Gas electric fireplace power outage

[kickbacked]

Looking for some help from people more knowledgeable than I on how to use my gas electric fireplace during a power outage. I just flip a switch and it lights up which is nice but with no power it wont work. So with the weather turning cold Id like to be prepared on how to get this thing to work during a power outage. From the way it looks it has a standing pilot light. To me it looks like i should turn the knob from pilot to on? Any idea what the on/off switch does? The fire is going right now and the switch is set to off and blower is going. Also with the power out the blower wont be working, will running it cause any fire hazards with heat? Probably an extremely dumb question I know but i want to be safe. I figure a lot of you are do it yourselfers so probably a lot more experienced than I. Ive looked over the manual and it doesnt say anything. Thanks for your help!

 

[RobbyMaQ]

Might want to pick up a spare thermocouple.
If the blower is running with that switch to off, then I am unsure what it controls... trace the wiring?

 

[churchmouse]

My gas log fire place has a T-couple and a power pile. The T-couple generates 30 Milivolts to maintain the pilot part of the gas valve. The Power pile generates 750 Milivolts and runs the main vale. The switch operates the circuit in the power pile side controlling the main valve.
Switch on.....main flame, off is just that, off. The fan in mine runs on 115V on a separate switch.
You need to have your wiring traced out.

 

[Leadeye]

Sounds complicated, I'll stick with wood.

 

[nra4ever]

I agree take it all out and go with wood...

 

[17 squirrel]

First I would read the owners manual, if you don't have one download it off the web. Find out how its supposed to operate first.
It sounds like for the fan to run with the switch off either some sort of flame or heat sensor has failed in the closed position or its wired incorrectly or someone has bypassed a sensor or switch. It would be odd for a important switch or sensor to fail in the closed position, but who knows.
I would tend to think if your fireplace is designed to have a fan running while in operation it needs it to keep some parts of the fireplace within operating temperature.
If I were to use a fan driven heating system like you are discribing I would use a small generator to opperate it along with a few lights and the refrigerator for a few hours a day.

 

[17 squirrel]

My gas log fire place has a T-couple and a power pile. The T-couple generates 30 Milivolts to maintain the pilot part of the gas valve. The Power pile generates 750 Milivolts and runs the main vale. The switch operates the circuit in the power pile side controlling the main valve.
Switch on.....main flame, off is just that, off. The fan in mine runs on 115V on a separate switch.
You need to have your wiring traced out.

Yep.yep..

 

[churchmouse]

First I would read the owners manual, if you don't have one download it off the web. Find out how its supposed to operate first.
It sounds like for the fan to run with the switch off either some sort of flame or heat sensor has failed in the closed position or its wired incorrectly or someone has bypassed a sensor or switch. It would be odd for a important switch or sensor to fail in the closed position, but who knows.
I would tend to think if your fireplace is designed to have a fan running while in operation it needs it to keep some parts of the fireplace within operating temperature.
If I were to use a fan driven heating system like you are discribing I would use a small generator to opperate it along with a few lights and the refrigerator for a few hours a day.

10-4 on the genny to run the fan.
The main valve should work with out house power.

 

[red_zr24x4]

I can't really tell from the picture , but just because off is on top that doesn't mean thats the off position.
Look for a pointer on the housing.
As long as it has a standing pilot you'll have heat, but no fan to circulate it.
In a power outage I'd keep the flame low, not maxed out, and remove the glass face to let the heat out.

 

[churchmouse]

I can't really tell from the picture , but just because off is on top that doesn't mean thats the off position.
Look for a pointer on the housing.
As long as it has a standing pilot you'll have heat, but no fan to circulate it.
In a power outage I'd keep the flame low, not maxed out, and remove the glass face to let the heat out.

The glass face on ours radiates the heat when we are not running the fan. I would fear back draft even though there should be a combustion air source.

 

[17 squirrel]

10-4 on the genny to run the fan.
The main valve should work with out house power.

Well yes and maybe no.
If this fireplace is designed like, say a oil fired forced air furnace the fan is required to run after the warmup period has been reached. If the fan doesn't kick on the flame will be tripped off.
But if the fan system is designed to be turned on & off as the homeowner see's fit the valve most likely can be lit and run manually without any problems. If the fan is needed to operate he will need a small Genny or a battery backup to run the fan. If the fan is required to run I would NOT run the fireplace without it.



The house you save, may be your own.
I wonder how old it is to still have a standing pilot ?
It really sounds like someone has bypassed a switch or sensor to me. It would be interesting to take the cover off and run a meter through the wiring.

 

[churchmouse]

Well yes and maybe no.
If this fireplace is designed like, say a oil fired forced air furnace the fan is required to run after the warmup period has been reached. If the fan doesn't kick on the flame will be tripped off.
But if the fan system is designed to be turned on & off as the homeowner see's fit the valve most likely can be lit and run manually without any problems. If the fan is needed to operate he will need a small Genny or a battery backup to run the fan. If the fan is required to run I would NOT run the fireplace without it.



The house you save, may be your own.
I wonder how old it is to still have a standing pilot ?
It really sounds like someone has bypassed a switch or sensor to me. It would be interesting to take the cover off and run a meter through the wiring.

Mine is 4 years old. Standing pilot.
To have an ignition system requires house power. Mine does not save to run the fan which is an add on.
Most all the units I looked at when shopping for mine did not require the fan for safe operation but it sure helps get the heat out into the room.
I just added ours this year. Love it. No idea why I waited so long.

 

[VUPDblue]

mine has a battery backup for the ignition. it is also radiant-only, no fan.

 

[red_zr24x4]

I wonder how old it is to still have a standing pilot ? .

We just replaced all the gas mains and services in a trailer park in Minnesota. I transferred 600 gas meters from the old to the new. I then had to go inside and purge the air out of the lines, and relight any standing pilots.
Quite a few newer double wides (10year old or newer) had non vented gas fireplaces with standing pilots.

 

[red_zr24x4]

CM, not to get off topic, where did you buy yours at? We've been kicking around the idea of putting one in.

 

[churchmouse]

CM, not to get off topic, where did you buy yours at? We've been kicking around the idea of putting one in.

There is a store in the old strip center at 38th and High school rd. It is in the NE corner on the lot. They have a large inventory to choose from and lots of things they can order.

 

[17 squirrel]

Mine is 4 years old. Standing pilot.
To have an ignition system requires house power. Mine does not save to run the fan which is an add on.
Most all the units I looked at when shopping for mine did not require the fan for safe operation but it sure helps get the heat out into the room.
I just added ours this year. Love it. No idea why I waited so long.

We just replaced all the gas mains and services in a trailer park in Minnesota. I transferred 600 gas meters from the old to the new. I then had to go inside and purge the air out of the lines, and relight any standing pilots.
Quite a few newer double wides (10year old or newer) had non vented gas fireplaces with standing pilots.

Thats interesting out living back out here, where i'm from alot of local regs outlawed most standing pilots years ago except HW heaters. my new furnace does not have a standing pilot that I installed last summer, but the N gas radiant wall heater I also bought then has a standing pilot. I would guess that if it has to have 110 ac it can use a pezzo ignition if its cost effective if not they use a standing pilot. Thanks for the info.

 

[churchmouse]

Thats interesting out living back out here, where i'm from alot of local regs outlawed most standing pilots years ago except HW heaters. my new furnace does not have a standing pilot that I installed last summer, but the N gas radiant wall heater I also bought then has a standing pilot. I would guess that if it has to have 110 ac it can use a pezzo ignition if its cost effective if not they use a standing pilot. Thanks for the info.

Unless we use an 80% efficient furnace (they will be phased out very soon) all the new furnaces we install have HSI (hot surface igniters) in them. Spark ignition is going away as well.

 

[Clarity]

When building my house, the fireplace and gas were in before the electric. A couple of batteries kept the fireplace working to provide some heat for weeks. If I knew how they did it, I'd share.

 

[churchmouse]

When building my house, the fireplace and gas were in before the electric. A couple of batteries kept the fireplace working to provide some heat for weeks. If I knew how they did it, I'd share.

Inverter to boost 12VDC to 120 for the fan.....