What Do You Set Your Setback Temp at With a Coal-Trol?

We just installed our new LL Econo and love it so far. It is meant to be supplemental heat, but this time of year when it is not really cold out yet it has been providing most of the heat. We keep our house on the cool side anyway (habit from the price of oil the past few years). However, if I put the setback for night to 55 (like the furnace) and set it to come up to 60-65 when we get up at 5, it does get there but right about the time we're all ready to leave for work/school (7:30-8). Of course, it then takes quite awhile to cool down again after we're gone - probably fine with the cats, but of no benefit to us.

So, more experienced users, what do you all do? Would you set it to come up at say 3 and go back at maybe 6-6:30? Maybe I shouldn't set it back all the way to 55 but 60 instead? Just trying to find out wat others do to efficiently use their stoves and stay warm.

By the way, I think it would be nice to have 2 setbacks. Right now we just put it to manual when we get home until it sets back at 9 because no one is home during the day.

Mine has 4 time settings for weekday and 4 for weekend.

I wouldn't go more than 2-3 degrees on the set back, it takes quite a while to come up to temp (1-2 hours), then overshoot and long time to cool down like you said. You are not saving that much coal, then just leaving it at a certain temp.

It will maintain more constant temp if you don't have to feed it alot, then to make up the 5-8 degree difference, it will keep feeding until the temp. is satisfied and then it gets ripping.

I have mine pretty much set to 65-67 all the time. I just tap it up or down, then it will go back into auto mode at the certain time.

My Feed rate is 15-20 most of the time and maintains 67-68. I bump it up to 70 in the evening when we get home, and doesn't take that long to come up.

Do a search in this section for SETBACk
Thermostat Overshoot on a LL Pioneer Controlled by the Coal-trol

Good luck.

I too used to have big set backs but I have found that if I keep it set to 68 it will use less coal than having to heat the house (and basement for now) back up 6 - 8 degrees in the morning. the thermostat will be nice if we go out of town to set temp to 55 or so then want it warm when we get back.

I will sometimes put it Setup Mode so FEED = 10 and let it feed for 10 mins to get the heat up faster.

I wondered about doing that, Dave. I recall how fast it heated up when I lit it, but didn't know if putting it on feed while in operation would hurt anything.

Anyway, I set the night at 60 and day at 65 for a try today. Outside temp this morning was 37, ran the oil furnace 1 cycle at 65, all seemed to work very well without huge use of coal or oil. I actually have the day set to come up at 2:30 p.m. to be warming up when I get home. I turned the thermostat up to 65 manually at 5 this morning when I got up and turned it back to 60 when it hit 65 shortly after 7. That will probably work for us most mornings - the wife leaves at around 8 usually. I've had these last 2 days off, so I figured it was a good time to play with it. I guess the real test will be in the morning when the temp will drop into the 20s and we all go to work/school.