Wood Stove Digital Temperature Monitor/ Alarm
There have been several posts inquiring how to measure stove temperature/ flue temperature. There have also been a few posts inquiring about electronic digital monitor/alarms. I have had one on my stove for several years, it is made by IMS, the problem is the price, the unit costs $259 plus you also need to buy a thermocouple, add the shipping and you are talking almost $300. I searched around the web and could not find anything that could easily work for a wood stove that was reasonably priced.
So I decided to build my own. Here are some pics and a video of the first prototype. The monitor can be used with a thermocouple probe inserted in stove pipe, or a magnetic surface mount type thermocouple placed directly on the stove. A thermocouple probe responds much faster than a stick on thermometer and is much more accurate. The monitor can be set to sound an alarm if the temperature exceeds the high limit (the limits are adjustable to whatever temperatures you wish) to indicate an over-firing condition. There is also a low temperature alarm; this can be used to indicate when it is time to add more wood to the stove. If you want to get really fancy the monitor has switched outputs that could be connected to a personal pager or an auto phone dialer. Imagine that, your stove could call you when it needs you.
I have found an accurate monitor very useful, you can see right away what the fire is doing. The high temp alarm is also a great safety feature. One day I had loaded the stove up, must have been some pretty dry wood, a little while later I heard the alarm sound, (I had it set to 800*) In the minute or two it took me to go downstairs to the basement the flue temperature had gone up to about 1200*, I quickly closed the air intake and the temperature went right down, and all was well.
I am considering building a few and selling them if there is sufficient interest.
I don’t have the exact total cost yet but I expect I can sell them for somewhere between $125 and $150. I would consider letting some of the forum mods try one and give it a review. Take a look at the pics and video and let me know what you think.
There have been several posts inquiring how to measure stove temperature/ flue temperature. There have also been a few posts inquiring about electronic digital monitor/alarms. I have had one on my stove for several years, it is made by IMS, the problem is the price, the unit costs $259 plus you also need to buy a thermocouple, add the shipping and you are talking almost $300. I searched around the web and could not find anything that could easily work for a wood stove that was reasonably priced.
So I decided to build my own. Here are some pics and a video of the first prototype. The monitor can be used with a thermocouple probe inserted in stove pipe, or a magnetic surface mount type thermocouple placed directly on the stove. A thermocouple probe responds much faster than a stick on thermometer and is much more accurate. The monitor can be set to sound an alarm if the temperature exceeds the high limit (the limits are adjustable to whatever temperatures you wish) to indicate an over-firing condition. There is also a low temperature alarm; this can be used to indicate when it is time to add more wood to the stove. If you want to get really fancy the monitor has switched outputs that could be connected to a personal pager or an auto phone dialer. Imagine that, your stove could call you when it needs you.
I have found an accurate monitor very useful, you can see right away what the fire is doing. The high temp alarm is also a great safety feature. One day I had loaded the stove up, must have been some pretty dry wood, a little while later I heard the alarm sound, (I had it set to 800*) In the minute or two it took me to go downstairs to the basement the flue temperature had gone up to about 1200*, I quickly closed the air intake and the temperature went right down, and all was well.
I am considering building a few and selling them if there is sufficient interest.
I don’t have the exact total cost yet but I expect I can sell them for somewhere between $125 and $150. I would consider letting some of the forum mods try one and give it a review. Take a look at the pics and video and let me know what you think.
