which thermostat for my St Croix?

[Xena]

I would like to replace the little plastic piece of junk basic thermostat
that came with my pellet stove with a better quality programmable
thermostat if possible. Any suggestions from anyone who is knowledgeable
about thermostats most appreciated!

 

[stoveguy2esw]

skytech makes some nice stats , they are pricy though. i would hesitate suggesting a model as i really am not familiar with your unit or its requirements. i will say though that when i dealt with their service department they were absolutely first rate at getting an issue resolved, you might google them and see if you can find contact info. if ya want i'll see if i can dig up their CS number and shoot it to ya.

other than them , i dont deal with anyone else's so im kinda a 1 trick pony on this thread.

UPDATE: i forgot , i have one here at the house,(DUHHH) i just grabbed the manual from it (its a 3001 model) the contact number they list on the manual's warranty page is 888-672-8929 or 219-459-1703 (canadian callers need to call 877-472-3923) Website is www.skytechsystem.com hope this helps ya

 

[Xena]

Thanks for the input Mike. Maybe I should call St Croix
and ask them what is compatible before I shop around.

I was hoping one of our members who carry st croix stoves
in their shop would have some info for me. It's summertime
so I don't expect many responses until the weekend.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

ok, yeah calling st croix may be a good idea, if you dont get an answer from anyone though , call that toll free number , they were excellent with me , im sure they would have the data onhand , they do for our stuff.

 

[mkmh]

Hi Zeta,

I hooked my Hastings up to a basic ritetemp 7 day programmable thermostats.
http://www.ritetemp-thermostats.com/6020.html

I got it for about 35 bucks at home depot. Pretty easy to install and it has worked well for 3 years. The only "tricky" part was I had to relocate a jumper on my control board to make it thermostat compatible. It was fairly well documented in the manual so it wasn't a big deal.

Good luck!

 

[ylomnstr]

That thermostat must have like 10 inputs in the back. Since the Hastings only has the red and black connectors, where do they actually connect to the thermostat? R? G? etc...... Thanks!

Hi Zeta,

I hooked my Hastings up to a basic ritetemp 7 day programmable thermostats.
http://www.ritetemp-thermostats.com/6020.html

I got it for about 35 bucks at home depot. Pretty easy to install and it has worked well for 3 years. The only "tricky" part was I had to relocate a jumper on my control board to make it thermostat compatible. It was fairly well documented in the manual so it wasn't a big deal.

Good luck!

 

[mkmh]

RH & W

 

[ylomnstr]

So the black connector from the stove to W on the thermostat and red on stove to RH on thermostat?

RH & W

 

[seige101]

[quote author="ylomnstr" date="1216793590"]So the black connector from the stove to W on the thermostat and red on stove to RH on thermostat?

Either one to either one. The thermostat is just acting as a switch.

 

[drew_351]

RH & W

Are you running your Hastings stove on SmartStat? If so, does it still work well with a thermostat? I was debating replacing the cheap one that came with it, but I was not sure if it would make the unit turn on and off too often.

 

[ylomnstr]

Mine is running off a wireless programable thermostat on SmartStat mode. Works like a charm.

 

[mkmh]

RH & W

Are you running your Hastings stove on SmartStat? If so, does it still work well with a thermostat? I was debating replacing the cheap one that came with it, but I was not sure if it would make the unit turn on and off too often.

I have mine programmed in such a way to minimize cycling. It is programmed to drop to a temp of 50 at 10 PM, which basically causes to shut down. Then it is set to come up to 80 at 430 AM....and hold that temp 'till 11 AM when it throttles down to 50 again (shut down). Then back on at 5 PM (80 degrees).

I tend to start overriding the program as we get deeper into winter, and it makes sense to keep it on through the night. Lots of different theories on what is the most efficient, and I think it boils down to preference. Having said that, I would definitely make sure you minimize the number of start-ups per day. More than 3 or 4 per day, and you will most likely end up burning through igniters. I just past 4 years with my stove and i'm on the original igniter (original everything actually -- knock wood!)

 

[Skinn]

I am running my St. Croix Hastings off of a Sky Tech wireless thermostat. As was said they are a little pricey but work great. If you don't need the wireless capability then you could save a lot of money and just get a programmable from lowes. Your stove should run off of any of the typical units that they sell. I am running mine on smartstat right now with the programmable skytech and I have cut my pellet usage way down as I only have it running when I need it to be. I would say that for me the thermostat that I got was a great investment however if I could have easily ran wiring to where I wanted my thermostat I could have been just as well off with a $40 programmable from lowes.

 

[drew_351]

Any advise on what heat level number helps have the least number of startups? I have a pretty small home (1100 sq. ft.) and right now the unit will start up and shut all the way down after 1 hour of sitting idle (I have the smartstat turned on) but will then kick on again later once the thermostat kicks in...would it not do this as often if I turn down the heat level on the unit? I have it set on 3 right now because I was told it burns better on the higher settings than lower. I am a newbee on this so any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[mkmh]

Any advise on what heat level number helps have the least number of startups? I have a pretty small home (1100 sq. ft.) and right now the unit will start up and shut all the way down after 1 hour of sitting idle (I have the smartstat turned on) but will then kick on again later once the thermostat kicks in...would it not do this as often if I turn down the heat level on the unit? I have it set on 3 right now because I was told it burns better on the higher settings than lower. I am a newbee on this so any help is appreciated. Thanks.

On my stove, settings 2 and 3 have always seemed to produce the best burns. I very seldom go up into the 4 to 5 range, unless i'm trying to clean things out a bit.
You might want to consider switching over to manual mode until you get a T-Stat hooked up. Try running on 2 and just keep an eye on the inside temp as well as the forecast. You can throttle it down to the very lowest setting (1-4) by adjusting auger trim while on the number one setting. This will feed just enough pellets into the pot to keep the fire going and produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 5000 btus per hour.
Details on the settings are on page 6 of the manual.