Thermostats on stoves

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JIBLANE

JIBLANE

New Member
Oct 29, 2011
62
Long Island NY
OK Thermostats on stoves are a nice feature...I have one that came with the unit but so far just use manual as it just seems to work fine. When we need the heat we turn it on when we don't the stove stays off.
Do they put more wear and tear on the stove constantly shutting down and turning on?
Do you think it uses more or less fuel using one?
Example last one out if its on shuts the stove off manually. The house therm is set to at 55 oil just Incase it will drop that low but rarely if ever happens. so pipes won't freeze.
Many times during the day the house may be 65-66 degrees and is comfortable most of the time unless its really cold and your home then we turn the stove on. There were a few days that we just left the stove on during the day for a few hours while out on a lower setting.
Point I'm trying to make is I don't need to keep the house at 70 degrees when none is home for 6-10 hours so why run the stove.
At this point so far I really see no reason to use the thermostat so I haven't bothered hooking it up. Installing it is simple for me just see no reason for it YET.
CONVINCE ME THAT ITS THE BEST INSTALL TO US A THERMOSTAT WITH MY NEW STOVE.....
 
A programmable thermostat would let you set a lower temperature during unoccupied times and have things warmed back up by the time you get home from work, etc.

My house is always occupied (mother-in-law lives with us plus my wife is partially disabled and doesn't work anymore), so I don't bother doing that even though I have a programmable thermostat.
 
It may be nice for you to set the stat to turn on so its already warm when you get home.

I use mine in Hi/lo....as soon as the day time temps are under 45....it had saved me a lot of pellets since I would usually run it 24/7 on setting 2.....now it cycles between 1 and 2 as needed...probably saving 10-20 lbs a day.

My house gets cold fast so its best for me to have it on all day....I would experiment and see what works best.
 
I have the M55 and when I shut the stove down even if Its only on for a minute it takes maybe 5 minutes to go threw its shut down mode. Then natrually when its turned back on it goes threw a start up mode which uses the igniter and starts off at a low fan speed till it gets up to heat then the blower kicks on stronger. Point being this seems like with a there this would indeed put a lot of wear on the unit just a though every time a thermostate kicks on and off which can happen quite frequently in a short time most in homes that may have some drafts or not as well insulated. Is the constant startup and shut down worth the wear and tear on the unit?
 
IMO - it doesn't cause any extra wear and tear on the stove - unless the stove shuts down and has to relight. Relighting uses the ignitor, which in some cases seems to have a rather short life span. Running the stove in hi/lo mode is what I do, and the stove never shuts down in cooler weather, so the ignitor does nothing until I shut the stove down for cleaning, maybe twice a week. So far, so good.
Some stoves don't seem to idle well, but probably adjusting draft and feed would cure that.
 
JIBLANE said:
OK Thermostats on stoves are a nice feature...I have one that came with the unit but so far just use manual as it just seems to work fine. When we need the heat we turn it on when we don't the stove stays off.
Do they put more wear and tear on the stove constantly shutting down and turning on?
Do you think it uses more or less fuel using one?
Example last one out if its on shuts the stove off manually. The house therm is set to at 55 oil just Incase it will drop that low but rarely if ever happens. so pipes won't freeze.
Many times during the day the house may be 65-66 degrees and is comfortable most of the time unless its really cold and your home then we turn the stove on. There were a few days that we just left the stove on during the day for a few hours while out on a lower setting.
Point I'm trying to make is I don't need to keep the house at 70 degrees when none is home for 6-10 hours so why run the stove.
At this point so far I really see no reason to use the thermostat so I haven't bothered hooking it up. Installing it is simple for me just see no reason for it YET.
CONVINCE ME THAT ITS THE BEST INSTALL TO US A THERMOSTAT WITH MY NEW STOVE.....
Click to expand...

Why don't you try it and come to your own conclusions? Seriously, we can only give you recommendations from our own unique perspectives, but there really is no other right answer other than what you like. What do you have to lose?

(Above is not intended to sound snippy even though it does... just trying to provoke a little trial and error)
 
I like having a thermostat so much I installed two. You can use them like a switch, a setback thermostat or just as a regular thermostat. Come home to a warm house,sleep cool at night and wake up to a comfortable temperature. There really is no down side except the possibility of premature failure of the ignitor. I don't worry about my electric stove element wearing out from being turned on and off and I don't worry about my pellet stove element either.
 
I wonder why a manufacturer has not put a CPU on the circuit board that is capable of adjusting the feed, air intake, and convection fan speed, to maintain a desired heat output or room temperature. This would add some cost, but I do not think it would be significant. I would certainly be much better than the current on/off systems.
 
DMZX said:
I wonder why a manufacturer has not put a CPU on the circuit board that is capable of adjusting the feed, air intake, and convection fan speed, to maintain a desired heat output or room temperature. This would add some cost, but I do not think it would be significant. I would certainly be much better than the current on/off systems.
Click to expand...

You just described essentially how the Mt. Vernon AE operates. In auto mode, it throttles down when it gets close to the temperature specified on the thermostat. I've found that I can maintain 75/76 degrees and keep the stove from shutting off and having to relight by setting my thermostat to 80. It never is able to satisfy 80 because it throttles down at 75/76.
 
Also sounds like my P68. Set it in auto and the stove maintains a constant temp. Does not go off and on very often. With temps in 30's or below it will pretty much run constantly and maintain 72* in the house.
 
Why don’t you try it and come to your own conclusions? Seriously, we can only give you recommendations from our own unique perspectives, but there really is no other right answer other than what you like. What do you have to lose?

(Above is not intended to sound snippy even though it does… just trying to provoke a little trial and error)



Yes that is a nice suggestion thank you. The way the stove has helped heat the house has be fantastic so far. I am very familiar with thermostats. At this time I see no need to bother with a thermostat.
I can see the HI LO feature but does that keep the stove from ever shutting down?
I do have two friends who have stoves one has no thermostat and loves it the other has a thermostat and recently told me he will be removing it.

I'm not knocking them but do some of you also just use Manual? Or am I the only one here.
 
JIBLANE said:
CONVINCE ME THAT ITS THE BEST INSTALL TO US A THERMOSTAT WITH MY NEW STOVE.....
Click to expand...

About the best selling point for me was not having to wait for the house to warm up when I got home. I use a programmable stat and it does the up/down on/off stuff for me. Its warm when I get home and I don't even need to think about it. One less thing I need to do. I want the house to be cooler when I am away and sleeping. But I also want it warm when we are home and active. Best $20 some odd dollars I ever spent and a no brainer IMHO!

Does your stove have high/low setting? Insted of going off you could go to low fire and still save fuel. MIght still need to go to off in the shoulders, But worked dandy in the cold season!

DMZX said:
I wonder why a manufacturer has not put a CPU on the circuit board that is capable of adjusting the feed, air intake, and convection fan speed, to maintain a desired heat output or room temperature. This would add some cost, but I do not think it would be significant. I would certainly be much better than the current on/off systems.
Click to expand...

Lets take it one step farther. Also sense outside air temp. As the air temp drops outside your demand raises.

I think it could be done, But not with the micro processors/progreammable chips they are using. Probably need to look into a PLC with a bit more power and brains. Some of the new furnaces have these features, But they are still using a stat in each zone to control the room temp. My stat does a nice job at controlling my house temp. I just need to be smart enough to have the stove set on the right feedrate or have the hotter pellets in the stash in when the outside air starts dropping.

Pellet stoves are still considered space heaters. Pellet furnaces haven't gained in popularity enough to get the compatition we see between the Oil, NG and propane furnaces. But it will happen some day.
 
Surprisingly, no one brought up one possibility that is usually addressed when this question comes up. You have a space heater that has worked its little heart out to heat up your house. When you turn it down at night, not only does the air in your house go down in temperature but everything in the house has gotten cooler. The walls, the furniture, the flooring and rugs, appliances have all gotten cold and now become heat sinks when your stove is asked to heat up the air. In my case, that takes a long time with the stove satisfying the thermostat but quickly all these heat sinks suck the heat out of the air and the thermostat comes back on again. Now I leave the heat set the same all the time and use no more pellets than before. Since you don't have (better not have) the stove in the bedroom, you already have a cooler temperature for sleeping without screwing with the thermostat.
Just my opinion and observations.
 
tjnamtiw said:
Surprisingly, no one brought up one possibility that is usually addressed when this question comes up. You have a space heater that has worked its little heart out to heat up your house. When you turn it down at night, not only does the air in your house go down in temperature but everything in the house has gotten cooler. The walls, the furniture, the flooring and rugs, appliances have all gotten cold and now become heat sinks when your stove is asked to heat up the air. In my case, that takes a long time with the stove satisfying the thermostat but quickly all these heat sinks suck the heat out of the air and the thermostat comes back on again. Now I leave the heat set the same all the time and use no more pellets than before. Since you don't have (better not have) the stove in the bedroom, you already have a cooler temperature for sleeping without screwing with the thermostat.
Just my opinion and observations.
Click to expand...

Very true, I proved that in my house many years ago. Same setting 24/7.
 
There's fire for both sides. Solar got got me when burning 24/7 with my quad. I hated coming home to an overly warm house. Best way to keep the house the temp you want is with something to control it. Unless you got nothing better to do but sit by a thermometer and fiddle with the stove's settings. I'm just to busy to be messing with the stove. Its one and done with a stat. Now that I'm ducted just like a furnace, The stat is an even bigger friend! The bedrooms are the same temp as where the stoves at(actually warmer-stoves in the basement where its cooler).

Lets face it some are better with 24/7 and some are stat lovers(me included). You have to experiment and figure out whats best for you. But if you constenly find the house to warm, A stat is an handy addition to cover that issue! Lets no start another bloody stat war, Like we have seen with the great OAK debate. Lets all just be friends wether we stat or not! ;-)

Yes, I'm an OAKer, Stat lover and one who believes all pellets are not the same! :cheese:
 
Where I live its quite common for the outside temperature (heat loss on the house) to change during the day. I haven't been able to set my stove to a feed rate that it won't over heat the house when this happens, unless of course the outside temperature remains constant. The thermostat prevents this from happening.
 
I'm a stat user too. I just don't use the programmable functions unless I'm gone for a long weekend or vacation.
 
OP asked if it keeps the stove from shutting down..

Some stoves have a setting that will shut the stove off if the thermostat hasn't called for heat for a while. My Afton Bay can shut down after 90 minutes - if I want it to. It also has a setting that will just idle the stove forever if the 'stat doesn't call for heat. Or, I can run it manually at a chosen rate indefinitely. 3 modes for different situations. Many other stoves have similar functions.
 
Love my stat also, been using since day #1 because it allows my family and I to...

* Wake up to a nice comfy 70F every Winter morning - stat allows house to cool to 65F during sleeping hours
* Come home from work to a nice comfy 70F every work day - once again have the option to 'not' heat house when nobody is home

Now as was stated earlier, YMMV - some people save on pellet usage (lots)...some don't, many find no advantages and can achieve the same results just running their stove 24/7. I think the decision to use a stat depends on your lifestyle, your stove, how well your house is insulated, etc. For me, it's very convenient and if I save on pellets...win-win. This thread is just like all the OAK threads, bottom line is everyone just needs to see if it works for them, I really don't think there is a clear-cut right or wrong answer.
 
VTrider said:
I really don't think there is a clear-cut right or wrong answer.
Click to expand...

X 100
 
I really don’t think there is a clear-cut right or wrong answer
This is very true whats best for you is the answer..
I have and do like the HI lo feature I now remeber seeing it when I installed the stove myself. I've forgotten about that as we are used to the Manual setting until this thread I just may try that in the future.
The main reason I bought this stove was as many to get away from oil and save money....
The crazy thing about this stove is the house has never been so warm and now everyone seems to like it that way..
But then I think back and although I've heard at times it was a little cool in the house we still survived and without any major complaints..So once and a while you dressed in sweat pants and a sweat shirt I personally liked it that way..
Now everyone wants to hang out half naked and I wonder if everyone just got spoiled..
In the long run I still want to see a return on my money spent after a few years that was my main objective to dropping $4000 on this investment..
I must admit maybe I also want to save also on pellet fuel that was the plan and I don't like to fail. If I burn threw 3 bags a day at close to six bucks I may take many years to acheave my goal.. So bottom line for now is I think I running at the cheapest rate posible to heat the house and for me that just may be in the Manual setting as so far It seems to be working..I just came home and all the heat was off in the house and it went down to 62 I came home turned the stove on and since typing this the house went up to 65.3 maybe I'm just a slow typer..
 
heat seeker said:
OP asked if it keeps the stove from shutting down..

Some stoves have a setting that will shut the stove off if the thermostat hasn't called for heat for a while. My Afton Bay can shut down after 90 minutes - if I want it to. It also has a setting that will just idle the stove forever if the 'stat doesn't call for heat. Or, I can run it manually at a chosen rate indefinitely. 3 modes for different situations. Many other stoves have similar functions.
Click to expand...

That stove sure has some nice features.
 
West Tennessee here, so cold means 30 or so.

I have the old slide type 'stat. Girlfriend turns it down to 50 when she leaves for work and I turn it up when I get home.

In my mind, that makes it ok to burn it like crazy when home because I am saving pellets during the day when no one is at home.
 
I am a newbie here and our stove (only up and running for 3 weeks) but we installed the thermostat. It is not programable, but I still like the smartstat feature with the thermostat. The stove still will shut off if the house is warm enough and relit when it cools down.

We are using it as a primary heat source as we just could not afford fuel oil anymore. We keep the furnace set at 55 just in case.

I do notice a slight reduction in pellets used when we turn the stove down to 63 when we leave and turn it back up to 68 when home.
 
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