soundandfurycabin
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# Posted: 28 Jul 2009 01:54am - Edited by: soundandfurycabin
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Hi Margy, Home Power magazine had an article on TEGs back in the August/September 1993 issue...
The first thermoelectric unit we tried was designed to operate from the heat of a wood stove. It was bolted directly onto the top plate of a Fisher wood stove, with cooling water circulated through a small tank on top to create the temperature difference across the thermocouple. This unit could produce a few amperes of battery charging and sounds like just the ticket for wintering in a wood heated cabin. However, the units manufactured for wood stove use have not been durable. The stove had to operate hotter than normal, over 500 degrees. Just one operation at 600 degrees or higher, or failure of cooling water, will destroy the silicon thermocouples. Even with a thermostatic draft vent on the stove, the temperature was not stable enough with typical wood fuel. Maybe a pellet stove... Eventually corrosion from cooling water and possibly some over temperature incidents deteriorated my $500 test unit.
You might try writing to ask if they have any more recent info.
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