# Pellet stove Amp draw.



## Dustin (Aug 22, 2014)

Howdy, 

Did a search and couldn't find it.

I'm curious to what the general amp draw of a pellet stove is? I imagine it's not much.. 

My issue, I don't have an outlet right next to the stove. I have one about 10 feet away, and will need to use a short run of extension cord. Of course this cord will be of high quality and not a cheap one. 

I also plug my flat screen TV into this same outlet, and that's it on that circuit except a couple of small lamps running energy bulbs. 

20 amp circuit.

I'm just concerned about overloading the outlet.. Thoughts?


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## TimfromMA (Aug 22, 2014)

A pellet stove draws it's most current when powering the igniter. During ignition, my stove draws approximately 240Watts  which calculated to 2Amps


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## Arti (Aug 23, 2014)

I don't like to run anything for extended periods of time on an extension cord, just one more thing to go wrong. It is considered good practice to have a dedicated circuit to a heating/cooling appliance. Don't forget the surge protector.
For the few dollars it costs to get a new outlet installed I would certainly consider it.


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## Pheasant Hollow Farm (Aug 23, 2014)

I would also add a battery backup system for the pellet stove. I looked at  pellet stoves Harman, Enviro and St Croix and all recommend battery back up if the power goes out. This is so you can shut the stove down and to prevent any backdraft. Depending on the battery back up it will also keep the stoves memory safe instead of reverting back to the default settings.

Steve
Pheasant Hollow Farm


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## TimfromMA (Aug 23, 2014)

Pheasant Hollow Farm said:


> I would also add a battery backup system for the pellet stove. I looked at  pellet stoves Harman, Enviro and St Croix and all recommend battery back up if the power goes out. This is so you can shut the stove down and to prevent any backdraft. Depending on the battery back up it will also keep the stoves memory safe instead of reverting back to the default settings.
> 
> Steve
> Pheasant Hollow Farm


 I couldn't find an off the shelf battery backup system so I built my own. I can get about 8 - 10 hours of runtime off my system.


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## Pete Zahria (Aug 23, 2014)

Arti said:


> For the few dollars it costs to get a new outlet installed I would certainly consider it.



Or... for a lot less, put a longer cord on the stove, if you have some strange fear of extension cords.


Dan


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## Arti (Aug 23, 2014)

Pete Zahria said:


> Or... for a lot less, put a longer cord on the stove, if you have some strange fear of extension cords.
> 
> 
> Dan


A longer cord is perhaps a very good idea. I don't have a fear of extension cords however as a repairman I get to see a lot of them that are routed under rugs, tripped over,overheated to the point of melting the ends off etc.
A heavy reliance on extension cords is an indication that you have too few outlets to address your needs. 
If you check with the Electrical Safety Foundation it becomes apparent that you Do not substitute extension cords for permanent wiring.
The original post already has 3 things plugged into the outlet already !  Just sayin.


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## Bioburner (Aug 23, 2014)

Or could get a UPS that would protect the stoves components from power issues and brief outages, extra outlets and a good bit of length and most have a good circuit breaker. Cheaper than having to repair or replace a control board or other major electrical part. Was told to run the tv off a UPS(home theater system) to clean the electricity for extended life. I can tell the difference when running bluray.


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## Pete Zahria (Aug 23, 2014)

Arti said:


> The original post already has 3 things plugged into the outlet already !  Just sayin.


Actually he said he has a TV, and two lamps on the same 20A circuit.
I'd say he'd be plenty safe putting the stove on that circuit...

Dan


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## TimfromMA (Aug 24, 2014)

I have no vertical rise in my vent so even a power failure that lasts only a few seconds is enough to fill the house with smoke. The battery system fixes that.


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## TimfromMA (Aug 24, 2014)

chickenman said:


> Most of our stoves have horizontal vents, I guess that is the problem with pellets, with the wheat/corn the fire goes out in seconds without any smoke.



My fire doesn't go out. When the stove loses power, the exhaust fan will no longer send the smoke out the vent. The smoke backs up into the house setting off the smoke detectors and making everything smell like a campfire.


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## Bioburner (Aug 24, 2014)

The corn here will smoke for some time as I think its more of the size of the kernel ? Our Ecoteck with a horizontal vent wont fill the home because of its tall vertical design naturally drafts.


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## Bioburner (Aug 24, 2014)

chickenman said:


> Yeah that is a pain.  Nothing the wife loves more than a house full of smoke.


Two dogs howling because the 4 linked smoke detectors going is I think worse.


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## TimfromMA (Aug 24, 2014)

Bioburner said:


> Two dogs howling because the 4 linked smoke detectors going is I think worse.



I'll take the dogs over the screaming wife.


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## Arti (Aug 25, 2014)

Pete Zahria said:


> Actually he said he has a TV, and two lamps on the same 20A circuit.
> I'd say he'd be plenty safe putting the stove on that circuit...
> 
> Dan



I agree 100 % that it wouldn't overload the circuit. 
Guess I was just thinking that If I charged someone a few Thousand to install a new furnace and hooked it up with an extension cord the customer and the building inspector would not consider it a good clean installation.


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## Pete Zahria (Aug 25, 2014)

Arti said:


> Guess I was just thinking that If I charged someone a few Thousand to install a new furnace
> and hooked it up with an extension cord the customer and the building inspector would not consider it a good clean installation.



I guess I misunderstood.
I thought it was a homeowner doing a DIY 'stove' install.
In which case, if he was comfortable with a cord or power strip, that would be his call.

Dan


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## Dustin (Aug 25, 2014)

Yup.. My own install..finished it today actually.

Turns out, the cord on the stove is longer then I thought so, if I need a cord, it's only gonna be about a foot long  

Thanks for the info on amp draw, that was my main worry


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## pastera (Sep 1, 2014)

Both of my stoves are around 500 watts starting and under 250 watts running


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## stoveguy2esw (Sep 1, 2014)

Arti said:


> A longer cord is perhaps a very good idea. I don't have a fear of extension cords however as a repairman I get to see a lot of them that are routed under rugs, tripped over,overheated to the point of melting the ends off etc.
> A heavy reliance on extension cords is an indication that you have too few outlets to address your needs.
> If you check with the Electrical Safety Foundation it becomes apparent that you Do not substitute extension cords for permanent wiring.
> The original post already has 3 things plugged into the outlet already !  Just sayin.


 
*GREAT POST!*  though I see he has a 20A breaker that doesn't sound too overtaxed, if the cord is correctly routed and is of the proper gauge a ten footer is not so bad, make sure its a 3 prong plug , the stove will need to have access to house ground , and a surge protector is added insurance as well.


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## stoveguy2esw (Sep 1, 2014)

TimfromMA said:


> My fire doesn't go out. When the stove loses power, the exhaust fan will no longer send the smoke out the vent. The smoke backs up into the house setting off the smoke detectors and making everything smell like a campfire.


 

do you have any vertical in you're system?


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## TimfromMA (Sep 2, 2014)

stoveguy2esw said:


> do you have any vertical in you're system?



No.


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## TimfromMA (Sep 2, 2014)

My stove doesn't leak. In fact, my UPS will keep the stove running for 8 hours in a power outage.


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## Hardtail1969 (Nov 24, 2018)

So, no one has addressed what gauge extension chord you should use, I'm guessing 12/2? For a wall outlet?


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## Tonyray (Nov 24, 2018)

have a pretty thick 3 prong ext cord[ pretty sure it's 12/2 at least] into an outlet sharing my laptop and a lamp. laptop/stove plugged into circuit protector 1st.
when power goes out smoke will go up the exhaust and not in the house.


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## Rneal55555 (Nov 24, 2018)

Look at your stove My 25-PDVC label says it uses 3 Amps (which I'm sure is only during start up) almost any extension cord will handle that,  I'm in the same boat cord on the stove is about a foot short of what I need.  Currently using a 6', 3 wire extension cord that is rated for 15 amps. It'll be fine.


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## Connecticut Yankee (Nov 24, 2018)

Any heavy-duty extension cord will do, and it is possible to find short ones, these days.  The shorter the connection between the device and the outlet, the better.  I have my stove plugged into a regular computer surge protector, and it's fine.  The manual says it draws 3.3 amps, and max power is 400 W.  I'm looking into the best UPS to get, because we have fairly frequent power failures around here.  (Everyone wants the power lines buried, until they find out how much it would cost, lol!)


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## Manly (Nov 24, 2018)

Arti said:


> I don't like to run anything for extended periods of time on an extension cord, just one more thing to go wrong. It is considered good practice to have a dedicated circuit to a heating/cooling appliance. Don't forget the surge protector.
> For the few dollars it costs to get a new outlet installed I would certainly consider it.



Pellet stoves draw fairly low current. Your described outlet should be fine with a quality short cord and a good surge suppressor. A dedicated outlet would be preferable, and if you can get a qualified electrician to install a new one for a few bucks, by all means do so. For that price I would have him/her/it check for any other outlets or upgrades you might be in need of.


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## Pelleting In NJ (Nov 25, 2018)

My stove draws about 1/2 Amp when running. When the ignitor is on, it draws about 3.1 Amps.


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