Turning on and off monitor heater?

[calebxx12]

Hey all, I am pretty new to K1 heaters, we have a MPI Monitor 422.

Is it bad to turn it on and off when we aren't using it? What is the most efficient way to use it?

[HayZee518]

Ideally if you can set it to turn down during the night and up during the daylight hours, it would be befeficial.
But if you just want it off, then press the on-off button but don't unplug the heater.
When you turn it back on, you'll be presented with 88:88 showing. Just press TEMP/TIME and if your setpoint is ok, press SET - the heater will be set to run if the thermister reads a temperature less than your setpoint. An overshoot of 2 or 4 degrees is normal.

[hawkins111]

If you can handle a little swing in your room temp you can get a much longer period between overhauls with your Monitor heater by using the Economy Plus feature. With your M422 running in the normal mode the stove will allow the room temp to go 4 degrees over the set temp before cycling off. Using the Economy Plus feature the stove will go 12 degrees over the set temp before shutting off. In addition the stove will run on Low for most of the time. What you get from the feature is a more stabilized temperature inside the stove. This also allows the stove to cycle less. Every time the stove cycles the temperatures change dramatically. It goes from hot to cool each time it reaches set temp. With Economy Plus the stove comes on and goes to low and stays there until it warms the room up to 12 degrees over the set temp. You do have to play around with the temperature to get it set to a point you can live with. In my house I set the temp at 60 and it runs up to 72 before shutting off. All this takes about two hours. This reduces the number of cycles at my house by 50 % which reduces maintenance by quit a bit. Before, I would have to service my stove about every three years. Using Economy Plus I can go 7 years before performing any combustion chamber work. As stated you will have to play around with your temp to get it right. There are houses and people that can not find a good mix and can not use the feature, but it's worth a try.

Tom

[FordMan59]

You have 4 time/temperature settings at your disposal. Try using them to your advantage for comfort and economy. I'm able to keep my home comfortable and economical most of the time only using 2 of them because of the family schedule. I have the heater set up for 64* during the hours we're in bed and 68* during awaken hours. If you want the temperature to drop down during working hours you could use a schedule such as this, getting up and ready for work, 6AM/68*, leaving for work and going to be gone all day 8AM/60*, preparing for return home, set about an hour before arrival so house can be warmed up 4:30PM/68*, preparing for bedtime and overnight comfort 10PM/64*. Before I became disabled I used a similar schedule on my 422 and often heated all winter in the Charlotte, NC region on 100 gallons or less of kerosene. If there are times when you don't want the heater on simply use the off/on switch to turn it off. During thunderstorms or during the spring/summer months I always turn off the off/on switch and unplug the heater to prevent electrical surges associated with lightning, as they can cause significant/expensive damage.

[dantm]

Hi All,

I have bought a vacation home where I have a Monitor 2400 heater installed. In the winter I'll be using this rarely so I'd like it set up to keep pipes from freezing and basically keep the house around 50-55 deg (F) while running in the most efficient mode for both the heater and the K-1 consumption.

As such, any recommendations on how I'd set this heater up? I installed a remote temperature monitoring system and set the heater at 54 deg; I notice that when it monitors around 53 deg it will kick on for about 20 minutes or so, the temperature will go up to around 54-55 and then turn off. This cycle will repeat every 2 hours with outside temperatures being around 32 deg. Obviously I'd like it to cycle less and I don't mind the overheating of the system.

Should I set it up at 50 deg and economy mode?

The other thing that worries me is that sometimes power is lost for an hour or so and in that situation the Monitor resets (from my understanding) to 50 deg temp?

Thanks.

[HayZee518]

check out response #3 from Hawkins.

[akaothermick]

This might seem off topic, but if its only used to keep the pipes from freezing, a more economical solution is to winterize the plumbing and not worry about heat a all. I have Monitors in my vacation home and I just drain and antifreeze the plumbing and forget about heat.

[calebxx12]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I tried setting times to the program to come on at different times and temperatures but I cannot figure out how to set the temperature. I can set times fine but when I hit temp button nothing happens?

[akaothermick]

The Monitor web site has the owners manuals for download, that give all the setup instructions.

[calebxx12]

Yeah I found that, I was just saying the TEMP button is not working. What should I look for to fix it?

[akaothermick]

Remove the top cover, check connection plugs, clean circuitry, clean the start switch with electrical contact cleaner, check for damage to switch, test switch with ohm meter for function,

[dantm]

This might seem off topic, but if its only used to keep the pipes from freezing, a more economical solution is to winterize the plumbing and not worry about heat a all. I have Monitors in my vacation home and I just drain and antifreeze the plumbing and forget about heat.

Yes this is a great idea but that would mean the house cannot be used throughout the winter? In our case we want to go even in the winter but more rarely...hence the desire to have the house working...

[FordMan59]

In years past I've gone out of town for a week or more during the winter and all I was concerned about while away was keeping water pipes from freezing. I'd set the temperature on the lowest possible setting, which if I recall correctly is 42*. The temperature in the house upon return would always be in the 42* range.