Do these work?

Jon S._3

Will this type of heater work on an oil-fired boiler? I know it looks kind of hokey but I’m loosing a lot of unused heat out there! Would this cause problems with flue temps or draft? Looks like a nice second heat source for the basement.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=6970&productId=596&R=596

curiousity kills

NO

It is against code in some towns.It will cool of the flue gas and rot your chimney

Rich P.

Depends

Old boilers typically have a higher exhaust temperature.
Ask your service person what the temp is. If it is lower than 400* It will eventually rot the flue pipe because of condensation.
They may also be outlawed in your location because of this. Some of my customers love them.
GoodLuck

Rich P.

clammy

garbage

Nothing in life or mechincal is free 'I've personaly throwen a dozen of them in the can .The only thing they are good for is seating between you units smoke pipe and chimmey and making it usually hard to check if your chimmey base is full.Instead of thinking your wasting fuel up your chimmey why not install a thermometer into your flue pipe and see what kind of temp your getting if it's over450 -500 get either your boiler cleaned and the burner adjusted and check your unit effeincey if it's below 72 percent after a cleaning and tune up replace it .Those damper are not the best way to heat a basemnet and might draw enough heat out of your flue gases to have adverse effects on your chimmey plus i don't think anybody things it a good idea to obstruck your boiler flue .Peace clammy

David Sutton_6

Very dangerous item

i would not use this if i were you...seen to many casses where the plug up and so dose the boiler , good old nasty creole soot big cleanning bill as well...David

Alan R. Mercurio_3

Hello Jon, As mentioned these were typically meant for systems with high stack temps
500 ºF to 600ºF + That’s why I believe they were originally designed for wood and cole stoves.

The instructions that come with that unit in your picture even state that the unit should not be used if the draft in the chimney is less than – 06 typically we adjust our draft for – 02 over the fire and – 04 in the flue pipe at the breech.

And lastly do you see in the picture you have provided where the person is warming their hands? See that knob? That’s you responsibility now. Yep the direction will tell you that you need to pull that knob back and forth on a regular basis this keeps the inside of the magic heater clean and you should try to make sure the system is running while you do this. Oh yea you should leave the knob pulled all the way out so the next time you go to grab it, it won’t be so hot to handle.

I like the concept and it’s a great idea from the past. But in this case I truly think there are many other things you’ll be able to find to save energy without having an adverse effect on your system.

Best of luck you


Your friend in the industry,
Alan R. Mercurio

www.oiltechtalk.com