Wood Master fans

[Jason44]

I have a WM 5500 and in an effort to reduce my electric bill I was wondering if it were possible to program it so that it open the flappers 5-10 degrees before the fans turn on (instead of at the same time). That way it would pull a natural draft to maintain temp for a while and if it was not sufficient then the fans would turn on.
What do you guys think?

 

[bikeralan]

I really don't think your draft fan is costing you much

 

[Bcat22]

there's no way to do that with the stock controller. there are aftermarket controllers that can be programed to do this, but your talking several hundred dollars to save a few bucks a month. unless you add a few lengths of pipe (more money) to your stack, i doubt you would get enough draw to get a hot fire going anyway.
i looked into this in my second season with my 4400. i unhooked the blower leads and tryed to get the stove to burn without it. i found that it took a LONG time for the temperature to start coming up, and it smoked like a freight train the whole time. what did kinda work was letting the blower run first, then just leaving the flap open to finnish the cycle, but again, TONNES of smoke. i just put mine back the way it was.

sorry to rain on your parade

 

[Jason44]

Well it was just a thought. I didnt think it would be a world of savings. thanks for the input.