Do Pellet Stoves Need Electricity and Can You Operate Them During a Power Outage?
It burns wood yet eats batteries
Highlights
Pellet stoves need electricity to work, but you can use whole-house generators or battery backups to power them during a power outage.
Battery backup systems specially designed for pellet stoves range from $600 to $2,500.
Portable power stations and solar batteries are excellent ways to power your pellet stove (and entire home) during power outages.
Pellet stoves are a popular alternative to wood-burning stoves because of their sustainability. However, they have an important drawback: Pellet stoves need electricity to run. Even if you have an entire forest’s worth of wood pellets in your stove, the stove won’t operate if the power goes out. Before winter starts, you should have a backup plan for running your pellet stove. Here are your options for ensuring your pellet stove keeps going if you don’t have electricity.
How Pellet Stoves Use Electricity
Pellet stoves can make your entire home, or a specific area, toasty. They burn wood and are one of the cleanest and most efficient ways to heat your home through long and harsh winters. Operation is relatively simple: You pour wooden pellets into the stove's hopper and the fire keeps going until the pellets need to be reloaded.
So why do pellet stoves need electricity? Several important elements—like the fan and igniter—need electricity to start up. The igniter is responsible for actually starting, or igniting, the fire. It uses the most electricity of all the electric-powered elements in a pellet stove. The fan helps disperse warm air around your room, which is crucial for larger rooms and more efficient heating.
Pellet stoves can also use electricity to connect to digital thermostat systems to control heat throughout your home. You can even use a thermostat app to check when you need a pellet refill.
How Many Watts Does a Pellet Stove Use?
When a pellet stove ignites, it uses 400 to 500 watts of power, but the wattage usage decreases throughout the day. During normal operation, pellet stoves use about 100 watts of power. Knowing this wattage can help you determine how to prepare for power emergencies.
Because pellet stoves need electricity to function, a power outage will leave you out in the cold (literally) unless you have a backup power solution. The two main choices are to connect your pellet stove to a backup generator or a backup battery. Backup generators and batteries come in different capacities based on daily power usage and how long you expect power outages to last.
A local pellet stove company can help you determine which option would be best for you.
Operating a Pellet Stove With a Backup Generator
Whole-house backup generators are designed to keep your entire home up and running as usual if the power goes out. If you live in an area where harsh weather conditions, a shaky power supply, or other circumstances frequently cause extended outages, a whole-house generator can be a sound investment.
Installing a whole-house generator can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $8,700, depending on the size, fuel type, and other factors. Most homeowners pay $5,000 for a backup generator with professional installation. If your area isn't subject to frequent power outages, a whole-house generator may not make sense for your needs and budget.
Nevertheless, a whole-house generator is a solid option for keeping your pellet stove functional alongside everything else in your home.
Pellet Stoves With Battery Backup
If a whole-house backup system isn’t an option or doesn’t make sense for your home, pellet stoves can also be backed up with specially designed batteries.
Battery Backup Systems Designed for Pellet Stoves
Pellet stove manufacturers and third-party battery manufacturers make battery systems specifically designed for pellet stoves and other indoor appliances. These are often lithium inverters that need occasional recharging, just like the batteries in handheld devices, such as power drills. If you get a battery backup system, you should regularly inspect and recharge it so that you’re always prepared.
Battery backup systems range in cost from $600 to $2,500 depending on the manufacturer and capacity. They can keep your pellet stove humming along and may have some advanced controls that portable power stations and solar batteries do not. They’re also often the most budget-friendly option for backup power, and some models can be used to power other devices, like refrigerators and CPAP machines, in emergencies.
Portable Power Stations
Think of portable power stations as giant versions of power banks you carry around when your phone’s battery is running out. They charge in an electrical outlet just like their pocket-size counterparts, but more advanced models can also be charged with solar power. The cost ranges from $1,000 to $4,500, depending on the capacity.
Portable power stations are a popular alternative to whole-house generators because they’re light and can be used with any device.
Solar-Powered Batteries
Solar power is the most sustainable way to power your home, in general or as a backup. Lithium-ion solar batteries cost $10,000 on average for single batteries or up to $30,000 for whole-house systems.
While they cost significantly more than a whole-house generator, solar batteries don't need fuel to operate, and the cost can be offset with tax credits. Lead-acid solar batteries are less costly at $5,000 to $15,000, although they need more maintenance. A very low-capacity solar battery of up to 3kwH costs $400 to $2,250. If solar is the backup solution for you, get in contact with a local solar power expert to learn more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. A pellet stove should have its own 110V outlet and dedicated circuit breaker. Otherwise, it could overload the system. Pellet stoves can create major fire hazards if they aren’t wired properly or have to share circuits. Get in touch with a local electrician or pellet stove expert if you need to run new wiring for a pellet stove.
Pellet stoves are designed to run for several hours at a time. Running them for an entire day is not uncommon. More advanced models can run continuously for up to 48 hours, making them ideal if you live in extremely cold conditions and don't want to keep refueling the stove.