WiFi/app thermometer solution for stove pipe probe temperatures- plug and play under $150

[hailingsummer]

Second time posting, and new to wood stoves since we bought this house 3 years ago.

I just wanted to share what I just started using to monitor my wood stove double wall pipe temperatures with my phone. I didn’t want to mess with a raspberry Pi or other DIY thing. Just wanted something that worked and was less than $150.

I ordered this SafeSense TempTouch 1 channel thermocouple sensor from Amazon https://a.co/d/8znr4PU for $100+tax. I couldn’t find the same exact one without the probe included (other models don’t have the holes for connecting a sensor) . This probe is a beaded type probe with a lower temperature range that wouldn’t work for stovepipe so do not try that. Repurpose or discard the included probe.

For the stove pipe probe, I ordered from auber, the k type probe with the mini connector. $20 plus shipping ($10 from Florida to WA) https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=291

I got the probe installed late last night, and built a fire in the stove today. The setup worked perfectly! I’m very pleased. It’s possible to set alerts but I haven’t used that yet.

The little blue glow on the ceiling in the second photo is from the temp touch unit, which is plugged in. It has a battery but if it’s plugged in you can refresh the temperature reading in the app anytime you want. Otherwise the most frequently it checks the temperature is every 15 min to save battery. I installed the probe on the backside of the stovepipe and I like that I can’t even see any of the extra stuff looking straight at the stove alcove.

Wood stove is a 20+ year old Country Stove ST310. It was looking pretty rough when we bought the house 3 years ago. We had it repainted 😍, and I purchased a new fan with thermostat for it last year. The year before, I figured out that the secondary burn tubes weren’t installed correctly and the firebrick was also not installed per instructions. Got new baffle bricks and blanket and replaced broken firebricks and reinstalled. I love watching the fire dance (see short slow motion clip, if it works).

 

[Citationls]

Is this setup still working for you? I am looking to remotely monitor my flue temps while I am home and cant seem to find any simple plug and play products with data logging through a phone app.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Second time posting, and new to wood stoves since we bought this house 3 years ago.

I just wanted to share what I just started using to monitor my wood stove double wall pipe temperatures with my phone. I didn’t want to mess with a raspberry Pi or other DIY thing. Just wanted something that worked and was less than $150.

I ordered this SafeSense TempTouch 1 channel thermocouple sensor from Amazon https://a.co/d/8znr4PU for $100+tax. I couldn’t find the same exact one without the probe included (other models don’t have the holes for connecting a sensor) . This probe is a beaded type probe with a lower temperature range that wouldn’t work for stovepipe so do not try that. Repurpose or discard the included probe.

For the stove pipe probe, I ordered from auber, the k type probe with the mini connector. $20 plus shipping ($10 from Florida to WA) https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=291

I got the probe installed late last night, and built a fire in the stove today. The setup worked perfectly! I’m very pleased. It’s possible to set alerts but I haven’t used that yet.

The little blue glow on the ceiling in the second photo is from the temp touch unit, which is plugged in. It has a battery but if it’s plugged in you can refresh the temperature reading in the app anytime you want. Otherwise the most frequently it checks the temperature is every 15 min to save battery. I installed the probe on the backside of the stovepipe and I like that I can’t even see any of the extra stuff looking straight at the stove alcove.

Wood stove is a 20+ year old Country Stove ST310. It was looking pretty rough when we bought the house 3 years ago. We had it repainted 😍, and I purchased a new fan with thermostat for it last year. The year before, I figured out that the secondary burn tubes weren’t installed correctly and the firebrick was also not installed per instructions. Got new baffle bricks and blanket and replaced broken firebricks and reinstalled. I love watching the fire dance (see short slow motion clip, if it works).

INKBIRD Wireless Grill Thermometer WiFi & Bluetooth IBBQ-4BW

INKBIRD IBBQ-4BW is a professional barbecue thermometer. The thermometer supports WiFi and Bluetooth connections to remotely monitor the progress of the barbecue. It also supports temperature calibration, timing and temperature alarm. This one has almost every feature you could ever need.

www.inkbird.com

Would something like this work? Do you need to insert it right into the pipe? I'm not sure if that is allowed anyway.

 

[hailingsummer]

Is this setup still working for you? I am looking to remotely monitor my flue temps while I am home and cant seem to find any simple plug and play products with data logging through a phone app.

Yes! It works great! We did have a power outage for a day and a half so while that was going on it was only accessible by Bluetooth but otherwise it works perfectly for what I need!

 

[hailingsummer]

INKBIRD Wireless Grill Thermometer WiFi & Bluetooth IBBQ-4BW

INKBIRD IBBQ-4BW is a professional barbecue thermometer. The thermometer supports WiFi and Bluetooth connections to remotely monitor the progress of the barbecue. It also supports temperature calibration, timing and temperature alarm. This one has almost every feature you could ever need.

www.inkbird.com

Would something like this work? Do you need to insert it right into the pipe? I'm not sure if that is allowed anyway.

The problem with BBQ probes in general is that they don’t have a high enough operating temperature. This one only goes up to 482* for continuous monitoring. 500 something for short term monitoring. Gasses inside a wood stove pipe can range much much higher.

For single wall pipe it’s less important to have it inserted into the pipe, but for accurate measurement on double wall pipe the probe must be inserted far enough into the pipe to measure the gasses inside the pipe (through both layers of pipe wall and maybe an inch or two beyond toward the center of the pipe).

 

[Citationls]

Yes! It works great! We did have a power outage for a day and a half so while that was going on it was only accessible by Bluetooth but otherwise it works perfectly for what I need!

Good to hear! I'll give it a whirl

 

[hailingsummer]

Good to hear! I'll give it a whirl

Let me know how it goes for you!

 

[begreen]

These people might be worth contacting. They claim a 900º temp limit.

Better cooking starts here

New! 2nd Gen Predictive Thermometer – 8 sensors • 900ºF • WiFi Enabled.

combustion.inc

Or contact Auber and ask if their WiFi BBQ controller can be adapted to a higher temp K-probe

WIFI BBQ Temp Controller, 3-Probe, 2nd Gen, w/o blower [SYL-3615] - $159.99 : Auber Instruments, Inc., Temperature control solutions for home and industry

Auber Instruments, Inc. WIFI BBQ Temp Controller, 3-Probe, 2nd Gen, w/o blower [SYL-3615] - New product release! Auber’s 2nd generation Wi-Fi BBQ controller SYL-3615. Note: Blower is not included in this listing. For combo sets with blower, please find the link here. Auber’s SYL-3615 Wi-Fi BBQ...

www.auberins.com

 

[stoveliker]

But that one is $60 more than the one mentioned above...

 

[begreen]

Just presenting options, not promoting any particular solution. Sometimes the cheapest is not the best solution and sometimes it is.

 

[hailingsummer]

These people might be worth contacting. They claim a 900º temp limit.

Better cooking starts here

New! 2nd Gen Predictive Thermometer – 8 sensors • 900ºF • WiFi Enabled.

combustion.inc

Or contact Auber and ask if their WiFi BBQ controller can be adapted to a higher temp K-probe

WIFI BBQ Temp Controller, 3-Probe, 2nd Gen, w/o blower [SYL-3615] - $159.99 : Auber Instruments, Inc., Temperature control solutions for home and industry

Auber Instruments, Inc. WIFI BBQ Temp Controller, 3-Probe, 2nd Gen, w/o blower [SYL-3615] - New product release! Auber’s 2nd generation Wi-Fi BBQ controller SYL-3615. Note: Blower is not included in this listing. For combo sets with blower, please find the link here. Auber’s SYL-3615 Wi-Fi BBQ...

www.auberins.com

That combustion inc one looks pretty slick! If I didn’t mind spending more $ and also having to mess with remembering to remove the probe and charge it after each use, it would be tempting!

One drawback to my setup is not having an external display (which both of the products you linked do), but so far I don’t mind checking the app on my phone. But it definitely could be a requirement for some people! Thanks!

 

[Citationls]

I ended up getting a ThermoWorks Smoke thermometer with the Gateway addition because I wanted something with 2 seperate probes. In total it was around $200. I am able to monitor temps anywhere from my phone though which is helpful. I'm tracking flue temp and plenum temp.

 

[Fargo]

I purchased the SafeSense sensor a few weeks ago as well. I have a double wall stove pipe and I just used an aligator clip to hold the included beaded thermocouple wire between the 2 walls of the stove pipe. (There is a small 1/4" gap between the two walls were the pipe is attached to the stove. I just stuck the sensor up between the 2 walls maybe about 1" and held it in place with the clip). So far this has worked well for me. I'm sure my temps would be more accurate if I got a probe that actually went into the pipe, but the sensor seems to respond pretty quickly to changes in the damper control. So I think my temps are reasonably accurate. At least accurate enough to see movement when I adjust the damper and accurate enough that I can set an alarm if my pipe gets hotter or cooler than I wanted.

I like that the sensor itself also records room temp. So I know my stove pipe temp, as well as my room temp, and humidity all on one screen. I do wish I could plug in one more probe as I'd love to have an additional reading on the cat probe. Knowing the pipe temp helps to know when I'm in the "Active Zone" but it would be nice if I could have another probe right on the cat. But then again, I'd loose the manual BlazeKing probe there. And sometimes good old analog is better. So I'll use my setup as I have it.

The primary purpose for my sensor was to warn me of over fire and also when the cat temps drop too low and I fall out of the active zone. So this setup basically does that. It could be better on low end because the pipe cools faster than the cat. But at lease I have some warning when its getting in that area. Overall, for $100 I'm happy with this setup. I'm a first time stove user, so we'll see if anything changes as I get more experience with my stove.