1kva petrol electric generator

[corinth748]

would this be ok to drive a oil fired water/central heating boiler ? thinking of connecting boiler to it should we experience extended power failure this winter.

[scotman]

Are you asking about the hot water pump or the boiler fuel pump(if there is one)?

[corinth748]

hot water pump & boiler fuel pump.ie isolate boiler from mains & run from generator.

[scotman]

Do you have the make and model of each pump?

[jomifl]

Y0u could probably run 20 central heating systems off a 1kva generator, just make sure that it is not connected to 2 power supplies simultaneously.

[The Builder]

Enough power, yes. I would definitely fit a changeover switch though. Simple, cheap switch....... over to one side would be mains...... to the other side would be generator.

If you don't, and both supplies are connected (even in a power cut), your generator power would flow backwards through the consumer unit to the rest of the house.

I don't know this for sure, but another concern is the circuitboard in the boiler. It might not take kindly to spikes in the supply or fluctuations from a dodgy generator.

[jomifl]

An alternative to a generator, or an addition bearing in mind the builders observation about voltage spike,s would be to permanently run the heating system off an uninterruptable power supply ( as used to back up desktop computers)which would take over seamlessly giving you time to fire up your generator when you have crawled out of bed.

[Old_Geezer]

~ a kilowatt ? I can't imagine pumping around water heated by something else should take anything like that amount of power.

[Hymie]

I would not recommend jomifl’s suggestion of using a UPS (as commonly used for computer systems) as a back up electrical supply to a boiler heating system.

Most of these UPS’s, output a pseudo sine-wave, which is more like a square wave. This square wave will not drive the ac pump motor – with the inevitable consequences for the boiler.

[jomifl]

Hymie has a valid point though some UPSs do produce near sine wave output, but probably not as good as a generator.(they ain't cheap))

[corinth748]

many thanks for swift replies.will consider all comments & give it a go.