The heat exchanger uses the high temperature of the flue gases of a wood burning stove and radiates it in the room, which increases the overall efficiency.

But as the others have said, unless you want your chimney to rain, knock off the MacGyver routine and invest in a new system. I imagine performance could be improved by using heavier steel pipes in the exchanger core and thicker metal for the housing.Rods can be whatever you feel comfortable with welding because it's going to rust out in the HAZ first anyway. The main reason fireplaces are so inefficient for heating a house is because you need to leave the flue open when you go to bed. They are equipped with an electrical connection box and a thermostat for temperature adjustment for optimal comfort. Thank you for checking out my Instructable, If you are considering building a project similar to this, DO IT!

MGW, I would suggest that the outlet for the gasses was higher than the air intake, this would utilize the remaining heat in the flue gasses to induce convection in the flue and ensure that the flue draught would remove all products of combustion from the room.

Tapering down the exhaust ports through the heat exchanger to a single port that meshes with the flue would be a ton easier. NET gives you the opportunity to increase the efficiency of your wood stove by purchasing one of our chimney heat exchangers.

Let me know what you think; is it an interesting project or a no go since I don't have welding equipment or experience.When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. You could make your heat exchanger hugely more effective if you used some other material, such as aluminum or copper, instead of steel. I've burned wood for almost 50 yrs and the best protection you have against creosote fires is to look after the wood you are going to burn. Before my sons Aga was in the house, it was in a narrow boat, he had two 12 volt pumps if one failed the other auto took over, unlike the house thermo syphon could not be used to ensure circulation.

I can make a passably strong weld in dissimilar thicknesses, using the techniques you mentioned, but not a perfectly watertight one.All bare water pipes have now been insulated but I'm thinking the biggest issue is with the boiler itself since if I hold my hand even a couple of feet away from the exit of the flue, it would burn. The old gas boilers would heat the water, and discharge the products of combustion to the atmosphere.