Chimney heat extractor

[jock04]

Hi
Just saw a product in a magazine, which basically filters some of the heat going up the chimney into an upstairs room.
Just started a self-build, so thought it might be an idea.

Does anyone have experience of these products & how efficient they are?

 

[Ocras]

Can't comment on that one. Have friends though, with a wood burning stove, who have run the uninsulated metal flue, through the upstairs of the house (this is a Scandinavian practise). The heat from it, which would otherwise be wasted, is excellent.

 

[MelM]

Interesting one Ocras...Do you know if the metal flue gets hot enough to burn? Thinking of kiddies fingers here.

Don't know about the heat extractor but in theory it would cause the gases going up the flue to be cooled and that would reduce the extraction performance of the chimney. You would need to design the chimney to have excess capacity to draw air - Is that just a factor of the height of the chimney? - if you do that however the chimney would be a cause of even more heat loss when a fire is not lit. So you would also need to include a method of closing off your chimney. It's better to do that from the top of the flue if possible.