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Session 3447

Designing a Microprocessor Controlled Heater Fan for a Fireplace

Mohammad Fotouhi, Ali Eydgahi, Robert McCulley

University of Maryland Eastern Shore Princess Anne, MD 21853

Abstract

This Paper describes the details of an undergraduate design project completed as part of the final senior design class for the Electrical Engineering Technology Program at University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The objective of this project was to use a PIC 16C622 microprocessor to control the speed of a fan depending on the temperature sensed just below the mantel of a fireplace. The PIC 16C622 was chosen because of its ease of programming, low cost, and compatibility with other components in the projects circuit. The student designed a complete circuit and developed a program to control the fan speed for a fireplace.

Introduction

The undergraduate major of Electronic Engineering Technology at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore requires each student to complete a design course1-5. The speed control of a fan dependent on temperature was one of the projects offered in this course.

The justification of this project was the need for this product in the consumer electronics industry. There is no product currently on the market that can be integrated into a consumer fireplace that will vary the fan speed according to the temperature below the mantel of the fireplace. When a fireplace is initially loaded with wood and started, the temperature below the mantel is at room temperature and there is no need to run the fan. As the wood begins to burn, the temperature below the mantel rises from room temperature (70 degrees F) to as high as 160 degrees F. At this point, over 70% of the heat is wasted behind the firebox and absorbed into the wall. This is the condition that a fan is needed to push the heat out of the firebox, away from the wall, and into the house. Likewise, when the fire burns out, the temperature begins to drop and there is no need to continue to run the fan after the temperature drops back to 70 degrees. It was therefore decided to develop a product that will control the fan to begin running at 50% speed at 90 Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition

Copyright © 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Eydgahi, A., & Nagchaudhuri, A. (2004, June), Designing A Microprocessor Controlled Heater Fan For A Fireplace Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13379