STOVEPIPE POWER

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by A. MICHAEL WASSIL

With all the discussion that's going on about natural power for home use, no one yet seems to have expounded at length on one source of energy that's readily available to homesteaders: namely, the heat that goes up the old stovepipe. Seems a shame to let those calories get away ... especially when you think of them in terms of firewood and all the energy you've expended cutting it.

Although I've never actually measured the B.t.u.'s roaring out the top end of a stovepipe, I have toasted bread (in about one second) and boiled pots of water in the hot blast from a small stove. Perhaps some thermal buff out there in MOTHERland would like to do the measurements on the quantity of heat that escapes up the flue . . . given various-sized stoves, different lengths and diameters of stovepipe and varying intensities of flame in the firebox.At any rate, while the rest of us are waiting for such a report, here are a few suggestions for utilizing some of that energy.

[1] Use the stovepipe itself as a radiant heater, the way many pioneer builders did in New England, here in Ontario and elsewhere. In a single-storied structure, put the stove at one end of the building and carry the pipe horizontally to the other end and then out as shown in Fig. 1.

When there's more than one story, just run the vent straight up through the rooms above (see Fig. 2). Whatever you do, though, don't put your stovepipe up in the manner depicted on the cover of MOTHER NO. 18!

[2] The Palace Grand in Dawson City, Yukon Territory has a unique (the owners claim) variation on Suggestion Number 1. This device—which they call a double stove—is simply a large hot air chamber part way up the stovepipe that traps some of the escaping heat and radiates it into the room.

The model in Dawson is a bit complicated, and consists of a modified 45-gallon steel drum (see Fig. 3). 1 imagine that an unmodified steel drum (Fig. 4) would also work. Either version would be more efficient filled with pebbles or stones, which would absorb heat—sauna-style—and radiate it back even after the stove itself had burned low. Don't pack in the rocks very snugly, though, or you'll kill the draft.

[3] Instead of an air chamber, put a water tank (Fig. 5) on the stovepipe. This involves a little plumbing since you have to run the pipe through the middle of the water container. You'll need a tap at the bottom of the tank and some sort of inlet at the top (this could be as elaborate as a float valve hooked up to your main water source to keep the reservoir full automatically, or as simple as a movable lid that allows you to dump in replacement water by hand). There you are ... a convenient hot water supply.