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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   16090 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 19, 2022

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Yeah, even this basic wood stove has an electric fan for better heat transfer (although it's obnoxious enough that I never use it). A lot of people get surprised when their gas furnaces and such also go out in a power cut, and don't learn to use any manual backups the equipment has.

Simple options really are the best, at least as a fallback.

A friend of mine who had a wood stove had a fan that was powered by the warmth of the stove (it sat on top). The fan would blow as the stove warmed up, and stop when it cooled. Pretty cool, and might be a good addition to your setup for days without power.

These are Stirling engine fans, and they don’t do much more compare to regular convection (they simply don’t have a lot of power to move substantial amount of air). They’re really cool, though, I love Stirling engines.

Yeah, I remember seeing a thermodynamic analysis of them and being devastated that such a cool idea didn't really work.

I have classical Tirol tiled woodstove that does not rely on any electricity or other sensitive components. I even asked for automatic doors for management of air toward the fire, but I was discouraged from it in the end. The argument used was simple: there are wood stoves hundreds of years old that work just fine even today. A motor that opens/closes the door maybe lasts 5 or 10 years if I am lucky and it will give me just additional headaches when it inevitably breaks. The guy gave me guarantee of free inspection with the promise that the stove will definitely outlast my house. I was sold immediately :D

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