has anyone tried wireless meat/BBQ thermometers on a wood stove?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

sardo_67

Member
Sep 19, 2017
207
mid CT
after messing around with the $20 magnet temp gauges that were at times 150* off the real temp when compared to a Flir laser temp gauge i went looking for a more accurate alternative, but not a $400 one.

i came across some wireless meat thermometers and i was wondering if anyone had tried this on their stove, seeing as you can set alarms on the remote for high/low temp warnings while seeing a live readout almost anywhere in your house. For me i like the idea as i can light my stove in the basement then go upstairs with the remote and not have to worry about forgetting or the need to go back and check on it constantly when i first start it up.

has anyone tried this with bad results or am i the first one?


 
I have set up a Smoke system with their Smoke Gateway for a friend's smoker and it works great. That is what I was planning on getting if I ever get my wood stove up and running. Thermoworks now has a Wifi enabled data logging one that uses standard Mini thermocouple connectors. https://www.thermoworks.com/ThermaData-WiFi-Type-K I'm thinking that is what I will go with now. I have a Thermapen MK4 that I use for grilling now and am impressed on the quality of their products and how well they work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JRHAWK9
If they have a high enough range they should work ok
 
I have a Thermoworks BBQ thermometer for my smoker. As mentioned, check the temperature rating for the probe and cables to see if it's suitable for your application. Also have a couple of Thermoworks IR thermometers and three Thermapens. Good products.
 
So funny that this topic came up. The problem with the majority of the BBQ Temp probes is that most are designed for ambient temperature with a maximum of around 500-600*f (the meat probes are designed for less than 220). So you really are left with only a few options on the temperature probe front. Also almost all probes that are used for BBQ's are RTD probes, and I don't think any RTD Probes have a maximum operating temperature of 1000*F. The best two probes you could likely use are somewhat expensive. Dwyer makes a magnetic probe that has an operating maximum of 950*f, but its over $120 for the probe itself. The other is to go the IR route. Omega makes a bunch of them, but the majority are between $200-$400 for the probe...

I literally just bought a Fireboard for my Kamado Joe, and after discussing with the developers, they said that a K-Type thermoprobe would integrate just fine with their product. I then sourced a High Heat thermoprobe from ThermoWorks and i will then connect that to my new Fireboard...

Theoretically, not only will I get real-time monitoring and availability on my phone or computer, It also has data-logging... My fireboard comes in tomorrow, and i think my probe from ThermoWorks likely won't be here till next week. Either way, i'll post up my results... This has been something I've wanted to do since i got my stove, and now that i decided to make the investment in a good temperature monitor and pit fan controller for my kamado, it made sense to try it. Worse case is that i'm out roughly $60 for the stove temp side of it.
 
Just get and auber instruments unit
 
Auber does not datalog, or provide wireless phone integration or offline control.... I looked into their BBQ pit controller (more expensive than the Fireboard) as well as their stove temperature kit. Both did not have the functionality that i was looking at.
 
Auber does not datalog, or provide wireless phone integration or offline control.... I looked into their BBQ pit controller (more expensive than the Fireboard) as well as their stove temperature kit. Both did not have the functionality that i was looking at.
And why would you need any of that? It is a wood stove. It s supposed to be simple.
 
And why would you need any of that? It is a wood stove. It s supposed to be simple.
Personally, I am a data and analytics guy. I'd love to know how long im operating at certain temperatures and see if efficiencies are gained/lost due to wood species, load type, weather, etc. Ultimately its not about keeping the stove simple, but staying informed about what is happening with that stove.

I have a little baby now at home and the thought of an over-fire or something related lets me sleep a bit easier. Also as I stated in my first post, i was already buying a Fiberboard for my bbq smoking hobby, this just dovetailed really nicely (or so I hope.)
 
And why would you need any of that? It is a wood stove. It s supposed to be simple.
Wood in. Heat out. KISS principle works best.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dmitry
Personally, I am a data and analytics guy. I'd love to know how long im operating at certain temperatures and see if efficiencies are gained/lost due to wood species, load type, weather, etc. Ultimately its not about keeping the stove simple, but staying informed about what is happening with that stove.

I have a little baby now at home and the thought of an over-fire or something related lets me sleep a bit easier. Also as I stated in my first post, i was already buying a Fiberboard for my bbq smoking hobby, this just dovetailed really nicely (or so I hope.)
I had the same interests at first. Then realized that things really don't change a whole lot from one day to the next, and the next, and the next ..........
I was set up for data logging, high temp digital sensor with a kiln thermocouple, etc, not wireless. Spent a couple beer nights getting a feel for the heat output curve, logged some data, created some graphs, correlated wood use to heating degree days, graphs, charts, statistics, etc. They were all the same. Done with that. Found I had better things to do.
 
I had the same interests at first. Then realized that things really don't change a whole lot from one day to the next, and the next, and the next ..........
I was set up for data logging, high temp digital sensor with a kiln thermocouple, etc, not wireless. Spent a couple beer nights getting a feel for the heat output curve, logged some data, created some graphs, correlated wood use to heating degree days, graphs, charts, statistics, etc. They were all the same. Done with that. Found I had better things to do.

Glad you did it so I didn't have to!

I've always wanted to setup something to log data, etc... but realized it would be just to satisfy my curiosity rather than to provide any really meaningful data on how I could improve upon what I was doing.

I found that sipping a beer a pointing a $30 infrared thermometer at the stove to be just as informative and more entertaining.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sawset and bholler
I'm a big fan of my Auber Instruments digital gauge. I also keep a wireless display unit in my living room (stove is in the basement) so I can keep tabs on it.

It also has an obnoxious alarm for over fires.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bholler
… Personally, I am a data and analytics guy. I'd love to know …

I'm a scientist by education. We like data. Will never use 99.9% of the data we collect, but we like data. :)

I can tell you every tank of gas I've gotten going back to 40-plus years.
 
I second or third the Auber interments. If all you want is to monitor it wirelessly just set up an ip camera pointed at the readout. The Auber has a wired remote alarm for my model. I got it but haven’t plugged it in. I won’t leave the house House / load the stove if it could over fire. But it might be nice to check the stove temp from bed. And the ip camera could do that. No one wants their briskest cooked to 573*F so I don’t the BBQ thermometers have the necessary temp range. I have a the camera and the temp alarm but I’ve never hooked the camera up and pointed at alarm. I don’t think a text In The middle of the night saying that the stove temp is below 250 would get me out of bed. I just set my furnace thermostat at 65 and my alarm at 530. I totally get the data logging and I really would like to to have my stove sitting on a load cell so I could track the weight of wood burned and the burn rate and temp. But yeah it’s all we can do to keep four boys fed and in clean clothes and our jobs ( and warm from the wood stove),

evan
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sawset and Dmitry
I had a entire discussion about this not sure how to attach the the thread. It purchased the TR-75wf from thermoworks. This will have data and charts.
 
Just to make sure everyone is informed the ThermoWorks ThermaData uses a standard K type thermocouple so it has a range of -148 to 2502°F. The Smoke and Signals units use a thermister that has a range of -58 to 572°F.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JRHAWK9
You absorb and thrive on data in the information age when so many are content to let CNN and WAPO do their thinking for them ?
wp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F09%2Fnerdvenndiagram.gif%2Ffull-fit-in__1200x2000.gif
 
Some of us furnace and boiler guys have been using the Maverick ET732 dual probe BBQ thermometer successfully for years...I know mine has alerted me to something wonky more than once...
 
I'm using a Thermoworks Smoke system w/ their Gateway. Been using the Smoke system for the past two years or so and just added the Gateway. I used to use the Maverick bren mentioned above but I had issues with it. The Smoke system is a MUCH better/more reliable/better built option. It is more expensive though. You can have real time graphing on your phone using their app and you can export data to a CSV and also save graphs and export them at a later date. The data logging starts over after 28 hours. It samples data at around 1min intervals.

Here's a post I recently made after I messed around with a 20 hour log and then another few hour one.

 
So I used a different probe setup on the stove top and really changed the effective range of it so it could measure accurately in the progression of usable heat. Which means it will not accurately read below 225*F. I have not yet pushed the stove past 800*F (And honestly, I really don't want to again), but I have verified with an IR temp gun that the reading I'm getting from my probe is accurate... Here is a screenshot of the data I've compiled from my first run with my Fireboard. Throw out the first 20 minutes or so as I was experimenting with converting a K-Type Thermoprobe to an RTD type. (Heads up that did not work)
Also this shows that I loaded the stove around 5:30PM with a 1/2 full firebox, and just let it go till it went out. (It was a bit warm over night so I didnt want to run the stove) You can also see a peak around 6:30 and then a quick dip down... That was when the fan set on low kicked on... Then you can see I loaded up this morning and it peaked around 738*F.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2019-11-19 FireBoard.png
    Screenshot_2019-11-19 FireBoard.png
    45.8 KB · Views: 129
I'm a big fan of my Auber Instruments digital gauge. I also keep a wireless display unit in my living room (stove is in the basement) so I can keep tabs on it.

It also has an obnoxious alarm for over fires.
So you have a second display for your living room is that with the attached unit i have pictured? I have the picture unit on order ?
 
Personally, I am a data and analytics guy. I'd love to know how long im operating at certain temperatures and see if efficiencies are gained/lost due to wood species, load type, weather, etc. Ultimately its not about keeping the stove simple, but staying informed about what is happening with that stove.

I have a little baby now at home and the thought of an over-fire or something related lets me sleep a bit easier. Also as I stated in my first post, i was already buying a Fiberboard for my bbq smoking hobby, this just dovetailed really nicely (or so I hope.)


Just want to say thank you. Its people like yourself that allow me to go out and enjoy doing fun stuff while my fire is warming up my house. :)
 
So you have a second display for your living room is that with the attached unit i have pictured? I have the picture unit on order ?


I'm not quite sure I understand your question, but yes - I have a second (wireless) unit that I keep in my living room.