Thermostat(swing) ?'s for a Quadrafire Mt Vernon Pellet Stove

[Baston8005]

I bought my Quadrafire Mt Vernon in 2004 after my avg electric bill was $600 a month from Nov to March. I own a 2200 sq ft colonial with electric baseboard, electric water heater, as primary heating. I burn 3-3.5 tons of pellets a winter heating my house at a comfy 70 degree on the 1st floor. 2nd floor is always 5-7 degrees colder but we stay downstairs except for sleeping in the winter. I find that the stove is constantly on and off with the supplied thermostat from quadrifire. It does not have a large enough temp swing.

I bought a programmable thermostat last year but didn't install it yet. My question is,what thermostat has the largest swing. The thermostat I bought has a 4 degree swing. Does this mean that if I set it for 70 degrees, It will operate the stove till it reaches 74 and shut off and pop back on at 66(8 degree temp swing) or does it mean it will shut off at 74 and come back on at 70. Is it feasible to find a thermostat with a larger swing or am I dreaming? I hope I explained what I am looking for.

 

[begreen]

This varies with the thermostat model. Some thermostats allow one to program the temp differential and others not. On the Lux thermostats one can program a fairly nice wide swing. I had mine set to about 2 degrees for the pellet stove and that worked out well.

The thermostat location is also important. It should be well away from any drafts, preferably on an interior wall and not in the same room as the stove. If the thermostat is close to the stove, that can also cause it to short cycle.

 

[Baston8005]

It's located directly behind the stove and 2 feet up. Unfortunately, when that room reaches temp none of the other rooms are up to temp yet. Is it easy to run wire for a thermostat?

 

[begreen]

Ah, that's the problem then. The thermostat is being directly influenced by the stove. Can you post a basic drawing of the floorplan showing stove location, windows and exterior doors?

It's pretty simple to relocate a thermostat, but it depends on the house layout. Thermostat wire is thin and low voltage. One can run it under the floor (if there is a crawlspace or unfinished basement below) or it's thin enough to run along a baseboard.

 

[jtp10181]

Also another thing to consider... what setting is your stove on? If you want it to run longer with gradual heat put it on LOW. If you come home and its cold and want insteat heat up put it on HI.

If you are running it on LOW and it wont maintain the temp, turn it up to MED. Basically you want it on the lowest setting where it will maintain the temp you want.

 

[Baston8005]

Ah, that's the problem then. The thermostat is being directly influenced by the stove. Can you post a basic drawing of the floorplan showing stove location, windows and exterior doors?

Walk into the house and immediately in front is the stairwell to the 2nd floor. Hall continues to the kitchen. On the left in the same hall way is the living room which is where the stove is located. Off of the kitchen and living room is the dining room with a new slider to a deck. If you where to continue down the hall from the kitchen is a family room on the right and at the end of that hall is a bathroom with an exterior door to the left to the deck. Above the kitchen/diningroom/livingroom/family room is 4 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms off of a center hall. Its your typical center staircase colonial I guess...

It's pretty simple to relocate a thermostat, but it depends on the house layout. Thermostat wire is thin and low voltage. One can run it under the floor (if there is a crawlspace or unfinished basement below) or it's thin enough to run along a baseboard.

So my best bet would be to run the wires in the basement up into the kitchen or dining room??? Your thoughts?

 

[GVA]

It's a zone heater, so keep it in the zone (same room). but locate it farther away from the stove.

 

[Baston8005]

How far away...Opposite wall, adjacent wall...1 room away. I wish the guys who installed this would know basic thermostat placement knowledge. Is that to much to ask????

 

[begreen]

This really depends on the house layout. We have an open floorplan so I placed mine in the hallway behind the stove wall. It worked very well at regulating the house temps on the first floor (zone 1 in our case). How is you floor laid out? Is it an open floorplan or is the room where the stove is located closed off from the rest of the house?

 

[Baston8005]

Walk into the house and immediately in front is the stairwell to the 2nd floor. Hall continues to the kitchen. On the left in the same hall way is the living room which is where the stove is located. Off of the kitchen and living room is the dining room with a new slider to a deck. If you where to continue down the hall from the kitchen is a family room on the right and at the end of that hall is a bathroom with an exterior door to the left to the deck. Above the kitchen/diningroom/livingroom/family room is 4 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms off of a center hall. Its your typical center staircase colonial I guess…

 

[begreen]

Is the opening to the livingroom a standard 3 ft doorway or is it much larger? On what wall of the livingroom is the stove located?

 

[Baston8005]

The living room opening from the hall has french doors(6ft) always open. The wife loves the looks of them. At the far end of the living room is the stove. It blows straight ahead to the hall where the stairway to the 2nd floor is. Facing the stove, on the right is the dining room (6ft opening). Facing the hall from standing in front of the stove, on the left is a standard opening to the kitchen with a jaug of the hall to get back to the family room and rear hall bathroom.
hope that helps...

 

[begreen]

Sort of helps. It sounds like you will get pretty good heat circulation from the stove with the two wide openings. It sounds like the thermostat will work best if it can be placed far away from the stove and not in the path of the fan's output. If you are not used to working with pulling wiring in walls, this can be a challenge. If that's the case, maybe at least running it along the baseboard to the wall in common with the hallway will help.

Where is the main thermostat for the heating system located? That might be a good spot for the stove's as well.

Is this a mercury thermostat or a digital one? If digital, you can try various locations on a long length of wire as a temporary test.

 

[Baston8005]

Sort of helps. It sounds like you will get pretty good heat circulation from the stove with the two wide openings. It sounds like the thermostat will work best if it can be placed far away from the stove and not in the path of the fan's output. If you are not used to working with pulling wiring in walls, this can be a challenge. If that's the case, maybe at least running it along the baseboard to the wall in common with the hallway will help.

Where is the main thermostat for the heating system located? That might be a good spot for the stove's as well.

Is this a mercury thermostat or a digital one? If digital, you can try various locations on a long length of wire as a temporary test.

My house has electric baseboard heating. Everyroom has a thermostat. I will never again resort to electric heat. I think I will try and relocate the wires to the dining room wall or kitchen wall. If I install it in the main hall, the exterior door is right there and the stove blows directly in to the hall before it even hits any other room.

 

[begreen]

I think I will try and relocate the wires to the dining room wall or kitchen wall. If I install it in the main hall, the exterior door is right there and the stove blows directly in to the hall before it even hits any other room.

Yes, that is my thinking as well. I like the dining room interior wall better, just to the side of the living room opening would work. Kitchens can warm up when there is a lot of baking and that can throw off the thermostat.

 

[Baston8005]

What guage wire should I use or is there a wire I can buy at a box store that will work.

 

[KeithO]

There are wireless thermostats too. You could connect the reciever at the present location and set down the transmitter wherever it works for you. See this link: (broken link removed)

A complete system is around $300, which sounds expensive, but totally eliminates cutting into drywall and running wiring etc. It is a cost save overall if you are doing a retrofit.

 

[jtp10181]

What guage wire should I use or is there a wire I can buy at a box store that will work.

18 gauge / 2 wire

Typically called "Thermostat Wire"

Any good hardware store should sell it by the foot.