Ben Heck's Chimney of the Future Episode -- Episode 168

So an idea I think you will love, that doesn't change the build to much, TEG, or thermal electric generator added to the chimney. So you can not only heat the home, but when the fan is not needed, continuously generate electricity via a Peliter cooler, working as a TEG. I would build some kind of waterblock on the exchanged side of the TEG, and have the pipe as it boiled, go through the outside wall of the "house" where it would cool itself based on the outside air, then turn back into water in a loop (open so no steam explosion), and if successful, no pump would be needed and it would generate enough power to run the micro-controller, and maybe something else in the model? A Raspberry Pi on a super-capacitor perhaps?

I have two words that will make this incredibly epic: rocket stove

• Insanely efficient. Yes, really.
• CO levels below ten parts per million on a properly designed unit
• Creates so little creosote that it only needs to be cleaned on a yearly basis.  (...or even only every 2-3 years.)
• Easy and cheap to build, whether for camping or heating your house.

(I've collected more links here.)

Hope this helps!

Awesome concept! And great build!

Hi Ben,

It's a nice model en very warm i gues but if you put a metal pipe inside the chimney where the air air passes through, then you have more efficiency.

And if you make a valve in it, you can lead the warm air outside if it's getting to hot inside.

Regards,

                 Eelco Scheers

(Sorry for the bad english)

Hi Ben,

Very entertaining

But I have only two words as a comment; "Masonry Heater". And, replace "Chimney of the Future" with "Chimney of the Neolithic".

We've blended our masonry heater with our gas-fired forced air furnace; warm inside air gathered from passages around the masonry is channelled into the cold air return of the furnace. The whole thing is under control of a smart thermostat with multiple sensors and variable speed fan.

Regards,

--

Rex Havoc

My only concern with your design is creosote buildup in the chimney. If not all the flue gas are burn into the fireplace (1100degF), lowering chimney temperature might increase chance of creosote buildup and chances of chimney fire. I know yours was a model, but if somebody build a large scale...

Great proof of concept, but I'm not sure about your "control" setup.

While the final arrangement was 10oF warmer, was it due to convection and the fan or just the increase in surface area of the venting?  Maybe some Styrofoam in the walls and roof as insulation would have reduced the thermal gradient between the cold environment and the test environment too.

Anyway, enough nit picking and more cheering for another great episode!