Magic Heat Reclaimer

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24vcummns98

Member
Oct 24, 2015
66
Northern VA
Hey guys I'm sure there has been a post or two on these things. Any opinions?

I received one for christmas wanting to make sure it's worth to install. Do not want to walk myself into potential issues.

Running a woodstock hybrid stove.
 
Hey guys I'm sure there has been a post or two on these things. Any opinions?

I received one for christmas wanting to make sure it's worth to install. Do not want to walk myself into potential issues.

Running a woodstock hybrid stove.

From what I've read on the forum, they are a creosote-magnet. A quick search will pull up LOTS of threads about em'. ;)
 
Definitely should not be put on a modern stove's flue. Personally I wouldn't put it on any flue.
 
Do not use it!
 
The only thing these contraptions do is produce gobs of creosote. They are not intended to be used on a modern stove.
I have one on my garage stove, simply a glorified barrel stove. The reclaimed will only run if you air is wide open, otherwise the thermostat shuts it down. It's very disappointing even on an old wide open stove! Skip it..
 
The stove is the heater, the flue system is the engine of the stove and not a primary source of heat. Both need to work at their optimum to deliver best performance.

The main issue it that in order to exchange heat (there is no magic here) it has to rob the stack of the heat. That cools down the flue gases and slows down draft. This can negatively affect stove performance and can cause creosote buildup at the top of the chimney and in the MH itself. Lastly, it's noisy which defeats the nice quiet quality of the stove. See if it can be exchanged for a nice Fiskars axe.
 
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Best invention ever ... at making creosote.
 
Besides making creosote the thing will drop the flue temp on that Woodstock too much screwing up your draft. And read the doc that came with it about what to do if the power fails to keep from frying the electrics in the thing. Most people don't have a schedule for power failures so that they can be standing there when it happens.
 
as you can tell, the opinions about the magic heat are all pretty much the same, don't use them. I've had experience using them for a season or two long ago and far far away. what they say is true about it being a creosote magnet. i never really could get it cleaned out. My brother, in upstate N.Y. has an old earth stove that he still uses one on. he swears by them but his cleaning methods probably shouldn't be repeated.....especially in this forum. while the magic heat collects or transfers heat, its primary function is movement of air. that can be accomplished other ways using box fans, ceiling fans, corner fans and just allowing plain old convection. its just not as noticeable in my opinion because the results aren't immediately felt. jmho
 
I used to have one on my old franklin stove. Because 95% of the heat went up the flue, it worked well. Don't attempt to use it on an EPA stove. You will have troubles.
 
A modern wood furnace and wood boilers are designed to steal heat from flue gasses. It's like a magic heat but the system is designed for it.
 
When that stove is cruising there is no heat to take from the flue. With my double wall pipe I can hold my hand on it during the middle of the burn cycle.
 
I had one of those for a short time years and years ago. i used two magnetic stovepipe thermometers to monitor the temperature differences going in and out, about 6" before and 6" after the unit. There was a noticeable difference in temperatures. After a month or so I removed it to inspect what it looked like inside. This is what I saw. I packaged it up and its been sitting in my conex box ever since, unused.
2u46hap.jpg


2u46hap.jpg
 
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