Thermostat Wire

starling310 · Oct 16, 2009

Hi everybody -

I'm new to the forum. I inherited a Quadrafire Contour when I bought my condo 3 years ago. It's given me quite a few headaches, but the poor thing was NOT properly cared for by the previous owners. Finally, last winter Marisa from Chimneyworks of CT walked me through everything about the stove. She did $800 worth of work as the stove appeared DEAD (Oi!) but, it was worth it to have someone spend about 2 hours really explaining how everything works. This year, I did top to bottom clean before firing 'er up. Pulled the convection fan out and cleaned it, etc, etc, etc. I think the stove is finally getting the treatment it deserves and is (so far) running very well. I had some pellets in there that sat all summer and I think were jamming the auger, but I got rid of those and put in the new pellets (Maine Wood). She seems to be running well now; nice n' hot.

Anyway...that was just some background about me and my adopted stove. It sure is a challenge to adopt a piece of equipment like this and not know it's background, or how to properly maintain it, etc.

My question is this; I hooked up a programmable thermostat and am now wondering where I could get longer wire. The existing thermostat was right behind the stove, which I think is crazy. How will that give an accurate reading of the temp elsewhere in the place? It always feels colder in the kitchen. And, rather than monkey around with setting the therm higher, I'd like to actually get the house to an accurate reasonable temp.
So, what kind of wire am I looking for? Should I just bring what I've got on the stove now to HD, or Lowes?

Also, in all of your opinions what's the life expectancy on the Ignitor Loop? It is turning on and off more frequently with the better thermostat. I'm thinking I will just order one to have on hand.

Thanks for your help.
Terri (starling)

dbjordan · Oct 16, 2009

starling310 said:
Hi everybody -

I'm new to the forum. I inherited a Quadrafire Contour when I bought my condo 3 years ago. It's given me quite a few headaches, but the poor thing was NOT properly cared for by the previous owners. Finally, last winter Marisa from Chimneyworks of CT walked me through everything about the stove. She did $800 worth of work as the stove appeared DEAD (Oi!) but, it was worth it to have someone spend about 2 hours really explaining how everything works. This year, I did top to bottom clean before firing 'er up. Pulled the convection fan out and cleaned it, etc, etc, etc. I think the stove is finally getting the treatment it deserves and is (so far) running very well. I had some pellets in there that sat all summer and I think were jamming the auger, but I got rid of those and put in the new pellets (Maine Wood). She seems to be running well now; nice n' hot.

Anyway...that was just some background about me and my adopted stove. It sure is a challenge to adopt a piece of equipment like this and not know it's background, or how to properly maintain it, etc.

My question is this; I hooked up a programmable thermostat and am now wondering where I could get longer wire. The existing thermostat was right behind the stove, which I think is crazy. How will that give an accurate reading of the temp elsewhere in the place? It always feels colder in the kitchen. And, rather than monkey around with setting the therm higher, I'd like to actually get the house to an accurate reasonable temp.
So, what kind of wire am I looking for? Should I just bring what I've got on the stove now to HD, or Lowes?

Also, in all of your opinions what's the life expectancy on the Ignitor Loop? It is turning on and off more frequently with the better thermostat. I'm thinking I will just order one to have on hand.

Thanks for your help.
Terri (starling)

You can get 2 wire thermostat cord at most hardware stores.

hossthehermit · Oct 16, 2009

starling310 said:
Hi everybody -

I'm new to the forum. I inherited a Quadrafire Contour when I bought my condo 3 years ago. It's given me quite a few headaches, but the poor thing was NOT properly cared for by the previous owners. Finally, last winter Marisa from Chimneyworks of CT walked me through everything about the stove. She did $800 worth of work as the stove appeared DEAD (Oi!) but, it was worth it to have someone spend about 2 hours really explaining how everything works. This year, I did top to bottom clean before firing 'er up. Pulled the convection fan out and cleaned it, etc, etc, etc. I think the stove is finally getting the treatment it deserves and is (so far) running very well. I had some pellets in there that sat all summer and I think were jamming the auger, but I got rid of those and put in the new pellets (Maine Wood). She seems to be running well now; nice n' hot.

Anyway...that was just some background about me and my adopted stove. It sure is a challenge to adopt a piece of equipment like this and not know it's background, or how to properly maintain it, etc.

My question is this; I hooked up a programmable thermostat and am now wondering where I could get longer wire. The existing thermostat was right behind the stove, which I think is crazy. How will that give an accurate reading of the temp elsewhere in the place? It always feels colder in the kitchen. And, rather than monkey around with setting the therm higher, I'd like to actually get the house to an accurate reasonable temp.
So, what kind of wire am I looking for? Should I just bring what I've got on the stove now to HD, or Lowes?

Also, in all of your opinions what's the life expectancy on the Ignitor Loop? It is turning on and off more frequently with the better thermostat. I'm thinking I will just order one to have on hand.

Thanks for your help.
Terri (starling)

Sure wish I'd known about your problem, I could have done 2 hours of explaining for $400, saved ya 50%.

blanc12 · Oct 16, 2009

I use cheap speaker wire from wal-mart. Does the trick.

jtakeman · Oct 16, 2009

starling310 said:
Hi everybody -
Also, in all of your opinions what's the life expectancy on the Ignitor Loop? It is turning on and off more frequently with the better thermostat. I'm thinking I will just order one to have on hand.

Thanks for your help.
Terri (starling)

Terri,

Before you buy one, Check you local dealer. If they carry them in stock there is no sense in purchasing one. You can manually light it and leave it on low until you can pick one up.

Besides my quad still has the original ignitor in it. Model year is 1994. I ran it on a thermostat too. They seem to be pretty dependable.

jay

mainegeek · Oct 17, 2009

blanc12 said:
I use cheap speaker wire from wal-mart. Does the trick.

CAT5 (network) or even CAT3 (phone) will work as well. Make sure to use solid core though.... most speaker wire is stranded

tjnamtiw · Oct 17, 2009

For some reason my post didn't go through............ If you buy a RiteTemp 6022 programmable thermostat from HD, you can also program the 'Swing' or variation from the set point to a wider number up to 2 degrees on either side. That will reduce the number of starts but you'll have more temperature variation. You can try anything from 0.5 to 2.0 degrees and see what you like. I have it on my Sante Fe and it works fine using the W and Rh terminals.

mainegeek · Oct 17, 2009

tjnamtiw said:
For some reason my post didn't go through............ If you buy a RiteTemp 6022 programmable thermostat from HD, you can also program the 'Swing' or variation from the set point to a wider number up to 2 degrees on either side. That will reduce the number of starts but you'll have more temperature variation. You can try anything from 0.5 to 2.0 degrees and see what you like. I have it on my Sante Fe and it works fine using the W and Rh terminals.

The wife and I have found 2 degrees (default for Mount Vernon) is too much. We brought it down to 1.5 degrees and it is much more comfortable. Of course, the stove is now running more often. It all depends on what temp. variations you and your family can handle.

starling310 · Oct 19, 2009

Thanks for all of the replies!

I will pick up some wire this week.

I have also found the 2 degree variant too much. It's great when it heats to 70, but when it goes down to 66....Brrrr....
I think moving the thermostat is going to help a great deal as well. I am sure when it's 66 behind the stove, it's probably 64, or less in the kitchen, etc.

Thanks again.

starling310 · Oct 19, 2009

hossthehermit said:
Sure wish I'd known about your problem, I could have done 2 hours of explaining for $400, saved ya 50%.

Lol! Yeah, me too. Alas, it what 2 years of problems that had built up; improper venting, negligence by the original owner, a crappy Quadrafire manual, etc, etc, etc. She had to do a LOT of repair work, which was why the bill was so high. But, she said I had a good stove on my hands and once we were done, I would say she was right.

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