Magic Heat reclaimer

I have been looking at a way to move more heat through my house. Looking at the magic Heat reclaimers. The few bad reviews I read say that if the power goes out or if it's not plugged in, the excess heat in the unit will melt the electrical and other plastic components. Anybody use the magic Heat and have any problems?

 

I found that by controlling my heat loss from my house, I have a more even temperature throughout. My house was built in 1990. Still original double pane windows. Last winter I framed in my windows and installed the shrink window film. It greatly reduced my heat loss on the second floor and helped to even out the temperature between the stove room and the rest of the house. All in, was under $50. Annual replacement of the window film is just over a buck a window. A more efficient house makes for a more efficient stove. Not exactly an answer to your question, but a solution to the problem.

 

My home was built in 1978. It is a ranch style. with the wood stove in the finished basement. All windows and doors were replaced in 2016. Also about 24 inches of insulation in the attic. My home inspection said the house might be a little too airtight. I struggle with getting warm air to the far side of the house where the bedrooms are. If I have a few good fires in a day or two it gets there eventually, but the wife is always complaining it's cold in the bedroom. It stays about 64 with regular fires.

 

my honest opinion is you should heat with your stove not your chimney pipe. by extracting heat from your flue gasses you're cooling them down and creating more creosote. these should be rebranded to magic creosote factory. your chimney is the engine that drives your stove. if you're looking to redistribute heat in your house try putting a fan on the floor and blowing cold air towards the heat, displacement should move the warm air in.

 

Those magic heats have a bad rap for a reason...nothing but trouble...btdt...they are especially bad if you have a modern stove. Or wet wood.
As stated above, put a small fan back where you want the heat...point it at the stove on low, you'll be amazed

 

some energy providers will do a home energy audit for pretty cheap. they will come in with a thermal camera and look around and give a full report typically. might be something to look into. my gut tells me something is off in your house. my house is a long ranch with the insert at one end of the house and i can still keep the bedrooms at the other end of the house warm with the insert. i even have crap insulation in the attic

 

You’ve been given good advice so I’ll just add my experience to reinforce it. I live in a raised ranch with a finished lower level. The stove is downstairs with an outside chimney and the bedrooms are right above it with an insulated floor between.
In my house if it’s not too cold out I can get good air circulation going by just opening one window a little in one of the bedrooms. As the cold air comes in warm air replaces it at ceiling level. Occasionally my wife will feel a little draft around her ankles when we do this but she’s otherwise warm.
When it’s too cold to open a window I put a small fan on the floor pointing down the hallway along the floor. Same circulation, but it requires electric power.

 

I had many problems with mine. Took it out.

 

So if you are heating from the finished basement, you are getting heat both through convection up the stairs and radiation through the floor. You might want to consider doing something to try to increase the temperature in he portion of the basement right under the bedroom. What, if anything is reducing the radiant transfer of heat from the basement to the bedroom? Insulation between the joists? A drop ceiling? Wall to wall carpeting in the bedroom? Facilitating flow of heat through the floor will likely help a lot. Also, insulating the walls of your basement will help retain heat in a place that is not normally heated to a comfortable living temperature. Not sure what temperature the floors would need to be to make the bedroom more comfortable, but I would think that given the data you provided, with the basement at 75, you should be able to ge the bedroom to at least 70. A diagram of the layout of your house would be very helpful. Also, air tight doesn’t necessarily mean well insulated. So with a 1978 house, perhaps some upgrades to wall insulation might be something to consider. I would think that the 24” of insulation in the attic would be more than sufficient.

 

This is good guidance.

 

There is no such thing as a house that is too tight.

Would something like this help? AireShare™ Transfer Fans : Room to Room Fan : Crawl Space Ventilation : Dryer Booster : Tjernlund Products, Inc.

 

Tightening of the Building Envelope in Homes
Sealing of building envelopes in all buildings is gradually advancing, but it is of particular concern in homes because homes have not traditionally been required to have mechanical ventilation. Residential buildings are therefore the focus in this paper.
There are two indoor air quality related concerns with tightening the building envelope:
(1) a tight home may not provide sufficient outdoor air ventilation to dilute indoor-generated contaminants, and
(2) a tight home may be incapable of providing make up air for exhaust fans, a clothes dryer and vented combustion equipment. The negative pressure in the home caused by these appliances can draw exhaust gasses back into the home (backdrafting), and also force air through the building envelope and create moisture/mold problems as humid air condenses within the building envelope.

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-08/documents/building_codes_and_iaq.pdf

 

I may be moving into a 2 story house eventually. I will be heating from the middle of the house(dining room)
I was thinking about cutting a hole in the 2nd floor where the master bedroom is to allow heat to rise up.
My thinking is it will work better than trying to moving heat thru a living room up a flight of stairs with a bend/stair landing and heat
the upstairs somewhat effectively. It would basically look like a cold air register on both sides.
Can you do something like that? I'm not sold on this idea yet, it's just something bouncing around my empty skull.
I figure you can always close down the register if the room gets too hot.
Angle a fan out of the bedroom into the hallway to help heat the other rooms.
Than I have heat coming from two directions. up the stairs and from the far bedroom.

 

It's always possible that those floor vents will end up having the opposite effect and become a cold air return. You would really have to understand the current flow in your house.
Also- all-things-equal, they are less good in a house fire situation.

Wood stoves really are space heaters. Everything beyond the room they are in is a bonus, but not a guarantee.

 

Yes, there are homes that don't have enough ventilation, and that is a problem. The solution is to provide controlled ventilation where needed, not to leave leak pathways uncorrected. So the house itself is not too tight.

 

excellent point, like I said empty skull...

 

Here this should solve any code problems that may arise.
Commercial and residential registers, diffusers, grilles and vent covers | 4 1/4" Horizontal/Vertical Mount Fire Damper 2602-10X4 - Smoke-Fire Damper | Registers Direct
Or something similar. Should keep all the nanny coddlers satisfied, not calling you a nanny backwoods.
But we have moved into a society that wants to bubblewrap everyone and everything for their own protection.
Plenty of century old homes have these registers and still stand, plenty burnt down. But I bet all that dried out lathe board didn't help when the fire got into the wall.
Of course they didn't have fire blocks in the wall cavities like newer homes do.