Aqueon Fireplace

[vgrund]

I stumbled across this a few days ago. Heat-N-Glo produced a prototype fireplace that burns hydrogen and O2 produced from cracking water through electrolysis. So basically it is an electrically fueled gas fireplace. Practical? No. Cool? Yes.

http://www.heatnglo.com/products/fireplaces/aqueon/AqueonHighlights.asp

 

[webbie]

Yeah, uses a whole bunch of electric to do it!

One of those "show-off" type of things they did because they can.

 

[Corey]

I remember talking about this last year. On the surface, it does look like it sucks a lot of electricty. But going by the specs on the page, they say 31,000 btu/hr heat output, so that would be about 9 kwh or about 41 amps @ 220V. It is on a 60 amp breaker, so it doesn't have too much overhead. Pretty much all the electricity it is guzzling is being given off as heat...in one form or another.

Corey

 

[vgrund]

It's unvented, so yes, all the heat from cracking the water and subsequent combustion (and water vapor) goes into the room with great efficiency.

 

[Gooserider]

Definitely sounds like a gimmick, and they are a bit creative in their adds as well...

Requiring De-Ionized water is not going to be cheap - either you need a de-ionizer to make your own, or purchase it at the local drugstore @ ~$1.00 / gallon. Neither option is cheap.

The other claim is "Replenishes Oxygen in the home" - That has to be pure BS - the only oxygen it can produce is from breaking down the water, and then either ALL of that oxygen is going to have to be consumed or you will be having extra Hydrogen floating around... Remember that Hydrogen is flammable / explosive....

Chemical equations have to balance H2O -> 2H2 + O2 -> H20.

Gooserider

 

[vgrund]

Good point about the O2, Gooserider.

As for the practicality and the rest of it, let's all keep in mind that this thing is like a concept car from Detroit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZtL0iycCEM

 

[gawebster]

The last I heard the cost was $42,000 for the unit.

Has the price gone down?

Gary

 

[Corey]

Definitely sounds like a gimmick, and they are a bit creative in their adds as well...

Requiring De-Ionized water is not going to be cheap - either you need a de-ionizer to make your own, or purchase it at the local drugstore @ ~$1.00 / gallon. Neither option is cheap.

The other claim is "Replenishes Oxygen in the home" - That has to be pure BS - the only oxygen it can produce is from breaking down the water, and then either ALL of that oxygen is going to have to be consumed or you will be having extra Hydrogen floating around... Remember that Hydrogen is flammable / explosive....

Chemical equations have to balance H2O -> 2H2 + O2 -> H20.

Gooserider

That is a good point...you aren't really getting a house full of super oxygenated air. I guess it depends on what your definition of "replenishes" is.

As an example if your room or house was totally sealed and you burned gas logs, eventually you would die because all the oxygen was consumed in the fire. With this fireplace, it would seem that as room air is being used in the fire, free oxgen is coming from the unit, so you have a continual O2 change going on...room air oxidizing the fire and fresh oxygen coming from the breakdown of the water in the unit. At least at first glance, it would seem this thing could burn in a totally sealed space.

I guess if they really wanted to jazz it up, they could build the structure so there was a condensing plate above the fire. Just like your breath fogs up glass, the water/steam from the H2+O2 fire could be condensed on the plate, captured and fed through the unit for another go. If done correctly that would eliminate or substantially reduce the amount of de-i water needed.

Chemical equations have to balance H2O -> 2H2 + O2 -> H20

True. The complete balance would be 2H2O -> 2H2 +O2 -> 2H2O to account for all the hydrogen.

Corey