Total remote control woodstove

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woodmiser

Feeling the Heat
Oct 20, 2011
390
Garnet Valley, PA
 
Interesting concept.

I've already got remote control for my stoves - they are my kids... ;)

Bill
 
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That's cheating!!

I would worry about smouldering the stove when trying to use it with a thermostat.

-SF
 
any options for when the power goes out?
 
I've got an idea that uses the servo motor for a gas log set that is run by remote. Rig it to open and close the draft.
 
To be honest I don't think its all that exciting. They just put a servo motor on the air control and hooked up a remote control to it. It would not be as elegant but I could build something like that with parts from an R/C hobby shop.


What would really be elegant is a system that uses inputs from a room thermostat and thermocouple temperature sensors on the stove. Have a simple logic controller that is programmed to fire the stove to the deisred room temps, with overrides if stove temperatures (stovetop, flue temp, catalyst temp if applicable) get to high. To make it really slick you could program some learning logic into it to anticipate hitting the thermostat set temp and start dialing down the air in advance.
 
jharkin said:
To be honest I don't think its all that exciting. They just put a servo motor on the air control and hooked up a remote control to it. It would not be as elegant but I could build something like that with parts from an R/C hobby shop.


What would really be elegant is a system that uses inputs from a room thermostat and thermocouple temperature sensors on the stove. Have a simple logic controller that is programmed to fire the stove to the deisred room temps, with overrides if stove temperatures (stovetop, flue temp, catalyst temp if applicable) get to high. To make it really slick you could program some learning logic into it to anticipate hitting the thermostat set temp and start dialing down the air in advance.
There ya go jharkin, the next generation stove builder. :)
 
jharkin said:
To be honest I don't think its all that exciting. They just put a servo motor on the air control and hooked up a remote control to it. It would not be as elegant but I could build something like that with parts from an R/C hobby shop.


What would really be elegant is a system that uses inputs from a room thermostat and thermocouple temperature sensors on the stove. Have a simple logic controller that is programmed to fire the stove to the deisred room temps, with overrides if stove temperatures (stovetop, flue temp, catalyst temp if applicable) get to high. To make it really slick you could program some learning logic into it to anticipate hitting the thermostat set temp and start dialing down the air in advance.

Yes... they are saying the remote itself has a temp control on it an that you can set the temp to wherever you are in the room. Did I interpret that correctly?

But yes more sophistication is needed for that (per-empting) to work.
 
What would really be elegant is a system that uses inputs from a room thermostat and thermocouple temperature sensors on the stove. Have a simple logic controller that is programmed to fire the stove to the desired room temps, with overrides if stove temperatures (stovetop, flue temp, catalyst temp if applicable) get to high. To make it really slick you could program some learning logic into it to anticipate hitting the thermostat set temp and start dialing down the air in advance.

Here is another one: http://www.kutzner-weber.de/fileadmin/kw_images/EN/Ofenregelung_Broschuere_Engl._01-09.pdf

Looks like the Europeans are ahead of the US on stove automation. It would be interesting to find out how much it would cost.

I have been thinking about something similar. I am considering using a HVAC damper control and a Arduino controller. I think it would do the job for not a lot of money.
 
Well, I want one. I have an Avalon Olympic 1190 Insert (wood).

You could pack it to the gills and it would never over fire.

You could change the rods for the dampers with a pull/push box with a a/c power supply so the burn tubes work right and fix the flue with a way to control the smoke and use a controller with a brain made from China you are ready to go.

Robert
 
The issues I could see happening are....

1. what happens when the power goes out ? and more importantly ....
2. If the remote tells it to increase flames and heat.. what if the remote is set down in a draft, or I put it in my pocket and go outside??? I would worry about and over-fire. There needs to be a connection of the stove top and flue temps, so that the stove won't over-fire.
 
It could have a back up power - the wood would get all used up in 24 hours and after that it could used manualy.
 
I have one of those. The stoves are excellent; the remote control system is less so once the novelty factor wears off. It's a simple system, just a small motor which opens and closes the primary air feed via remote control. It's useful for minor tweaking of the fire without having to go to the stove to do it, but not much else. The idea of using it to automatically control the fire to regulate room temps is silly; it's too small of a firebox (a little over 1 cu ft) to be useful for that, as typical time between reloading on a stove like this is 2-3 hours.

It's so indispensible that I forgot to buy batteries for it this year, and haven't really missed it.
 
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