Some bi-metal stove thermometers are crap!
- Thread starter Kevin Weis
- Start date
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It would be if it was 20F outside, but at 42F it's overkill and a waste of wood. Now cruising at 625F. Mo betta for this temp.
maverick06
Minister of Fire
I'll put in my 2 cents too. i have the stupid coil thermometer, its literally worthless on my insert. For the past 15 years I have been using an IR thermometer, shooting it through the vent to "see" the top. It works great.
BUT I dont do that anymore. I am using a thermocouple to monitor my stove.
$1.77 thermocouple
$6.99 thermocouple reader
Shown is my temporary setup, thermocouple wire isnt tucked away and I am working on a separate monitor for the stove over the internet... not there yet. The thermocouple matches up perfect with the IR gun. I do notice that I keep an eye on it a lot more, easy to keep an eye on the stove. Wish I did this years ago. I bought both off of ebay (no affiliation to the seller) The thermocouple reader also displays ambient air temp.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/76-999-K-t...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
https://www.ebay.com/itm/9mm-x-5mm-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
BUT I dont do that anymore. I am using a thermocouple to monitor my stove.
$1.77 thermocouple
$6.99 thermocouple reader
Shown is my temporary setup, thermocouple wire isnt tucked away and I am working on a separate monitor for the stove over the internet... not there yet. The thermocouple matches up perfect with the IR gun. I do notice that I keep an eye on it a lot more, easy to keep an eye on the stove. Wish I did this years ago. I bought both off of ebay (no affiliation to the seller) The thermocouple reader also displays ambient air temp.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/76-999-K-t...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
https://www.ebay.com/itm/9mm-x-5mm-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
I don't think there's a good way with a mechanical thermometer.
On my Ashford, I have a thermocouple that sits under the convection deck in direct contact with the plate top of the stove. When front and center, it tracks cat temperature very closely (although hundreds of degrees F lower). When i position the thermocouple further to a back corner, it reads lower (as one would expect) and it lags cat temperature by 15-25 minutes (i.e., a peak in cat temp is ~15 mins earlier than a peak in the stovetop temp), as it takes some time for the whole stove to soak up the heat.
I measure and datalog stovetop temps as more of a novelty. Especially on the Ashford, I don't think it will tell you very much. Flue probe and cat probe temps tell me a lot more about how my stove is running.
@maverick06 's solution is a great one and very cost effective if you want to build something without getting into any real electronics tinkering. Any of the probe-style K-type thermocouples should work with that too, but it looks like it only reads to 999F. However that should be good for stack temperature...if you're higher than that, you've got a problem anyways!
I have a small inventory of SS braided type K thermocouple wire I ended up with from a former employer and a thermocouple calibrator for a readout. If I have to go hardcore I also have some Iconel sheathed thermocouple wire for the really nasty applications.
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