and have him translate all that for me. Maybe he can rig me up something similar.

hanko, when I bought the stove I read the owners manual. That's how I new how to operate it in case of a power outage. I will look at it again to see if there is any additional info.

The stove sets on a concrete floor in my basement. I have about 3ft to the duct work overhead. I have a water valve 3ft from the stove, a fire extinguisher, six smoke detectors in the house and a bucket of ash by the stove that I can throw on it if it get out of control. The part that's scary is that none of that is any good if no one is at home.

I guess if I want to be safe I will keep the spin draft at one turn and only load the stove to the bottom of the feed door if I'm not going to be where I can watch it.