Alaska Furnace Question

Can anyone tell me if the draft blower on an Alaska 140 slows down when it is on an idle burn not calling for heat. I am building a furnace out of my hearth model stove. I built a control box to control high and low burn when the thermostat calls for heat, but now I am wondering if the blower should slow down also so it isn't just cooling down the stove.

After looking at other pictures it looks like my burner and a 140 burner are very similar mine is a half moon paddle feed. I am planning on mounting a separate squirrel cage blower on it and doing away with the Alaska factory one since the stove is cut apart in pieces now it is easy to get at. My only concern is to much air at an idle and burning up my coal to quickly when not calling for heat. Any thoughts on this would help. Thanks.

Other folks have done what you are talking about. They run the fan at half speed at idle and full speed on thermostat calls. They say it burns the coal more thoroughly and keeps the stove at a higher temp between calls for heat so it recovers quicker when the 'stat does call for heat.

Thanks for the reply. That's what I was wondering I stopped at the used electrical place this afternoon they had a three speed motor control so I picked it up to add to my control box. Hopefully it all works out like I hope.

My 140 doesn't slow the combustion motor at an idle. It only slows the coal feed rate. The combustion motor always spins at the same speed regardless of what the thermostat is calling for.

Thanks for the info. Maybe I don't need to mess with mine then just run it like it is.