Dumb smart temperature controller

[DBCOOPER]

I got one of these with the idea of controlling either the fan on my heat pump to circulate heat or a seperate 120 volt fan, by placing the sensor near the discharge of the convection fan tubes. But after bench testing it, I may use it to control my CB1200i directly. It has a wired remote temperature sensor that is 8 foot long and can be extended to 200 feet. It has a programmable temperature swing that I haven't been able to find in a "normal thermostat". It can be set to swing how ever many degrees you want. It can be hidden from view with only the sensor being exposed to sense temperature. Its a little pricey compared to a thermostat but it has a lot of potiential. Another thing I thought of doing with it , is to use it to use outside air temperature to to control a thermostat so when it gets cold enough the pellet stove is the primary heat and when it warmer the heat pump does the work. Any thoughts?





http://www.etcsupply.com/ranco-etc111000000-digital-temperature-controller-p-86.html

 

[tjnamtiw]

I can see some pitfalls with that. First of all, MOST of the programmable thermostats I've looked at DO have adjustable swings. You just have to dig a little deeper into the manual. Even my $25 RiteTemp has it. Next, you sure don't want to kill the power to the pellet stove just when the temperature is achieved because you will probably fill the house with smoke and overheat the stove since you just shut off the circulation fan too. That's what the thermostat is for.
Now using it to switch a relay that would have it's NO and NC contacts hooked to the thermostat leads of the heat pump and pellet stove might work to use the pellet stove when the temp is low enough that the efficiency of the heat pump is poor. In NO case should you control the power circuits though.

 

[DBCOOPER]

I was thinking of the control circuit not the power circuit for direct control of the insert. As to thermostats with adjustable "swings", or a more correct term, hysteresis, the only ones I have seen are based on time not temperature meaning cycles per hour.

 

[tjnamtiw]

I was thinking of the control circuit not the power circuit for direct control of the insert. As to thermostats with adjustable "swings", or a more correct term, hysteresis, the only ones I have seen are based on time not temperature meaning cycles per hour.

First, I just noticed your from Stowe! I grew up on Keim Street on the other end of Pottstown!

There ARE some thermostats out there that have cycles per hour as an option but they are NOT good for pellet stoves obviously. Yet some on here are trying to use them. Look at the RiteTemps at Home Depot or the Honeywells. I have a RiteTemp and a wireless SkyTech and they both are set on a 2 degree swing.

 

[odlaw]

I wouldn't kill power with this because you will shut off your exhaust blower while you still are burning pellets.
You possible could use it to turn on or off a relay and wire it to the on off switch of your stove. My stove stays running for a while just doesn't feed when I hit the off
switch. I don't know what the insurance company would think if something was to happen??

 

[jtakeman]

I have the Lux TX500e and it has the swing feature. Got it at HD for under $30 on sale. Honeywell units are usually higher priced IMO.

 

[DBCOOPER]

I have the Lux TX500e and while it does have a swing feature its not definitive as to temperature swing and the time of swing is not defined in the litature. It just has setting between 1 and 9 with no real definition of what those settings do.

 

[DBCOOPER]

I wouldn't kill power with this because you will shut off your exhaust blower while you still are burning pellets.

Did you read of of this post before you posted this?

 

[jtakeman]

I have the Lux TX500e and while it does have a swing feature its not definitive as to temperature swing and the time of swing is not defined in the litature. It just has setting between 1 and 9 with no real definition of what those settings do.

Hey DB,

If you set it to 1 the swing will go 1º below the temp you set to turn on and 1º above to turn off. Set it to 2 and you get 2º of swing both ways.

Example temp set at 70º with 2º of swing(you will see 4º difference in the temp overall)

Stove will turn on at 68º and shutdown at 72º

Hope this helps.

 

[DBCOOPER]

Is that based on experience or did I miss that in the instructions? Thanks, I'll try it that way, I had it set on 8 just to keep it from short cycling but it hasn't really been cold enough to gain any experience with it yet.

 

[jtakeman]

Based on experience. I have had this for over(oh heck I forget now) maybe 6 years. I haven't used higher than the 3º swing but it does exactly that. 2º seems best for the shoulders for me and saves my igniter. I go back to 1º when I have the stove on hi/low in the cold. That keeps the house more stable(tighter temp range).

 

[jumpink]

Just finished reading the section on swing temp for my Lux t-stat. It has the value of 1-9, each number value increases the temp by .25F.

Jay, you said you put your stove into HI/LOW in the cold. Just curious wouldn't raising the thermostat accomplish the same thing? Also what do you consider cold? Below 32?

 

[jtakeman]

Just finished reading the section on swing temp for my Lux t-stat. It has the value of 1-9, each number value increases the temp by .25F.

Jay, you said you put your stove into HI/LOW in the cold. Just curious wouldn't raising the thermostat accomplish the same thing? Also what do you consider cold? Below 32?

Hey Kevin, What Lux stat do you have?

Hi/Lo just puts the stove on a low fire while waiting for the temp to drop to the call point. This does 2 things for me. It saves the igniter and it also helps the stove react faster to raise the temps quicker. When its real cold with my basement in stall its better for me to try to keep the temp closer to the 72ºF setting. Otherwise it drops to far before it can react to the temp and we get a bit cold. Main goal for me is to keep temps between 70ºF and 72ºF. Shoulder season does seem as bad so I can live with a 4ºF swing.

We all like or need something different. You'll have to play and do the best for you.

Here is what it say for swing in the TX500e manual. I prefer with a pellet stove to not get more than 1 cycle per 4 hour period to save the ignitor. 3-6 time an hour would be over working it IMHO. But again this is to each his own!

SWING SETTING
A thermostat works by turning your heating or cooling system on and off
whenever the room temperature varies from the set-point temperature. The
amount of this variation is called the “swing.” Your system should cycle on about
3 to 6 times per hour. A smaller swing number increases the number of cycles per
hour, so the room temperature is more precise and constant. A larger swing
number decreases the number of cycles per hour, but saves energy in most cases.
To change the Swing setting, turn the dial to RUN mode. Hold down the NEXT
button and push the HOLD button once, then let go of both. The words SWING and
SET will appear on the screen with a number. Use the UP/DOWN buttons to
change the number value between 1 and 9. Number 1 is the default setting. Press
the NEXT button to accept the setting and return to normal Run mode.

 

[DBCOOPER]

Thats exactly what my directions say. No assigned value for the swing setting.

 

[jumpink]

I have the Lux9100e pretty much the same thing you have but it programs for 7 days individually. The reason I asked you that question was that last night the stove was set to Auto/Off and I raised the temp to 77F but after 40 minutes the stove had a low flame and the room was a constant 74. It was in the 30's and a very windy night. I opened the lid and it was on heat was on 1.

 

[jtakeman]

Kev,

You might have had a power flicker. It will default to the lowest setting when it happens. It could have even been out for a while. Once power comes back on the stove will just do a restart with it in low and relight itself. I have had it happen on Auto/Off and High/Low too. Its the only thing I can think would happen??

 

[jumpink]

DB,

If you want a swing of 1F then you need to select #4, if you want 2F then select#8. The default swing is .25F or #1

 

[tjnamtiw]

You'll find that your ACTUAL swing (at least I have) will be greater since the stove takes a while to start up, heat up, and start putting out enough heat to halt the temperature drop. For me, that's an extra degree on the low side and then it over shoots about 1/2 a degree on the high side as it cools down.

 

[jtakeman]

You'll find that your ACTUAL swing (at least I have) will be greater since the stove takes a while to start up, heat up, and start putting out enough heat to halt the temperature drop. For me, that's an extra degree on the low side and then it over shoots about 1/2 a degree on the high side as it cools down.

Exactly what I was trying to say, Just didn't know how to say it. Reaction time of the stove more or less. Thanks for the better explanation tjnamtiw. The exact reason I use high/low setting when its real cold out too! The stove will react faster.

 

[jumpink]

Makes sense.

Do I still need to set the heat level when the stove is in Auto?

 

[jtakeman]

Makes sense.

Do I still need to set the heat level when the stove is in Auto?

Yes you do. I use 3 but you can use 2 thru 5 what ever is best for you. The heat setting can also play a roll in the reaction time of the stove. Higher the setting the faster it will raise the house temp. Start with 3 and see how it goes. Same for High/Low setting. The high setting is what you have the stove set to(say heat setting 3) and the low is the stoves low.

So the TX500e has a similar swing as the stat you have. With my basement install By the time the stove shuts down the heat will still rise and raise the upstairs temp(where the stats at) so I don't see the less than 1ºF rise. I see it at about 72ºF so all this time I thought the 2 swing was 2 degrees. I'll have to look at it better. Basically your saying the swing at 8 would be 2º???

 

[jumpink]

Thanks for that info, I had it at 1 and I wondered why it was taking so long.

That's what I think it means. They say each digit is an increase of .25F for a max of 2.25F at #9, but after reading what TJ said about actual swing I think I will lower my adjustment.

 

[jtakeman]

Well I just check my swing and I had it set at 4. Which is 1 degree of swing, Plus whatever reaction I got from the stove brought it to about 2 degrees after checking it a little closer. I'll try 6 to see how that does.

 

[DBCOOPER]

On my skydiving board if you ask a question and had not contacted the manufacture you would get nothing but crap from everybody, so I did what I would do at dropzone.com. Here is the reply .




Dear Curtis,

The Swing setting changes how precise (or relaxed) the temperature control
is with respect to your desired set temperature.  The #1 setting is the most
precise (+/- 0.25F degrees to your set temperature) and the #9 setting is
the least precise (+/- 2.25F degrees to your set temperature).  Basically,
at a smaller number the On/Off cycling will be more frequent and at a larger
number it will be less frequent (longer time between state changes).  Every
Swing increment adds 0.25F degrees to the size of the temperature control
band.


Best Regards,
Kurt
LUX Products Corporation

 

[jtakeman]

Thanks DB,

Wished they would have put that it in the manual for the TX500e. I'll have to write that down some where. Senility will get me if I don't!