High to all : Periodically I weigh in on a tangent of this subject and it needs to be covered again.
Basically there are 4 types of fossil fuel and biomass heaters
that can be operated in a highly efficient manner.The two most
Expensive we can quickly disregard, a municipal incinerator; too many controls, needs a trained operator, often permitted to allow it to burn
'dirty' several hrs a cycle. The Masonry/Mass/Russian Heater, The person operating the system can learn by rote how to use this system
with good results. It still can be used poorly especially when the system is cold, 2nd most expensive system to install, all but the most simple
maintenance involves extensive ,time consuming,and expensive repairs by an expert on 'his' schedule !
Now we have just the Newer High Efficient propane/nat Gas Heaters and of course the Rocket Stove models, we are in much danger when
we try to compare these last two ! The Rocket stove must always be treated as producing
Carbon Monoxide in its exhaust !!!
The newer gas heaters with their horizontal discharge, and air/heat Exchangers can be burned at their stated high efficiencies, if installed
correctly! Be aware that most of these Heat Exchangers use a required fan to move the air necessary to cool the exhaust and provide the
Air for combustion. Fan Failure or loss of electrical power will stop this heater from working !
When the gas heater is sold to the consumer (somewhere on a showroom floor ) the salesman says 'when this heater burns its gas, it
produces only Carbon Dioxide and water vapor, and our Air/Heat exchanger is so efficient that its exhaust can be run to the outdoors thru
this plastic pipe!'
Things the Salesman doesn't say are -' But we have local zoning laws that require 3-wall metal pipe and insulated thimbles', Also'This heater
is designed to use a Horizontal Exhaust/Heat Exchanger mounted on the Lee-wall (out of the path of prevailing winds)
When the workman shows up for the installation, the new owner 'says mount it to that wall right there next to my rocker.' Catastrophe !!!
The wall selected is not an outside wall -
use silver metal pipe or plastic pipe to run the exhaust acrost the living room to a suitable
spot on an outside wall Consternation, Idea, owner reluctantly agreed to move the heater to an outside wall - now its no longer 'heating'
'just the space that YOU want it to"!
The workman 'certified installer' does not know,or want to know at this point, where the prevailing winds are, he just wants to complete the
installation! With a square/rectangular house, he has a 1 chance in four of hitting a spot on a lee wall ! Because this unit is now installed
subject to prevailing winds, there is smoke back, this causes a dirty exhaust and soot on the outside wall of the house. The solution here is a
vertical chimney up as high as the eaves or even several feet above the highest point of the house ! Often this step is never done and the
soot just gets darker and darker on the outside of the house, as ugly as 'brown stains in your shorts', and advertised to the whole neigh -
-borhood !
This problem with the exhaust of a gas heater exposed to contrary prevailing winds is also common to Rocket Heaters, the difference here is
that the Rocket Stove will smoke back into the room, alerting the Owner of the problem , and again
the answer is move the Rocket, or add
extra vertical stovepipe and a storm cap.
While the Exterior Wall mounted Gas Air/Heat Exchanger will further cool the exhaust temps of a Rocket Stove, it would still need to be sized
appropriately. this could only be determined by trial and error and needs research, My H.W.A. Guess is nothing smaller than 5'' interior exhaust
pipe for a 6'' Rocket ! This still leaves delivering the make-up air that is the necessary air stream to cool down the exhaust gas stream.
This is almost always a forced air system, are you going to plumb it into your Rocket, and attempt to make a forced air system out of it ?
I hope this clarifies the many Faults of a lack of prior planing - how and where to pipe your exhaust, and gives useful examples of why the
horizontally exhausted Burners so often fail to deliver as promised. For the good of the Craft! be safe, keep warm, PYRO Al
) would it be theoretically possible to plug it in the smokestack designed for natural gas based heating systems which are pretty common case in the apartment buildings?
