Heat Sink

[DTrain]

This question is for all you smart ones out there.

I like to walk by the stove and see the temps in the 650 range. Makes my day! Means my stove is really warm. But I want my house to be really warm. the thermal mass of the stove allows it to radiate evenly and over time. When I want to get a quicker transfer of heat, would adding some kind of heat sink to the stove work. What would that do to the fire.? Last week after being away a couple days the house was 48. I had people coming a few hours later and I wanted to warm things quick. That's what spurred the question.

Also my apologies for not digging thru the archive first. I'm also home today doing the kind of chores I don't enjoy so I thought I'd just start a conversation for the hell of it.

 

[Jags]

A heat sink is actually going to slow down the spread of heat to the room. The sink must be warmed before it can give anything back.

 

[DTrain]

That makes sense. To start it would. When the fire is going hard would it then be quicker? I suppose it could be a wash in the end.

 

[Jags]

I suppose it could be a wash in the end.

Ultimately it is a wash. You can neither create or destroy energy. No free ride on this one.

 

[Huntindog1]

Woodstock Progress Hybrid Stove has the heat sink built in.

 

[DTrain]

Woodstock Progress Hybrid Stove has the heat sink built in.

View attachment 168567

AH HA!!

Now.... How to make a heat exchanger that looks cool sitting atop my jotul.

 

[Jags]

AH HA!!

Now.... How to make a heat exchanger that looks cool sitting atop my jotul.

I have nothing against heat sinks, but just want to point out that it still will not speed up heating in the room. Adding mass will require MORE heat. Once the mass is heated it will extend the time it gives it back, but will not quicken the time. It just runs against the laws of physics.
In the woodstock stove, the heat exchanger improves the transfer of otherwise wasted heat up the stack. This is not the same as adding some form of mass to the exterior of your stove.

If you are looking at pulling more heat off of the stove (and there are cautions about that), you would be better off with lightweight fins to increase surface area. Its the same reason that radiators use fins, not blocks of steel.

 

[Huntindog1]

Everyone's correct that it takes more time to heat extra mass but once that mass is heated then heat exchanging, I think would be improved.

For faster heating try a fan, to remove the heat off the surface of the stove faster.

 

[Jags]

Everyone's correct that it takes more time to heat extra mass but once that mass is heated then heat exchanging, I think would be improved.

Yep - but the point of the mass for the OP was to speed up the heating of a room. Not gonna happen.

 

[Huntindog1]

Here is an Eco Fan that uses no electricity.

http://www.modernenviro.com/ecofan-circulates-wood-stove-heat-no-electricity-needed/

 

[firefighterjake]

If the goal is faster heat a heat sink is not the real answer . . . the real answer is to get your stove up to speed as quickly as possible and let the radiational and convection heat do its thing . . . folks may naturally gravitate towards the woodstove if they're cold, more bodies in a room = more heat produced and within a short order the room will be warm.

If you're thinking of a nice slab of soapstone on top of your stove and using that as a heat sink to have the head radiate off the stove longer . . . well . . . let's just say at least one hearth.com member has tried it and the effects were nowhere near where he hoped . . . but on the flip side, it does look cool with a slab of soapstone on top.