- Nov 14, 2012
- 15
For those of you that own a Regency GC/GCI 60 or Enviro, have you ever wondered why you are stuck with using the pre-set fan speed determined by your heat setting? I did....all the time. My GCI 60 eats pellets like a rabid dog, so I never like to go over setting 3 with the feed trim set down to 1. Yes, I have adjusted the auger feed cover just about as far down as it will go, but it still does a bag in about 10-11 hrs on setting 3. On setting three, under these conditions, the fire is quite healthy and generates some BTU's. Problem is, the fan is not moving enough air (in my opinion) for the heat output and the exiting air is quite hot. This increases component temperatures, exhaust temps and overall abuse to the combustion area. It also sends excess heat up the chimney. Why would the engineer not give the user a choice to set the fan to a higher speed if wanted? The only thing I can think of is decibel ratings. But this would be the choice of the user to leave it on auto with the lower fan speeds or crank it up to get more heat, but more sound.
Well, the other night, I was sitting in the room where the stove is and I pulled up the wiring diagram for the GCI 60. Having been in the controls/automation industry for 20 years in my prior career, I quickly came up with an independent fan controller that is external to the stove and requires zero modification to the factory wiring harness. It took me about 3 hours to slap it together with a pilot relay and a trip to Home Depot and I hit the switch. Wow, what an increase in airflow. I found out the fan speed that correlates to setting 5 is still no where near full fan speed. Setting 3 is about half fan speed. What a waste of heat energy. The stove runs so much cooler and my house is so much warmer from the same heat setting.The flue temps are still plenty hot and no where near condensing. On really cold days (15DegF) or lower, my first floor would drop down to 68 degrees on setting three. Last night, it was -3 degrees and my first floor hovered at 71-72 degrees. That is significant on a 3000 sq/ft home.
Has anybody else found this to be an issue?
Well, the other night, I was sitting in the room where the stove is and I pulled up the wiring diagram for the GCI 60. Having been in the controls/automation industry for 20 years in my prior career, I quickly came up with an independent fan controller that is external to the stove and requires zero modification to the factory wiring harness. It took me about 3 hours to slap it together with a pilot relay and a trip to Home Depot and I hit the switch. Wow, what an increase in airflow. I found out the fan speed that correlates to setting 5 is still no where near full fan speed. Setting 3 is about half fan speed. What a waste of heat energy. The stove runs so much cooler and my house is so much warmer from the same heat setting.The flue temps are still plenty hot and no where near condensing. On really cold days (15DegF) or lower, my first floor would drop down to 68 degrees on setting three. Last night, it was -3 degrees and my first floor hovered at 71-72 degrees. That is significant on a 3000 sq/ft home.
Has anybody else found this to be an issue?
