Monitoring opacity of smoke exhausted by wood stove and controlling wood stove based on same

A wood stove monitoring device comprising:

• a mounting flange mountable to and fittable over a chimney exhaust pipe of a wood stove, the mounting flange movably positionable vertically along the chimney exhaust pipe;
• a ring removably mountable on top of the mounting flange, the ring having an interior surface and a plurality of exterior flat surfaces, the mounting flange suitably positionable vertically along the chimney exhaust pipe so that the ring is positioned at least partially above an end of the chimney exhaust pipe;
• an optical beam source disposed on a first exterior flat surface of the exterior flat surfaces of the ring, the optical beam source generating and outputting an optical beam perpendicular to the first exterior flat surface and through a corresponding hole within the first exterior flat surface and the interior surface of the ring;
• an optical sensor disposed on a second exterior flat surface of the exterior flat surfaces of the ring opposite to the first exterior flat surface, the optical sensor linearly aligned with the optical beam source to detect the optical beam output by the optical beam source as the optical beam passes through smoke exhausted by the wood stove through the chimney exhaust pipe;
• a temperature probe disposed on a third exterior flat surface of the exterior flat surfaces of the ring and extending through the third exterior flat surface and the interior surface of the ring, the temperature probe measuring a temperature of heat exhausted by the wood stove through the chimney exhaust pipe;
• and
• processing hardware to:
• correlate the optical beam through the smoke as detected by the optical sensor to an opacity of the smoke exhausted by the wood stove through the chimney exhaust pipe;
• and
• generate a control signal based on the correlated opacity and the measured temperature, the control signal controlling the wood stove to maintain the opacity of the smoke exhausted by the wood stove through the chimney exhaust pipe below a threshold level, to increase fresh air input by a fresh air intake mechanism of the wood stove responsive to the correlated opacity being greater than the threshold for a predetermined length of time in which the measured temperature is greater than a minimum operating temperature of the wood stove, and to decrease fresh air input by the fresh air intake mechanism of the wood stove responsive to the correlated opacity being less than the threshold and the measured temperature being greater than a maximum operating temperature of the wood stove.