Surefire 512 - Pellet Stove Emergency Battery Backup

When the power goes out, being prepared is crucial for keeping you and your family safe. At Alternative Heating & Supply, we want you to be ready before an outage occurs. In 2017, 36.7 million people were affected by power outages across the U.S. lasting on average about 1 hour and 20 minutes. For pellet stove owners, a power outage can quickly become a nightmare situation.

Don’t get caught in an emergency without proper protection - invest in a solution to keep your pellet stove running during power outages. The Surefire 512 Battery Backup (SF 512) will keep your pellet stove running through a power outage. It interfaces between a heating appliance and its AC wall outlet to allow for a painless setup. This battery backup comes in a compact size and is built to solve problems - so you don’t have to worry about keeping your house warm. It offers instant automatic power transfer while supporting a full stove electrical capacity. This unit is the exact same as the Harmon 512 or better known as the 512H. Jeff Luff, owner of Alternative Heating and Supply bought the manufacturing rights for the Surefire 512.

Several issues occur when a stove loses power. These problems stem from a loss of communication with the Auger, a small computer that tells the stove how many pellets to add. This also causes the Combustion Fan – which blows air into the burning area – to stop running. The combustion fan helps to exhaust smoke from the pellet stove through a 3” flue. When the power goes out and the combustion fan stops running, the material continues to burn without proper ventilation. This causes the unit to fill up with smoke, which will eventually seep into your home. This is why many owner’s manuals strongly advise against installing stoves in bedrooms. Pellet stove smoke inhalation can cause serious lung problems, diseases, and even death.

Another major problem that stems from power outages is a loss of heat. Without access to heat, an outage can become an emergency – especially in the cold winter months. Ensure that you and your family are safe and warm 24/7 by installing a pellet stove battery backup.

There is a great deal of assembling your own battery backup videos and content on the web. Most of these videos are pushing the concept of spending half or a quarter of the price. The truth is you will be spending more money in the long run. When it comes to having or not having heat in an emergency, invest in the right choice instead of the cheaper option.

One common myth is that a Sine Wave Inverter is designed to run motors. A power inverter is a device that electronically changes direct current to alternating current, Sine Wave is a popular brand. This myth is incorrect because most Sine Wave Inverters are not designed to run motors, they only run electronics. Starting up a motor requires a huge burst of energy to get it turning. The majority of the electronic inverters costing a few hundred dollars are guaranteed to pop a fuse or burn a switch which will render them useless.

When the power goes out, it is essential to get your pellet stove up and running as soon as possible. If you wait too long, the unit will turn off and smoke will begin to flow into your home. This is why the SF 512 Battery Backup reigns supreme over do-it-yourself methods. DIY backup mechanisms take too long to set up, which puts you at risk for dangerous smoke inhalation.

If the power returns while no one is home, the DIY battery will die. This also increases the risk of smoke build-up in your home. To avoid this, the inverter must be broken down and the battery taken off before plugging it into the pellet stove. After that, the battery backup must also be charged. While the DIY method seems appealing in terms of cost, it could actually end up costing you more due to the system failures and health risks it can cause.

Unlike DIY batteries, the Surefire 512 pellet stove battery backup is designed to be simple. Just plug it into an outlet and connect it to the stove – that’s all! The Surefire 512 draws energy from the battery backup and converts it to enable appliance operation. When the power goes out, the battery backup unit automatically switches to battery power. Once power is restored, the backup unit immediately begins charging the battery to full capacity.

Instead of doing all that work the Surefire 512 works on a simple concept. Plug in the battery backup into the wall or outlet source. The stove gets plugged into the back of the SF 512, the battery cables get plugged into the battery and left there. That's all! You can relax or sleep knowing the Surefire 512 draws energy from the battery and converts it to enable appliance operation. When the power goes out the backup unit automatically switches to battery power. When the power from the grid returns the backup unit immediately goes back to power from the grid and charges the battery to full capacity in case of another power failure. The SF 512 provides the ability to put as many batteries as you need for the longer outages.

A common question we receive is, “How long can my pellet stove last on a battery?” The answer depends on the unit and the quality of the battery. Our typical response is that your pellet stove will last about 8-12 hours on a battery. In order to determine the exact battery life of your unit, try using an inverter. Simply put a battery on and unplug your system from the wall to test the run time. If you’re looking for a longer performance, get another battery and try again.

Our SF 512 inverter is a modified Wave for self-starting pellet stoves. The Surefire 512 is specifically designed for Harmon Pellet Stoves, but works on many others as well. Don’t let a loss of power affect your family’s wellbeing – stay warm and ready for any outage with a battery backup.