Thermostat for Blower? Englander 13

[thinkxingu]

Hello,
I coulda sworn I've seen a topic on this, but a search did not pull it up:

I bought the Englander 13 last week and fired it up the other day--it works like a champ--but I need to get the heat upstairs, so I bought the blower (should be delivered today).

Question: Is there a thermostat I can buy that will shut the blower off when the stove gets too cold/turn it on when it is at running temp?

Thanks for all your help--this is one of the best (if not THE best) forums I've ever belonged to!

SML

 

[JMF1]

I built my own blower and used what they call a thermo switch or snap switch. You can buy them at a heating/cooling supplier if you are able to wire it yourself, I think mine cost about $15.00. Also search "thermo switch" here and you should find info.

 

[cmonSTART]

I would love to do something like that with my blower.

 

[blel]

I built my own blower and used what they call a thermo switch or snap switch. You can buy them at a heating/cooling supplier if you are able to wire it yourself, I think mine cost about $15.00. Also search "thermo switch" here and you should find info.

Could you supply details on the blower you made?

 

[DiBar]

Our blower came like that although sometimes it is slow to kick on and off.

 

[thinkxingu]

OK,
So I've done some searching and I've found some line-level switches, but they all have 100 degree maximums. I think I'm looking for something that would turn on when the stove was above 200 and shut off when it dips below (or whatever temperature the stove needs to be at for the fan to be effective). Does this make sense? Is this what you have JMF1?

S

 

[BrotherBart]

Here is what I have used for 25 years. First one lasted 18.

(broken link removed to http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5SA-9600)

 

[thinkxingu]

BB,
That's exactly what I was looking for! It looks like I just plug this into the wall and the blower into this, but is 100 degrees too cold?

Thanks,

SML

 

[n6crv]

Hello this might be what you are looking for.
(broken link removed to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7575983936&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab=Watching)

Don

 

[cmonSTART]

Is the stove-stat strictly an on/off thing, or will it vary the fan speed?

 

[n6crv]

Is the stove-stat strictly an on/off thing, or will it vary the fan speed?

Just on/off. You need a rheostat to vary the speed. I wired one for the blower on my 13 and it is nice to lower the speed. I have found that I need to start at the fast or low speed then lower it down. The rheostat that I used also is a on/off switch.
Don

 

[BrotherBart]

BB,
That's exactly what I was looking for! It looks like I just plug this into the wall and the blower into this, but is 100 degrees too cold?

Thanks,

SML

100 degrees isn't cold to me. And heck, I was raised in West Texas. :lol:

 

[JMF1]

HI guys, the switch that N6CRV posted the link to is very similar to what I used. I mounted it to the inside of the blower housing so it rests against the front of the stove, just below the ashlip. I robbed this design from the original Lopi blower I had. You cant look at the specs for temp open and temp close and have your stovetop temp in mind, it would be the temp that the area below the ashlip gets to, for my stove it's just above the air control. Does that make sence? I suppose it could vary a bit from stove to stove but it seems to turn on and off at the times you would want it to. Mine has a few adjustments for the close temp and I believe 160deg was the best. It definately needs to be a "normally open" type of switch, which means it's open (no electricity flowing) until the closed temp is reached (the stove getting warmer). As the stove cools, it will shut off. I apologize for my state of mind tonite, I just got done working a 14hr day! I hope this helps.

 

[JMF1]

Is the stove-stat strictly an on/off thing, or will it vary the fan speed?

The switch is strictly to turn the blower on/off. You would need a rheostat to get variable speed. I got mine at a little hole-in-the-wall electronics shop. I tried Radio Shack but no luck. I should also include that I used 24V DC fans. My Father In law ran a motor shop and said that DC is much better for a variable speed application. The fans I found on Ebay.

 

[JMF1]

Sorry for the multiple posts.......the link BB posted looks like it'd be perfect if you have a blower already. The reason I built mine from scratch is that my original was very noisy and I wanted to improve on it if I could (a problem of mine), but I'm happy with it. The stovestat looks much more simple!

 

[velvetfoot]

I have the StoveStat too. Only for 3 years though. Works well but adds some more wire clutter. I have it on the hinge side about halfway between the two hinges on the insert.

 

[central_scrutinizer]

I think the stove stat thing is a little overboard. Your blower should already have a power cord, why add another? All you really need is a flush-mount thermostat (thermodisc) to mount to the wall of the stove. Mount it somewhere inconspicuous, but also somewhere where you will get the heat transfer you want so the blower comes on at a reasonable time.

If you so desired, you could wire your blower with a thermostat and a rheostat. Then you could control the speed of the blower after it came on, but you probably already know all this.

You can get thermostats for different temps. Common temperatures are 110, 120, and 145. Where you mount the thermostat will have a lot to do with what temperature you need. If you mount in an area that does not have much heat transfer, then I would go with the lower temp because by the time the area where the thermostat is mounted gets hot enough to trigger the thermostat, the stove will be much hotter.

Anyway, happy thermostat hunting.