Boiler Backup

Wellness

With electrical power in my area getting diceyer by the minute, I was trying to devise a low cost backup solution to keep my boiler running in case ice and/or high winds caused a power outage. I already have a Jackery 1000 Portable Power Station to keep my network running during power outage. Just wonder if a second one could keep my boiler running for at least 4 or 5 hours since the Prestige Solo claims it uses less than 12 watts of power, my three circulators use less than one watt each and the four zone valves use about 12 total watts. I don't know what the wattage is on my Taco ZVC406 but I assume it's in the same ballpark.

But then I saw this 2004 post by @Ron Schroeder_2 where he said he did a job "where all of the controls, zone valves and pumps draw under 70 watts." So I'm a little worried my math may be off.

JUGHNE

You might check your pump draw again....maybe less than 1 amp each.
1 amp X 120 volts would be 120 watts.

pecmsg

If there are any computers in the equipment an inverter generator is required to deliver the clean sine wave needed. 

EBEBRATT-Ed

You could always limit the # of zones on at one time to limit the output needed.

Jamie Hall

There's no way the circulators use only 1 watt. A night light uses 5... I wonder about the power consumption of the Prestige Solo, too. I can't find the actual power draw of that unit in the specs, but I could more easily see 12 amps, not 12 watts for it (it has a pump and a blower). So recheck all your figures..

You also need to contemplate what constitutes a "power outage" for your house. Some places it's true -- four or five hours might be reasonable. Other places it's more like 4 or 5 days...

Wellness

So I guess in the case of a power outage, I don't need the zone valve controller or the zone valves since they can be opened manually, I just need to power the boiler and two pumps. I'm going to also assume no power outage should last more than two or three days (because I'm not on that crazy Texas power grid ;-). Closer to the spring, I'm going to put a current draw meter on that boiler circuit to check for sure but I'm hoping for less than a 200 watt draw.

Larry Weingarten

Hi, This is a possible plug and play solution: https://www.ecoflow.com/us/power-backup

Yours, Larry

hot_rod

Upgrade to ECM circs and cut that power consumption in at least 1/2. Plus the system will be more efficient when the pump modulates with the ZVs.
Maybe 160W isn't worth chasing.
Some additional savings with low power consumption ZVs.
Some ball type ZVs only use power to open, no holding current.

dko

Sticker of a blower on a prestige solo


and anything with motors.. starting load is much higher than running even though briefly.

And the prestige solo (110) engineering submittal says 10amps full load.

Jamie Hall

Thanks, @dko . So we are looking at 10 amps -- 1200 watts -- for the boiler. Going to be a pretty good size battery there... let's see. an 8D would give you 3 hours of run time...

Wellness

@ Jamie Hall. Yeah, I'm afraid this is looking more like a backup generator solution instead of battery backup. That's a lot of power for a boiler ignition module and a control board! Thanks to all for the input.

Jamie Hall

Wellness said:

@ Jamie Hall. Yeah, I'm afraid this is looking more like a backup generator solution instead of battery backup. That's a lot of power for a boiler ignition module and a control board! Thanks to all for the input.

It's the blowers on that boiler that are killing you.

Sylvain

what about cogeneration?
https://arpa-e.energy.gov/sites/default/files/Guyer_YankeeScientific_GENSETS.pdf

Yanmar: https://www.yanmarenergysystems.com/chp/
Lochinvar: https://www.lochinvar.com/products/micro-chp/xrgi
others ...

Wellness

Interesting concept. But seems like a very long payback to replace a working boiler and/or solar-battery backup with a slightly more efficient co-generator that would consume natural gas all year long, Right now, I only use gas in the winter. Solar/electric heats the water in the summer. Maybe I'm missing something here.