Wood stove run by a wall thermostat? What?

[Sconnie Burner]

Just cruising through the wood stove manufactures sites seeing whats new and getting ideas and options for a future home purchase, I came across the Quadra-fire adventure series that are run by a wall thermostat! I currently am using the 3100 steptop in my buddies house that I'm renting from him and its a great little stove. So I'm intrigued and guessing this is pellet stove like technology being applied to a wood stove.

With the III (3) series boasting a 4.0 cu ft firebox accepting 22" recommended splits, able to heat 3,500+ sq ft, and claims of 40 hr burns (we all know 12-14 would be most realistic), it even runs on a 6" flue! Its definitely an interesting set up and will be interesting to see and hear how it actually performs.

(broken link removed to http://www.quadrafire.com/Products/Adventure-III-Wood-Stove.aspx)

 

[begreen]

Very interesting. On that linked page the specifications have the Adventure III listed as 4.5 cu ft., 24" wood (but the manual says 24" max, 22" ideal). This is the biggest stove I've seen on 6" pipe by a long shot. Sounds like a good basement stove with the thermostatic control. It will be interesting to hear about average burntimes with this monster.
(broken link removed to http://www.quadrafire.com/Products/Adventure-III-Wood-Stove.aspx?page=Specifications)

 

[Smoked]

Sounds really cool. I am curious for any of the thermostatically (might be the wrong word) stoves out there, is there any chance of a very inexpensive part failing and causing an over fire that ruins the stove?

 

[begreen]

Early VC and Hearthstone stoves had thermostats. BK stoves have them now. Nestor Martin and a few others have added this type of control, but this is the first time I've seen a 4.5 cu ft stove with a 6" collar. The thermostatic control is icing on the cake if it works well. Looks very similar to Dan McFarland's Smart Stove control. http://inveninc.com/

 

[Sawmonkey]

This stove has a control board, and is ran by two thermocouples ran into each side of the firebox. When it calls for heat based on you programed temp, it opens the air control automatically. Tells ya when to re load the stove and if its overfiring. So all in all, seems like it's design is that of a pellet stove. It's pretty interesting.

 

[Oldman47]

Does it have a fail-safe condition when the power fails?

 

[Sawmonkey]

6d cell battery backup, they say it will run on the batteries for 30 days, but its not enough to power the fan.

 

[begreen]

Wondering how it avoids smoldering when there is no demand for heat. Normally that is cat territory.

 

[blades]

Early VC and Hearthstone stoves had thermostats. BK stoves have them now. Nestor Martin and a few others have added this type of control, but this is the first time I've seen a 4.5 cu ft stove with a 6" collar. The thermostatic control is icing on the cake if it works well. Looks very similar to Dan McFarland's Smart Stove control. http://inveninc.com/

Maybe Dan made a deal?

 

[Sconnie Burner]

Wondering how it avoids smoldering when there is no demand for heat. Normally that is cat territory.

I was wondering that as well. My guess is it shuts down to a minimum like all other tube stoves so it's still going to push a little heat even on the minimum temp. I see it working better as a basement install with the stat on the upper level or a larger home better than a small space. I know in my situation right now I have to have the basement family room (stove location) 80-85 at times to get the upstairs to 72 depending on outside temps, with fans moving air. So it would work great for my situation. Not having to run up and down strairs in the morning to get the air controls settled in would be great But then again I like to fiddle with the stove in the evenings and on weekends.....

 

[Jags]

Very neat stuff. 4.5 cuft? Me likey.

Local dealer pricing is 35 hunnert.

 

[Highbeam]

Wondering how it avoids smoldering when there is no demand for heat. Normally that is cat territory.

The thermostat likely only adjusts the stt from 400-700. Hardly "idle" which will keep it clean burning. This is innovation. I can't wait to hear the reports from users.

Bk went the other way and took numbers off of their thermostat.

Does it have a fail-safe condition when the power fails?

The way bk does it is that a broken thermostat slams closed. The applied power of the thermostat acts to open a normally closed valve which will fall closed when that power is removed.

For 3500$ I'd just buy a king.

 

[begreen]

The thermostat adjusts room temperature, there isn't a readout for firebox temp. It appears to work more like Dan McFarlland's Smart Stove or the Nestor Martin control, but that is just a guess. Not sure if there are servos on primary and secondary air or just one of these. 4.5 cu ft load on a 6" stack is a first and one that the BKK can't match.

 

[MishMouse]

A 4.5 stove that has smart capabilities with a 40 hour burn time that works on a 6" pipe, wow!

 

[begreen]

It will be interesting to hear the first season reports on this series of stoves.

 

[Jags]

Only down side I see is "pedestal", Dang it.

 

[Highbeam]

The thermostat adjusts room temperature, there isn't a readout for firebox temp. It appears to work more like Dan McFarlland's Smart Stove or the Nestor Martin control, but that is just a guess. Not sure if there are servos on primary and secondary air or just one of these. 4.5 cu ft load on a 6" stack is a first and one that the BKK can't match.

Of course it measures room temp. The only control it has is to command the stove to run between about 400 and 700 without polluting or overfiring.

 

[begreen]

It may be able to run the stove top temp a bit lower. Hard to say without running one first. Yes, it wouldn't surprise me it if polluted more at low temps. This is what you found with your stove too, right?

 

[Highbeam]

It may be able to run the stove top temp a bit lower. Hard to say without running one first. Yes, it wouldn't surprise me it if polluted more at low temps. This is what you found with your stove too, right?

On my cat stove, a different animal, I was getting some smoke at low settings with the old ceramic cat. So far with this steel cat the smoke has gone away which corresponds with the epa testing that low rates are cleaner with a cat.

There is no way that a big noncat will burn cleanly at anything less than a mild roar with flames in the box and hot stove temps. So while I appreciate the new tech of this quad, I know that the thermostat will only be able to switch between high and higher output. Unlike a furnace which can cycle on/off or high/low. The marketing leads you to believe that, like a furnace, the stove will not overheat the room.

 

[begreen]

In winter that may work fine as long as the stove is sized right to the heat load and loss of the house. The majority of people heat successfully with non-cat stoves. This should be a nice improvement for some. We had a thermostatically controlled Resolute in a fairly small house. It worked pretty well at controlling room temp swing in spite of the radiant stove being in a small space.

 

[Ash]

There is no way that a big noncat will burn cleanly at anything less than a mild roar with flames in the box and hot stove temps. So while I appreciate the new tech of this quad, I know that the thermostat will only be able to switch between high and higher output. Unlike a furnace which can cycle on/off or high/low. The marketing leads you to believe that, like a furnace, the stove will not overheat the room.

Your making assumptions and claims on this stove without any real knowledge of it. Time will tell how it performs.

 

[Sconnie Burner]

I believe it to be no different than any other epa approved stove in the fact that it can only be closed off to a certain point. But with a thermostat that opens the air controls towards the end of a burn on a call for more heat, I can imagine there will be less coal build up to contend with vs the manual stoves. Temps swings could/should be minimized as well. I agree it isn't going to be a perfect science but it should help get more and longer outputs of heat out of each load of wood! Just like anything new, it needs to be put into some homes to get some real world testing in an array of variables.

 

[Highbeam]

Your making assumptions and claims on this stove without any real knowledge of it. Time will tell how it performs.

No poop Sherlock. Nobody has the stove, all we have is vague marketing and as stove enthusiasts we try and fill in the blanks. We can also assume or guess that the actual firebox volume and burntime will be much less than advertised. Are you going to go through this entire thread and tell each person that they are dumb for making educated guesses about unreleased specifications or just me?

 

[begreen]

The specs and manuals are published. We can know the usable firebox area is less than marketing total by measuring up the firebrick pattern, though it's unknown how much in front of the firebrick, close to the glass, that the stove can be loaded. The working capacity looks to be about 3.75-4.0 cu ft.. Burn times and sq ft heated are always speculative due to the variables involved. Same for any stove.

 

[Ash]

No poop Sherlock. Nobody has the stove, all we have is vague marketing and as stove enthusiasts we try and fill in the blanks. We can also assume or guess that the actual firebox volume and burntime will be much less than advertised. Are you going to go through this entire thread and tell each person that they are dumb for making educated guesses about unreleased specifications or just me?

Just you.
" I know that the thermostat will only able able to switch between high and higher output"
When you make a statement like that it doesn't sound like an educated guess, more like a fact.