I was wondering if anyone had any tips on reading values from a thermocouple?
My wife and I live about 50km out of municipal boundaries and consequently only have no natural gas service which limits us to heating by hydro of wood stove.
Hydro being ridiculously expensive in Ontario has lead us to heat primarily by wood. The downside to this is that the basement gets up to 35 celcius, living room 23, and bedrooms 16. (16 is not a comfortable sleeping environment)
I've used an arduino to read the temps in various rooms (including the 'wood stove' room) using 1 wire sensors and start/stop/open/close a series of fan & dampers on both the send & return ductwork to evenly distribute heat throughout the house.
I'm now hoping to monitor flue temp from upstairs since we spend all of our time up there (basement is "scary" and not a good living environment - 5'5" ceiling)
I've not be able to get a reading off of one yet and was hoping someone may have some pointers.
Also wondering if anyone knows where I might be able to find one that can be used up to 1600 farenheit.
16C is pretty cold for a bedroom. My bedroom is generally about 22C in the summer and that is not too bad. When it gets to about 26C then it is too warm.
If my room was at 16C then I would be cold all the time!
Also wondering if anyone knows where I might be able to find one that can be used up to 1600 farenheit.
Omega engineering is a very large industrial supplier of thermocouples and most other kinds of temperature sensors. They are not hobbyist type pricing however and often you can find better prices either new or used on E-bay. However the omega site is great for reference information as they have extensive application and datasheets, plus general information about measuring temperatures.
Keep in mind that thermocouples have two properties that determine that maximum temperature they can operate at. The first is the basic metal properties of the wire used for J or K or other type couples, this is the highest possible temperature they can measure before melting. The second lower limit is the insulation properties that are used in any specific thermocouple you might obtain. You must know the maximum temp you will be subjecting the couple to and the maximum temperature rating of the insulation used in the specific couple you select.
That AD595 chip is expensive but nice as it has the cold junction compensation built in. If you use it I recommend mounting a large heat sink to it. it's not for removing heat but for temperature stability.
Linear has a similar part LTKA00CN8 that is cheaper.