Hi Folks...I have been given one of those things that removes heat from your stove pipe and blows it into the room....it's out in my shed and I can't think of the name of it off the top of my head. Anyway...is there some way to clean the part where the flu gas goes through? There is a thing that slides back and forth to clean the pipes but there is so much stuff on them I can't make it move. Any advice would be helpful..thanks. Franklin
Heat extractor
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Advice is take it to the landfill on the next run. It is called a Magic Heat. And whateverhisnameisthisweekpook will be along shortly to extol its virtues. Which are none.
That thing that is supposed to slide back and forth but cant due to all the creosote stuck to it. Just think of what your chimney will look like downstream of that. Not a good thing, not a pretty picture either. :sick: A good ingredient for a chimney fire. Toss it.
BrotherBart said:
LOL...Magic Heat & Vent-free gas units, as well...
Think maybe he's a stockholder in the companies that manufacture both?
DAKSY said:
I am thinking more along the lines of what happens when you live in a CO rich environment.
I had one of those once. I took it back to the store. You'd think it was a good idea but it isnt, it sucks all the heat from the smoke and you get a gunked up pipe in no time.
Plus it really doesnt put out that much heat, a fan blowing on the back or top of the stove on low does 10x the job.
I agree. It's junk.
Plus it really doesnt put out that much heat, a fan blowing on the back or top of the stove on low does 10x the job.
I agree. It's junk.
Oldmainer said:
The idea sounds good in theory . . . I mean who wouldn't want more heat without even having to add any more wood.
The problem is . . . if something sounds to good to be true (i.e. more heat for nothing) . . . it usually doesn't work out so well.
Why the Magic Heat doesn't pan out so well is that the chimney is an integral part of your stove . . . and not just a nice conduit for the smoke to leave the stove and your house. The chimney and the draft help "run" the stove . . . but when the chimney is gunked up by creosote you end up with a) a chimney that is full of combustible material just waiting to ignite and create a chimney fire and b) reduced draft as the air has to work harder to get by the now narrowed up chimney.
So how do you avoid chimney fires and gunking up your chimney . . . well there is always the stand-by . . . cleaning it regularly . . . which is also a good habit to get into. The other way is by running your stove hot . . . or more precisely . . . running it to the manufacturer recommended operating temps . . . which in most modern stoves seems to be between 400-700 degrees (give or take a 100 degrees -- in my own case my stove seems to like 500-600 degrees, but some stoves run a bit cooler or hotter) . . . by running hot what happens with modern stoves is you get a more complete burning/combustion process that burns up the "bad stuff" in the smoke which would (if run at cooler temps allow the gunk to attach to the chimney and form creosote.) The reason we saw many, many chimney fires back in the "good old days" was due to many folks cutting off the air flow at night for overnight fires which caused the fire in the stove to smoulder, not burn hot and not burn as completely which in effect produced more creosote. Some folks still burn this way.
The reason many folks are not fans of the Magic Heat (except for the Man of a 1,000 names
) is that many feel that Magic Heat extracts the heat (which it can and will do), but at the same time cools down the temp in the stove pipe . . . which in effect will create creosote.A better way of extracting heat is to go with a modern woodstove . . . this burns the wood more efficiently (actually it burns off quite a bit of the "bad stuff" in the smoke through the use of catalytic combustors or through secondary "smoke burns". What you end up with is cleaner burning and more heat as much of the heat (and "bad stuff") that would have gone up the chimney and be lost to heatintg the outdoors is now given up as heat for your home. If clearances are not an issue, you can also use standard single-wall stove-pipe vs. double-wall pipe to gain more heat in the room and as mentioned earlier you can move the heat around more effectively by blowing a fan from a cold area (adjacent room for example) towards the chimney.
So in summation . . . many folks here are not fans of the Magic Heat . . . except for one certain fella . . . but apparently he doesn't even burn wood any more so you can take that advice for what it is worth.
DAKSY said:
Huh . . . didn't realize he was a proponent of vent free gas units . . . interesting since the State of Maine is looking at banning them from some occupancies . . . especially occupancies with young children or older adults. Me, I've never been a fan of having anything vented inside . . . especially anything that can produce carbon monoxide . . . not to mention the potential problems of water vapor.
YOU GUY"S ARE ALL NEGATIVE........ya know yer car would get better mileage if took out all that excess weight in the braking system 
What fascinates me is that people that won't put a blower on their wood stove will put a Magic Heat on the pipe. The blower costs the same and does a much better job of moving heat around.
Oldmainer - do yourself a favor and toss that thing. Gunked up to the point that its own mechanical parts don't work gives you an idea of what that thing does.
I think its time to change the tin foil lining of someones baseball cap. The old one must be getting pretty thin. ;-P
I think its time to change the tin foil lining of someones baseball cap. The old one must be getting pretty thin. ;-P
poooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook said:
Why - so you can hook it up to the woodstove you don't use? Looking for a really messy knickknack shelf?
poooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooook said:
Pook . . . I think they were looking at vent free gas fireplaces . . . and only in certain occupancies . . . I think the reasoning is that cooking generally is a short term deal (typically under an hour or so . . . except perhaps for cooking during the holidays) vs. a vent free gas fireplace where someone may be using it long term for heat.
Hello folks...the opinions are weighted to one side just alittle... you sure the heat extractor isn't radio active?... The device was given to me free so I took it. Seein' as most of you folks wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole I don't think I will either... Thanks for taking the time to let me know. Franklin
you sure the heat extractor isn't radio active?... The device was given to me free so I took it. Seein' as most of you folks wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole I don't think I will either... Thanks for taking the time to let me know. Franklin
MAJIC HEAT , AKA , auto-igniter for chimneys. or flue fire waiting to happen.
back when 70 % of the heat from a stove went up the chimney they may have had a legitimate arguement for existance, with newer epa units scrubbuing so much heat out of the exhaust for in home use , not enough is left over to allow safe use of the in flue extractor. i wish they would quit selling them.
back when 70 % of the heat from a stove went up the chimney they may have had a legitimate arguement for existance, with newer epa units scrubbuing so much heat out of the exhaust for in home use , not enough is left over to allow safe use of the in flue extractor. i wish they would quit selling them.
I saw the subject line and thought for sure that there would be some color commentary in this topic.
But 23 posts, and the topic isn't closed yet. It certainly beat the over/under odds in Vegas....
But 23 posts, and the topic isn't closed yet. It certainly beat the over/under odds in Vegas....
DBoon said:
I have five hundred on the nose for twenty six posts at six to one odds. When I hit the money mark I close it. :coolgrin:
ME gonna ban gas cookstoves too? Don't you read the news? How many folks die or get hospitalized EVERY year because they tried to heat their homes with a gas cookstove?
Vent -free is actually an improper term for those units...
They should be labeled as INTERIOR VENTED...
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