stove pipe fins?
- Thread starter Billy123
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Yup, they are still sold. Right on the shelf next to the creosote fighter products. A reasonably warm flue is a clean flue.
My father did this for his pellet stove. I know its a different beast, but I can't wait to see what his chimney looks like when he goes to clean it out.
If those flue gasses stay hot they don't condense on the walls of the chimney as creosote very well.
I wouldn't recommend any product that cools down flue gasses.
pen
I wouldn't recommend any product that cools down flue gasses.
pen
They are rated just about as low as the magic heat junk. Too many forget that you do need heat in that chimney for it to work properly. Don't rob from Peter to pay Paul or you'll end up with a sore Peter.
hh: Never have truer words been spoken.
I totally agree. Taking heat off the chimney made sense back when people were burning Franklins where most of the heat was going up the chimney in uncontrolled burns. Any so called "air-tight" stove, whether EPA or pre-EPA, needs a reasonably warm chimney to operate properly and control creosote build up.
You'll be able to extract even more heat from the radiating fins when the creosote lights up in a chimney fire.
I jest - it used to bother me as well. I used to blow a fan over the flue in an old rental to try to save some of the heat, but I wouldn't even consider that now.
I jest - it used to bother me as well. I used to blow a fan over the flue in an old rental to try to save some of the heat, but I wouldn't even consider that now.
As far as the englander is concerned :
The UPC sticker is still on my single wall stove pipe 2 feet above the stove,and its in good shape ,so how hot can it be. A 750 stovetop temp and 2 ' above the stove it cant burn a paper sticker off the pipe. thats a pretty efficient stove with a not too hot flue pipe. Im glad i didnt get the blower as this stove works better with natural convection.
The UPC sticker is still on my single wall stove pipe 2 feet above the stove,and its in good shape ,so how hot can it be. A 750 stovetop temp and 2 ' above the stove it cant burn a paper sticker off the pipe. thats a pretty efficient stove with a not too hot flue pipe. Im glad i didnt get the blower as this stove works better with natural convection.
I have been heating with wood since the mid-seventies. For some years after that, there were many devices and schemes to increase the heat gain from stoves by harvesting the heat "lost" up the stovepipe. Some were simple and direct such as fins on the pipe, some were more involved and had electric fans and tubes and etc. Some were designed to heat domestic water. Some of them worked, gave you hot water and more heat into the room rather than up the chimney.
However, today, those set-ups are pretty much felt to be a big negative due to, as other posters have already said, the reduced temp's in the stovepipe run leading to creosote build-up in the pipes. Some of them caused draft problems as well.
It is fact that some of the heat produced by the stove must be used to run the gases up and out of the pipe, and along with them the compounds that cause serious trouble when accreted to the inside of the pipe. In other words, you just gotta accept the "loss" of some of the heat.
But yours was a reasonable question, and thousands of wood-burners have asked it when contemplating that hot air going up that chimney.
However, today, those set-ups are pretty much felt to be a big negative due to, as other posters have already said, the reduced temp's in the stovepipe run leading to creosote build-up in the pipes. Some of them caused draft problems as well.
It is fact that some of the heat produced by the stove must be used to run the gases up and out of the pipe, and along with them the compounds that cause serious trouble when accreted to the inside of the pipe. In other words, you just gotta accept the "loss" of some of the heat.
But yours was a reasonable question, and thousands of wood-burners have asked it when contemplating that hot air going up that chimney.
My dad uses a Magic Heat in his shop and it works well. That chimney has a crazy amount of draft though. He cleans it every couple years (it's not used very much, maybe 1-2 times a week) and it's never been very dirty.
DevilsBrew
Minister of Fire
- Apr 21, 2013
- 687
Fins on a stove. I am curious. I saw a guy make some for a stove. They would pull heat away from a surface?
DevilsBrew
Minister of Fire
- Apr 21, 2013
- 687
My first post was pretty terrible. Here is the link.
I would like to know if it is possible that these fins will radiate heat. I hate to take the word of one person and I am having awful hard time finding design information through google. That is what led me to this thread.
I would like to know if it is possible that these fins will radiate heat. I hate to take the word of one person and I am having awful hard time finding design information through google. That is what led me to this thread.
thats a rocket stove which probably has a tiny firebox... i wouldnt use that as advice for a regular wood burning stove
but fins would radiate heat
DevilsBrew
Minister of Fire
- Apr 21, 2013
- 687
One more question, and forgive me for being such a newbie...from what you are all saying, ornamental features on a metal stove, whether it was a rocket stove or not, would hurt the performance of the heater. Is that correct?
That photo shows fins and extra heat exchanger area on a stove, not a flue. On a stove, the fins create the effect of a larger stove and increase heat output. No change in efficiency, just the ability for more btu from the same stove. This is fine, looks cool, but don't poke your eye out and it is unnecessary if your stove is capable of heating the house without the fins.
On a flue I have mixed feelings. I burned a non-cat for many years with internal flue temps measured well into the 4 digit range, cruising at 800+. I now burn a cat stove on the same chimney with flue temps around 400 or 50% of the non-cat. The non-cat "wasted" that last 600 degrees of flue gas temp and I think that it could be safely reclaimed with a flue heat robber. So long as the chimney gasses stay above that minimum creo forming temperature then it should be fine. Then again Pook is an idiot and he had one.
Why not? With proper technique and metering I don't see the hazard. With the typical homeowner burning green wood there is potential for a huge creo factory.
On a flue I have mixed feelings. I burned a non-cat for many years with internal flue temps measured well into the 4 digit range, cruising at 800+. I now burn a cat stove on the same chimney with flue temps around 400 or 50% of the non-cat. The non-cat "wasted" that last 600 degrees of flue gas temp and I think that it could be safely reclaimed with a flue heat robber. So long as the chimney gasses stay above that minimum creo forming temperature then it should be fine. Then again Pook is an idiot and he had one.
Why not? With proper technique and metering I don't see the hazard. With the typical homeowner burning green wood there is potential for a huge creo factory.
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