Many heaters use a mechanical type thermostat which is a simple bi-metallic bar that bends with heat and makes or breaks a circuit. These are terrible for comfort because you are too hot when on and too cold when off. The digital control ones are not much better. They are either on or off.
So I made my own what I call 'temperature controlled power'. It works like this. You set a temp of say 21c. At 20c maximum power is applied to say a 1000 watt heater. At 20.5c power applied becomes 500 watt and so on. Proportional power is applied according to the temperature. If the temp reaches 21c the heater would turn off. Practically what happens is that the ambient temp in the heated space stays between 20c and 21c.
While it works perfectly I have ended up with a birds nest of wires. I want something more compact so I am looking for a commercial product which will do the same thing and I wont have a jumble of wires.
I think RS Components stock number 188-5165 temperature controller may do the job. This has an SSR output as well as a ordinary relay output. I have not been able to find out yet if the output of the SSR is zero crossing or phase control. I am guessing it would be zero crossing as most are. Then all you have to do is apply PWM to the SSR input .
So does anybody on this forum know of a good commercial product that will have 'temperature controlled power'. I guess its easy to see why mechanical thermostats dominate the market because of the cost of 188-5165 for example. My own circuit is very simple and should be able to be made commercially fairly cheaply.
So I made my own what I call 'temperature controlled power'. It works like this. You set a temp of say 21c. At 20c maximum power is applied to say a 1000 watt heater. At 20.5c power applied becomes 500 watt and so on. Proportional power is applied according to the temperature. If the temp reaches 21c the heater would turn off. Practically what happens is that the ambient temp in the heated space stays between 20c and 21c.
While it works perfectly I have ended up with a birds nest of wires. I want something more compact so I am looking for a commercial product which will do the same thing and I wont have a jumble of wires.
I think RS Components stock number 188-5165 temperature controller may do the job. This has an SSR output as well as a ordinary relay output. I have not been able to find out yet if the output of the SSR is zero crossing or phase control. I am guessing it would be zero crossing as most are. Then all you have to do is apply PWM to the SSR input .
So does anybody on this forum know of a good commercial product that will have 'temperature controlled power'. I guess its easy to see why mechanical thermostats dominate the market because of the cost of 188-5165 for example. My own circuit is very simple and should be able to be made commercially fairly cheaply.