Now that I can measure the temperature, I also need a way to control the smoker. Like most basic smokers, my Char-griller has an offset firebox with an adjustable damper; the fire has an abundance of fuel, and heat output is controlled by adjusting the amount of oxygen available.
One option would be to rig a servo motor to the damper to adjust its position. However, that would make for a pretty complicated system since the servo would have to be located far from the heat of the firebox and the linkages would need to be heat-resistant.
Another option is to use a fan to control airflow. By adjusting the speed of the fan, I could control the flow of air and the heat of the fire. Given the design of most fans, air would still be able to pass through with the fan stopped, so I'd need some sort of flap to effectively shut off the airflow.
One nice benefit of the fan approach is that I can create more airflow than I could with just an open damper, a nice bonus when the smoker needs to heat up quickly after I opened the lid to sneak a peek.
As with the servo approach, the fan will need to be protected from the heat. For that I can mount the fan at the end of a long duct, and the duct can extend down from the firebox to further minimize heat exposure.
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