Responding to Eddy’s comment:
“The more I run my stove, the more convinced I get that a simple thermostatic draft control, that looks at flue-gas temperature and adjusts draft to maintain a setpoint, would really reduce the amount of tending that our stoves require. In particular, the need to hang around for 10-15 minutes after reloading while the new burn gets established and stabilized.”
Eddy,
Please, don't think this is shameless spam. It's not. This is the only message I've posted anywhere about this.
I completely agree. Four years ago, after six years of heating with wood and sick of babysitting the stove, I developed exactly what you’re speaking of, and it works better than I had hoped for. It’s called SmartStove (TM), an Intelligent Control System for Wood Stoves. You can see it here:
www.inveninc.com
This is the third winter I have been running various prototypes on my Napoleon 1401 insert, and it entirely eliminates all that hassle. I can start with a bed of coals, jam the box with wood, forget it for 9 hours, come back, take out some ash, level out the coals, jam it full again and it’s good for another 9 hours. No kindling!! :~) SmartStove (TM) manages the draft control and also manages the circulation fan speed to maintain a clean fire that needs ZERO babysitting between loads.
What I have found is that on the really cold nights, I can specify max heat mode. This means that when the fire is putting out lots of heat, the fans can run at max, but as the fire begins to slow, the fan speed needs to be reduced to keep from sucking so much heat out of the stove that it puts out the fire. So this is what SmartStove (TM) does. I get a lot more heat when I need it, and I no longer have to screw with the draft or fan controls – EVER. It’s load and go. We now have engineering evaluation units available, and the first stove company (need to keep that quiet) is pleased with what they are seeing. This is a product that will be integrated into the stove at the manufacturer. This is a comprehensive and feature-rich control system that includes battery backup for when you lose AC power, and it can even gently remind you when the fire is getting hungry (if you enable that feature). It also alerts you if you have left the door ajar, and the stove has become hotter than you want it to be - so your fire doesn't burn down your house. I wouldn’t dream of going back to living without this. My wife loves it too. She just throws in logs and the heat keeps coming.
By the way, if there’s anybody here that that wants to win an IPOD, we have a survey on our website. Please, take the survey and you’ll be entered into a drawing for the IPOD. We’ll announce the winner on this site when we do the drawing.
-- Dan McFarland, founder of Inven Inc.
Napoleon 1401 insert
SmartStove Control System
MTD splitter
Husq 350
Enviro Gas insert (not used because gas costs too much).