How can I slow down my blower?

[K2Orion]

I've got a smokedragon insert that runs pretty well. But I would like to be able to slow the blower down more than what this rheostat will allow. Even at its lowest speed and around 400* temps the blower puts out more heat than I would like. If I leave the blower on auto and slow the fire down at bed time, the house will be gain about a degree/hour for 4-5 hours. That makes the wife too warm and she pushes me away when we try to stay warm the old fashioned way. And a slower blower should be quieter also.
I have tried a hotter fire and no blower but since it is an insert, there isn't enough radiant heat coming off and the furnace will come on.
I know I can't spin the blower infinitely slower, but a little slower should be all I need.
Do I need an electronic speed control? Or just a different rheostat? Suggestions?

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

probably should just shut it off(for auto shut off, try a pellet stove high limit switch, hehe) , running blowers at too slow of a speed isn't advised

 

[hardwood715]

Light dimmer will probably blow up due to the power from the motor, tried it when my rheostadt went, it popped, but that was with my fasco squirrel cage type motor on my 1980 gold marc. I use a stove stat to cut off when stove cools down, it turns fan off and had the motor shop fix me up with new rheostat, although supposedly they only put out small amperage I don't know why the light dimmer blew.

 

[thewoodlands]

I've got a smokedragon insert that runs pretty well. But I would like to be able to slow the blower down more than what this rheostat will allow. Even at its lowest speed and around 400* temps the blower puts out more heat than I would like. If I leave the blower on auto and slow the fire down at bed time, the house will be gain about a degree/hour for 4-5 hours. That makes the wife too warm and she pushes me away when we try to stay warm the old fashioned way. And a slower blower should be quieter also.
I have tried a hotter fire and no blower but since it is an insert, there isn't enough radiant heat coming off and the furnace will come on.
I know I can't spin the blower infinitely slower, but a little slower should be all I need.
Do I need an electronic speed control? Or just a different rheostat? Suggestions?

The blower I'm not sure about, but about the wife just crack open the window some that should cool her off.

zap

 

[LLigetfa]

Just put a regular on/off timer on it. Adjust the on versus off time to suit.

 

[mellow]

When I put in a new squirrel cage fan in the Sierra I used a light dimmer to control the fan speed, worked like a charm, never did use a rheostat.

 

[cycloxer]

Adjust the pot on the rheostat to set the range such that the motor slows down just enough not to stall. Then run the motor and feel how hot it gets. It shouldn't be too hot to touch otherwise you risk melting the windings.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

A small Variac autotransformer will do it- or else a low voltage control transformer configured as a 'bucking' transformer. Your blower is designed for 120VAC line voltage, right? Do you know the wattage rating or else how many amps or milliamps it draws? Let me know if you want details on how to do either of these.

 

[hardwood715]

When I put in a new squirrel cage fan in the Sierra I used a light dimmer to control the fan speed, worked like a charm, never did use a rheostat.

Cool, So I think I had something touching something it wasn't supposed to. Had all the wires packed in the cover with the dial on top of the box, I finally had the motor shop do it. What I really like is that magnetic stat that kills the fan when the stove cools down, now that is a big plus for me!

 

[K2Orion]

Adjust the pot on the rheostat to set the range such that the motor slows down just enough not to stall. Then run the motor and feel how hot it gets. It shouldn't be too hot to touch otherwise you risk melting the windings.

Thanx cycloxer. I did this today. I guess I should have examined the rheostat a little closer before posting. I pulled the cover off the blower and looked at it and then realized I could adjust the rheostat while the cover was still in place through 1 of the holes in the intake mesh. I ran the blower for ~30 mins before I made any adjustments and checked the temp with my IR gun and got temps of around 150. I set the pot where I wanted it and ran it for about 30 mins and came up with similiar temps. Now I can run the blower on the lowest setting and maintain temp in the house and it is much quieter. Quiet is a good thing because the TV is about 4 ft. away.

 

[cycloxer]

Cool. A lot of people don't realize that these rheostat's have pots to adjust. As you have discovered, once you get it adjusted properly you can really quiet down the fan.