Battery power for propane fireplace

[DeepCMark58A]

I have a gas fireplace, it has battery back up to power it if we lose electricity. The battery is as old as the house 7 years old and is smaller, I was thinking I am really going to kick myself if I lose power this winter and don't have a working battery. I looked at the prices and I thought I have two dual purpose deep cycle/ starting batteries in the heated garage from the boats. I mean 12 volts is 12 volts just run a jumper right?

 

[alldodge]

Most the battery backup for gas fireplace is like 6 volts (4 each 1.5V Bats), and all it does is allow the burner to stay on, no blower. The two fireplaces I have would help if power went out but things would get cold pretty quick without 110.

But as to your question, maybe look at a 6V gel-cell or AGM Bat and run wires from outside to connections inside the box

 

[cyclops222]

Read the data on the battery. VOLTAGE must be the same. Ampere hours of the battery can be same or much larger. Does the battery also run the fan ? For how long ?
Post some pictures of the system parts. We can calculate what ever you will want.

 

[Buster53]

Glad I don’t have what you do. I have a natural gas fireplace in my fairly new home. Takes 2, D batteries and owner’s manual says you only put them in when you loose power. Power comes back on, pull them out.

 

[cyclops222]

You really do NOT want any lead acid batteries in the house. You can start recharging them. Forgetting that during recharging. It will cause EXPLOSIVE Hydrogen and Oxygen gas to be continuously released at full recharged voltages.
Hydrogen Sulfide a poison gas can also be released while recharging older batteries. Recharge the battery outside of the house. Safe

 

[redneck joe]

Why would a stick lighter not work as the ignition. Source?

 

[cyclops222]

Could be very exciting. As the Pilot Gas flame does not ignite instantly. Good way to remove all the hair on the trigger arm.

 

[alldodge]

Why would a stick lighter not work as the ignition. Source?

Needs to have a power source to control gas valve. If heat is removed need something to turn valve off. Fireplaces have motorized gas valves controlled by thermostat, not like a gas stove

 

[redneck joe]

So thermocouple? Sounds like a job for a redneck...

 

[alldodge]

So thermocouple? Sounds like a job for a redneck...

It has a thermocouple which only allows the pilot light to stay lit, need more to open the valve further. Fireplace valves are variable, not like a furnace which opens to a specific size when called upon

 

[redneck joe]

Still sounds over engineered.

 

[airshot]

I have a neighbor with a backup propane heater for his home. He has recently hooked up a LifeP04 battery and an inverter to create 110 house current from the battery. Last winter he did a mock heat test for a weekend during winter. With the inverter not only his flame stayed lit but also the fan could run and cycle. Lasted from Friday night until Sunday night with power to spare as fans don't take much power. Thinking about doing the same because my 140ah Lipo needs a home out of my boat over the winter months. 3-4x the run time as an LA battery and no fumes !

 

[dingbat]

Still sounds over engineered.

Not really……the thermocoupler simply shuts off the gas supply if the pilot light is extinguished. In my case, the gas valve (120VAC) is thermostatically controlled.

I’m fortunate that I have oil as my primary heat source. No problems with heat or lighting running a 4,400 watt generator

 

[cyclops222]

There are several ways to SAFELY heat a house . BUY ONE !!
You start designing your own. Join the group of house explosions from defective gas heaters.
Why I have a total electric house. 63 years with no excitement.

 

[airshot]

There are several ways to SAFELY heat a house . BUY ONE !!
You start designing your own. Join the group of house explosions from defective gas heaters.
Why I have a total electric house. 63 years with no excitement.

Back in our old neighborhood we had only one house fire in our 25 years living there, that was a 5 yr old all electric home. No matter what you have their are risks.

 

[airshot]

Not really……the thermocoupler simply shuts off the gas supply if the pilot light is extinguished. In my case, the gas valve (120VAC) is thermostatically controlled.

I’m fortunate that I have oil as my primary heat source. No problems with heat or lighting running a 4,400 watt generator

We considered a standby genny but our power supplier told us we were in an ideal spot to receive power as we had two different suppliers in our area. If one lost power an automatic switch changed to the other. Never been without power for more than a few hours due to accidents taking down poles. So a genny would have been a waste of money. However we have power outages from birds sitting on the transformers in the cold causing shorts that can take power away to our home. Just thinking ....I need to store my lipo battery for the winter, why not make it usefull, already have a pure wine wave inverter, small but enough power to run the fan and ignition system on a gas fireplace.

 

[tphoyt]

Is the fireplace a plug in or hard wired? An inverter might be the way to go to play it safe.
I heat with wood and we lose power all the time in the winter so I’m happy with my wood stove. It heats the whole house. I do have a gas furnace, electric baseboards along with a generator so I’m always covered one way or another.

 

[alldodge]

Is the fireplace a plug in or hard wired? An inverter might be the way to go to play it safe.

Yes, the battery will keep it operating like a wood burner but no blower
Yes, inverter would work or stand alone UPS