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What to do if power goes while solid fuel range is lighting ?

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  • 22-10-2019 5:59pm
    #1
    DubInTheWest
    Registered Users Posts: 408 ✭✭


    Just a quick question that has been on my mind for the past while and nearly happened today so looking for advice.

    Basically have a solid fuel range that heats the rads and requires an electric pump on at all times while the range is lighting/hot.

    Today I was in 2 minds on lighting the range around 3.30, very early as I usually do it around 5.30. I left it, and at 4.50 the power went for around 1.5 hours, so I felt lucky I didn't light it.

    In the event the power goes out in a storm or for any reason at all, what is the best practice so I don't blow the house up ? I know to try and quell the heat I'll close off all the air vents on the range but that's not going to do much for a good while if it's blazing hot.


    Cheers


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    #2
    Dtp1979
    Registered Users Posts: 12,730 ✭✭✭✭Dtp1979


    DubInTheWest wrote: »
    Just a quick question that has been on my mind for the past while and nearly happened today so looking for advice.

    Basically have a solid fuel range that heats the rads and requires an electric pump on at all times while the range is lighting/hot.

    Today I was in 2 minds on lighting the range around 3.30, very early as I usually do it around 5.30. I left it, and at 4.50 the power went for around 1.5 hours, so I felt lucky I didn't light it.

    In the event the power goes out in a storm or for any reason at all, what is the best practice so I don't blow the house up ? I know to try and quell the heat I'll close off all the air vents on the range but that's not going to do much for a good while if it's blazing hot.


    Cheers

    Once your hot water cylinder is piped correctly back to the stove then you should be fine. If you happen to be there when the power does go, then close off the air to the stove, to avoid overheating the domestic hot water


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    #3
    mrblack
    Registered Users Posts: 350 ✭✭mrblack


    DubInTheWest wrote:
    Today I was in 2 minds on lighting the range around 3.30, very early as I usually do it around 5.30. I left it, and at 4.50 the power went for around 1.5 hours, so I felt lucky I didn't light it.

    Dtp1979 wrote:
    Once your hot water cylinder is piped correctly back to the stove then you should be fine. If you happen to be there when the power does go, then close off the air to the stove, to avoid overheating the domestic hot water


    I had the same issue when I installed a solid fuel stove a few years ago in the garage. I solved it by installing a backup inverter supplied by a leisure battery with an output of 100amps. This gives me 4 hours of backup at least. The inverter keeps the battery charged and automatically steps in when the mains power goes out. Cut in takes over a second so it's suitable and designed for heating systems not electronics that require uninterrupted power.


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    #4
    Dtp1979
    Registered Users Posts: 12,730 ✭✭✭✭Dtp1979


    mrblack wrote: »
    I had the same issue when I installed a solid fuel stove a few years ago in the garage. I solved it by installing a backup inverter supplied by a leisure battery with an output of 100amps. This gives me 4 hours of backup at least. The inverter keeps the battery charged and automatically steps in when the mains power goes out. Cut in takes over a second so it's suitable and designed for heating systems not electronics that require uninterrupted power.

    What happens when your pump dies?


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    #5
    mrblack
    Registered Users Posts: 350 ✭✭mrblack


    Dtp1979 wrote: »
    What happens when your pump dies?

    It’s a relatively new 10m modulating Wilo pump that was a mad price at the time and should be very reliable since it was installed in 2013.

    If the pump does die then the temperature and pressure relief valves should kick in. Unfortunately they actually kicked in last Monday and let all the water out of my pressurized system in the early hours when I turned off the circulation pump and fans when heading to bed. So I know the PRV works!

    Mrblack


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    #6
    Outkast_IRE
    Registered Users Posts: 7,515 ✭✭✭Outkast_IRE


    mrblack wrote: »
    It’s a relatively new 10m modulating Wilo pump that was a mad price at the time and should be very reliable since it was installed in 2013.

    If the pump does die then the temperature and pressure relief valves should kick in. Unfortunately they actually kicked in last Monday and let all the water out of my pressurized system in the early hours when I turned off the circulation pump and fans when heading to bed. So I know the PRV works!

    Mrblack


    So is it a closed system you have setup for yourself on the backboiler ? I would never rely on only a PRV with a solid fuel burning appliance, there is a reason in industry why they can be sent off to be calibrated regularly.


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    #7
    mrblack
    Registered Users Posts: 350 ✭✭mrblack


    Outkast_IRE wrote: »
    So is it a closed system you have setup for yourself on the backboiler ? I would never rely on only a PRV with a solid fuel burning appliance, there is a reason in industry why they can be sent off to be calibrated regularly.

    It’s a solid fuel boiler that was added on to the existing OFCH pressurized system
    in 2013 in the garage. At the time of installation I was a bit concerned too about power loss during a hot burn which was why in 2014 I added the backup power for the pump myself after doing some research. Back then I used to light the new boiler much more frequently. Before the battery backup a power failure would have to be dealt with by manually opening the large fuel filler door to allow heat to escape or rely solely on the prv. There was a discussion about fitting a small rad onto the solid fuel boiler as a safety at installation but this was not done as installers either didn’t recommend it at the time or didn’t want to install it.

    The oil boiler is separated from the solid fuel boiler by a non return valve and only one boiler should be on simultaneously. The boilers are both located in the garage so well away from the house.

    This winter I have been using the SF boiler frequently as we have lots of wood again and my issue now is that at night when the SF boiler is cooling down from 60c to its shut down temp of 40c it sucks heat from the DHW cylinder down to 40 and disappointingly seems to distribute the DHW heat around the house rads. This leads to complaints over shower temp in the morning and when I did manually close off the SF boiler bump at midnight to prevent the issue recurring, I thought the fire was low enough but still to my surprise the embers heated up the water in the boiler and triggered the prv which released enough water to shut down the oil burner as well the next morning. So there was no CH nor warm showers on Tuesday morning after the Bank holiday and wife and teenage kids were moaning.

    I am thinking about trying to see if the SFB pump can be set to shut down at 50c rather than 40c or if that can’t be done then installing a diverter controlled manually or via a thermostat to divert cooling water to rads instead of entering the DHW cylinder.

    Sorry for long thread hijacking post!
    MrBlack


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