turbo charge your stove or custom stove with turbo button?

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jerseykat1

Member
Dec 19, 2010
118
North NJ
Has anyone tried to introduce forced air into there stove when the fire has died down and your left with a bunch of hot coals?

See the idea is that hot coals wont keep your stove at 600 plus degrees with just the damper open and the draft from your chimney, what if you could introduce more air using a low pressure blower that you can manually turn on or have it automatically come in when the stove temp dips below a certain paint? is there such a add on or has anyone made a custom stove with this feature.

You would likely have to load your stove more often because the coals would burn down fast, but it would be great on those really cold days when hot coals are just not enough. i think pressurized air over enough hot coals could easily bring the stove temp back up to atleast 500 degrees or maybe more. Is this unrealistic? Thought and opinions please.
 
What you have just described is a blast furnace. I wouldn't want that sort of setup unless I was literally sitting in front of it monitoring it every minute. No manufacturer would build it, that's for sure.
 
littlesmokey said:
Sounds like a super idea. Blow all that residual heat right up your stack... Go for it.
Click to expand...

sure maybe with an add on but not necessarily with a custom application.

If the forced air that is being introduced is low pressure than the risks would be minimal. Not suggesting that one puts a 5psi through there stove. Just a little bit more that what the natural draft would be. Nothing so much that it can get out of control.
 
I could be wrong . . . but growing up my parents had a wood furnace that I believe kind of worked this way . . . if the thermostat called for more heat it would use the attached blower to deliver more air . . . once the fire was going the blower would kick off . . . but as the fire burned down to coals the blower would kick on to attempt to get more heat out of the coals.
 
My great uncle had a wood burning furnace that had a blower into the firebox. I thought it was just to get the fire started but don't know for sure. But unless you are sucking the air from outside. The more air you blow into it and out the chimney the more cold air you suck into the house from outside.

Billy
 
firefighterjake said:
I could be wrong . . . but growing up my parents had a wood furnace that I believe kind of worked this way . . . if the thermostat called for more heat it would use the attached blower to deliver more air . . . once the fire was going the blower would kick off . . . but as the fire burned down to coals the blower would kick on to attempt to get more heat out of the coals.
Click to expand...

yup that's the goal.

I dont think this would be too difficult to fabricate, i may have just found myself a new project this summer.
 
Kinda like a car engine when natural aspiration won't cut it. Either add boost or spray...or both.

I don't recommend this for a wood stove though...
 
I think I've read a couple other threads on here that fall under the blast furnace category - the feedback was less than ideal. I think others will tell you of over-fire issues which create serious safety concerns. I'm sure you'll get more than a few opinions this evening when folks are home. In any event, good luck...
 
lukem said:
Kinda like a car engine when natural aspiration won't cut it. Either add boost or spray...or both.

I don't recommend this for a wood stove though...
Click to expand...

gonna put a stove scoop on (not hood scoop but stove scoop lol) and a huge centrifugal blower, should burn a hole through the floor.. lol

not so extreme. But i suppose that is the idea.
 
A lot of new wood furnaces seem to have what you are talking about. I think they call them automatic forced draft or something like that. never seen anything like it on a wood stove.

Funny that you bring up the topic, though, because I was just thinking earlier how having some sort of automatic forced air for the secondaries could be neat.
 
Basically the same principle of a downdraft gasification boiler. Only difference is that the coals lay on 3000* refractory, smoke is blown thru a slot into this refractory that has super heated air injected into it, and the whole enclosure is filled with water to prevent a meltdown of metal.
 
Open the ashpan door under the fire and you will create an incredible draft.

Incredibly hot fire.......

Incredibly dangerous if left open unnatended.......

And parts of your stove (baffle plate/grate/firebrick panels) will wear out with incredible speed.

And you can sit back and watch your furniture warm up, dry out and warp before your eyes, if that's your thing :)
 
How about adding a jet of waste vegetable oil as well? Might need to increase your clearances though...
 
littlesmokey said:
Sounds like a super idea. Blow all that residual heat right up your stack... Go for it.
Click to expand...
Bad idea! What if the draft is inadequate to move the volume the fan forces? The fan could push CO into the home.
 
LLigetfa said:
littlesmokey said:
Sounds like a super idea. Blow all that residual heat right up your stack... Go for it.
Click to expand...
Bad idea! What if the draft is inadequate to move the volume the fan forces? The fan could push CO into the home.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. There's a reason that indoor wood stoves are operated with negative pressure inside the stove. You'd want those gases sucked IN any leaks, not blown OUT them. Outdoor wood boilers are another story.
 
madrone said:
How about adding a jet of waste vegetable oil as well? Might need to increase your clearances though...
Click to expand...

Like I said earlier, add boost (fan like he is suggesting) or spray (WVO like you are suggesting). I suppose WVO is safer than NOS or nitromethane!

Just keep in mind that if you bolt a turbo on a Kia you're going to be looking at a rebild after a few K miles.
 
grommal said:
LLigetfa said:
littlesmokey said:
Sounds like a super idea. Blow all that residual heat right up your stack... Go for it.
Click to expand...
Bad idea! What if the draft is inadequate to move the volume the fan forces? The fan could push CO into the home.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. There's a reason that indoor wood stoves are operated with negative pressure inside the stove. You'd want those gases sucked IN any leaks, not blown OUT them. Outdoor wood boilers are another story.
Click to expand...


Slow down guys. Didn't you see that fat Irish tongue stuck deep in my cheek. I had visions of the flue melting off the stove and up to the roof,
 
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