I have a vacation cabin that has a traditional furnace/heat pump. I’m looking for a supplemental propane stove heater that will kick on in the event of a power outage. It can be a monitor style or a fancy wood stove style flame bank (I’d love options for both). It needs to be direct vent.
This has been surprisingly hard to search. Propane heaters come in all shapes and sizes; camping, construction, shop heaters. Propane stove can mean two different things; cooking, heating. Vented, vent less, direct vent, pilot light, battery start, thermostat controlled. Every company is just selling their brand and doesn’t care what you want.
I’m at a point I just need someone with experience to help me. Not a salesperson making promises they can’t keep.
I’m not aware of any but presume you’re concerned with preventing frozen pipes. Lacking a forthcoming response to your question, you may want to consider draining the plumbing system during the cold months and pouring some anti-freeze down the drains.
I too have pondered this, my incomplete answer is 2 fold:
For times I’m there:
I have a generator (which will run the furnace), a fireplace, a kerosene heater, 2 electric heaters and a propane stove/oven, and I’m not above using any of those to get by.
For times I’m away:
An internet enabled thermostat that will alert me when the temperature goes below a certain point, which I have set to 51F, or if the thermostat fails to report (such as would be if the internet was out), I usually have the away temp set to 55F, but will increase it and check it when the temps are particularly cold. Before that I used to have a freeze alarm that dialed me up via a landline.
I also have some pipes in the crawlspace with heat tape which I have connected to a device that will check the amount of power, so I can verify they are still working in the cold.
I also have a plug freeze switch which is attached to a strobe light that maybe my neighbor might see. He’s not close but in the winter with reflective snow it would be noticeable and it has proven itself 2x but only during night.
Thanks for the replies. Currently we do shut off the water, but we don’t have a whole house drain. We also have a smart thermostat so we are at least aware of power outages.
It would be nice to have some type of backup that would kick on at 45 Deg. We still use the place once a month in the winter but it’s a 2 hour drive. Being able to “wait for the weekend” to figure out the problem would be ideal.
One thing to be concerned about is that this backup heating system would not come on when you needed it to. If it is only going kick on once or twice a year, I’d worry about lack of use and lack of maintenance causing it to fail. Valves that don’t get used might get stuck, dust clogs up components, the thermocouple fails, etc. If you were going to invest in a system with the intent to prevent frozen pipes, it might be more reliable to get a whole house drain for the pipes rather than install a backup heater. If there is no water in the pipes, then you don’t need a backup heating system to prevent them from freezing.
ETA: One way to ensure the backup system is used regularly is to have the temp on your thermostat set really low for one segment a week. This should cause the backup system to fire up on a weekly basis. If the backup system fails, the smart thermostat would kick in. So on one day, the backup system is set for 45 and the thermostat is set for 40. The thermostat is the backup for the backup system during this segment.
I’ve seen commercials on TV for home sized generators that run on propane or natural gas. The cool thing is they come with a automatic transfer switch. When your electrical drops, the generator fires-up and supplies power. When your electrical comes back online, the transfer switch switches back to the grid.
If I was building a new house, I’d definitely add one to the build:
You can use an old fashioned pilot operated burner, not an igniter. Both of the wall furnaces in my garages are that type. They fire up and ignite without any electricity. The blower will not operate but the furnace is made to operate without a blower anyway as it is an option. Mine are made by Williams and use natural gas but hopefully they are made for propane as well.
These are great, but expensive. Around $6,000 USD to purchase PLUS almost as much to install.
The automatic transfer switch was the first thing that I thought of when I read the OP, but I don’t know of any other heat or power sources that work that way.
If you find a propane one, could you please post it as I am also interested and also have done that search many years ago and didn’t find anything fo note.
We heated with wood for years, but then went over to propane. We have this stove now - Enviro Berkeley
We love the thing. It uses a pilot light so no need for power. The thermostat is like a TV remote and battery operated. Comes with a wall mount/holster.
Ours does have a 110v blower in it that I’ve used maybe 3 or 4 times. If power goes out it doesn’t matter. Stove still functions fine.
The Williams are available in natural gas and propane models. And they can all be converted. You need the new gas regulator (different pressure ranges) and orifice.
