Ok, I didn't know where to put this post so I just went with what I thought would get a lot of views, so here it goes... When I originally built my chimney I installed one of those waste heat recovery fans. I thought "hey it couldn't hurt, right?" Well the one I bought was crap and the little fan motor in it started rattling after only about a month after I started using my wood burner. I let it go for the duration of the season and when spring hit, I removed it and put in just a straight piece of pipe. What are your thoughts on these products? Do any of you use them??
Are you talking about the inline heat reclaimer that can be installed in the connector pipe? They are a creosote manufacturing appliance. As it cools your smoke/exhaust you can get excessive creosote build up in your pipe. No good. Hard to believe they are even legal.
Yep, garbage. Never take heat away from the flue. When that happens, wood tars and condensation adhere to cooled flue surfaces, allowing for the formation of creosote.
Has no place on the chimney of a modern EPA stove. It might actually "reclaim" a tiny bit of heat from an old or exempt inefficient stove that's losing 40% or more up the chimney. Spend that money on your fuel supply seasoning time. You'll get a better return on your investment.
When I first started my burning career I bought one of those to put on my Ashley Wondercoal...which, had I been burning dry wood, might have wasted enough heat up the flue to make it work "ok"...but I had "seasoned" wood and that heat reclaimer would plug up regularly...I still have the piece of scrap (for some reason) want it?
Kind of the same opinion on all of them. Yeah, you'll get some "additional" heat from them but is it worth it? Not really. I had one on a barrel stove in a garage years ago and yes, it did help. I would not even consider putting one on a epa stove. The benefit of dry wood will be your best option. Depending on the chimney setup, a stove pipe damper would work wondesr also.
Yep, that is exactly what I was talking about. There are 2 of them on the market and I had the other one. I don't think I want one, then. You can keep it yooperdave
Actually, it was back in the late 80's when that was used. That setup stayed in the garage for the ex's current husband!
The first time I saw one was in 1976. At first I thought perhaps it was a good idea but after I left that guy's place I thought more about it and really began to wonder. About a month later I stopped to see him and see how his heating wonder worked. He hated it! Although he loved it at first (who wouldn't like the extra heat?), he found it plugged within a week. Took the time to clean it good and the next time it plugged in 5 days. It was no longer there when I stopped in. I think he threw it into the junk but we were taught a big lesson. No, nobody should use one. Better to give the time for wood to dry good as you'll get even more heat then rather than trying to recover some lost heat.
