By: Kenbod On: Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:49 pm
This is a stove? I understand the Coal-trols work pretty well and probably pay for themselves over time. But, if you want to do some riggin', well, for sure, there are guys on this site who can help you!
The simplest approach would be to steal a page from the coal stoker boiler play book. The set-up is pretty simple, incredibly simple. You need a thermostat and a repeat cycle timer. The combustion fan stays "on" all time. The power to the stoker splits and travels through one (or both, that part doesn't matter) or the other wire. The first wire goes to your 120v (line voltage) thermostat and then on to the stoker. As the long as the room is below the temp setting, the stoker will run how you set it. If, however, the room is warm and the thermostat is satisfied, no current flow on that limb. Power is always on the other limb with the repeat cycle timer. The unit cycles on and off according to your setting just enough to keep the fire burning. My boiler cycles about 1min out of 10min. It works pretty well.