THAT OFF GRID GUY, TRUCK EXHAUST IN A FIREPLACE MODIFICATION

Heat conversion, exhaust pipe insert. One way to get more heat out of a little fire! DIY heat exchanger. Follow me on Facebook at (That Off Grid Guy)

[@JanColdwater]

You could make yourself your own Texas Fireframe and forget about the pipe and fan. The concept does work. I don’t have one but I created the gap needed by using my existing grate and a bbq grate. It worked great! I NEVER got that much heat out of my fireplace before! I actually heated the house for the first time! 👍

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

True! However when I made this video, this was more about what materials I personally had on hand. And more importantly budget and safety. My kids were little at the time, so, I figured this was a good middle of the road approach. Good idea though! Certainly any form of heat exchanger is truly a leap forward in efficiency.

[@JanColdwater]

@@thatoffgridguy8373 absolutely!

[@DeanMk1]

Cool idea. I had the same one in an apartment I rented 20 years ago. In my incarnation, I went with the fact that heat rises and routed the pipe across the top of the fire box, in front of the flue. I had an old squirrel cage fan on a motor that my parents had owned since the 60's. The inlet end pulled heated air about 3 feet above the hearth and the outlet end looked across the floor towards the other side of the living room (I was trying to induce a flow of convection that would extend all the way across the living room. I was mildly successful, but like I'm sure you found, too, it can heat a room up pretty quickly (really loved my $20 power bills during the dead of winter LOL!). In my case, I used the fan to pull the air through the pipe. The whole thing was made of metal, so it could withstand the heat, but I eventually learned to leave a little gap between the pipe and the fan and that allowed the fan to work longer without getting so hot. I think your idea of using a small fan to push the air through the pipe is a much better one. Wish I'd have thought of using a computer fan. Great idea.

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

That was my exact thought process, pushing cold air seemed safer than taking a chance on melting the plastic fans! Keep innovating! -TOGG

[@DeanMk1]

@@thatoffgridguy8373 Thanks! You can use a variation of our idea, for heating a small room, by using pipe to extract warmed air near the ceiling, then snaking it around the jamb of a doorway and sending it down to a small fan, which would blow the warmed air across the floor of the room. I think the warmed air would be cool enough to not harm a plastic fan, but it would definitely help warm up a room that might otherwise have a problem with staying warm naturally. You could make the whole thing out of plastic pipe and use nails and a lightweight stand to help erect the pipe. That was actually the original idea I had, that eventually spawned the idea of running the heat exchanger through the fireplace.

[@MasterDasher]

Thanks for the idea. I took it a step further. Put a temp. Sensor so it turns on/off without me getting up. I used 3/4” conduit and 2 4x4 boxes.

[@roosterpalooza1985]

Master Dasher how did you piece together conduit I may try this instead as I don’t own a welder

[@MasterDasher]

@@roosterpalooza1985 I just used standard conduit fittings. If I was to do it again I would borrow/rent a conduit bender.

[@robinfleet7094]

Nice Red Green homage. Props to you.

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

A true hero of our era!

[@CondescendingOaf]

Thumbs up for the red/green comment. Was just thinking of that the other day.

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

It's a lifestyle! Red Green, what an amazing character!

[@janes7227]

That heat coming out of the pipe so close to the fireplace will just make a u-turn and head right back up the chimney. It's called "chimney effect."

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

I have since sold the house, however when I did own it, that little bit of fire heated the whole house using the pipe. I have no doubt about the chimney affect, as physics demand this, but it worked, so.....there’s that. Good eye though, keep that fresh!

[@notyoung]

Next time, bring the pipe up over the fire an collect more of the heat. Or do it the easy way and build a "slot fire" which actually radiate much of its heat out the front. Use unsplit wood, an 8 inch back log, two shorter 8 inch side logs and a 6 inch top log to make a box. Light smaller wood inside the "box" and the larger wood forces much of the radiated heat out the front. I measured a 10F rise at the front of a sofa 10 feet from the fireplace. You can search for "slot fire" and you'll probably find the $150 frame for building that fire. I bought the idea but not the frame and the different sizes of wood work fine.

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

Cool, thanks for the information, I hope people check that out!

[@mark1952able]

Good job my friend.....easy and it works!

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

And still working years later!

[@sab_1055]

Thumbs up! It's functional, and I have a new way to use my trickle charger. Can you make one that's a little more aesthetic?

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

I suppose I could, but have you ever seen something that works great and is terrible to look at, so, It's so ugly that it's beautiful! Reminds me of my college days, LOL ;-) -TOGG

[@jamiebarr7367]

If u weld it good u don’t need to worry about carbon monoxide

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

Carbon Monoxide is always something that I watch out for, certainly more because I am not a professional welder. Welders are a true craftsman! Using electricity that will kill anything it touches in an instant.....face only inches away. WOW!

[@paulnordaker6995]

Actually there a video of a guy who made one of the thermal fans like u can buy. So the electricity is produced by the heat.

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

Peltier plates are AMAZEBALLZ! I have 10 of them that I like to play with! #NERD LOL -TOGG

[@roosterpalooza1985]

THAT OFF GRID GUY thanks for the video. I have a couple of questions if you would reply please. 1) Do you think this concept would work with gas pipe ( I don’t have a welder). 2) On the computer fan the way you mounted it in the video would it not be blowing air out or is it drawing air from the room then blowing it out the other end?

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

Dear Rooster: The reason I used exhaust pipe is performance, abundance, ease of use, and cost. I don’t know anything about gas pipe. So proceed with your own research and caution. The computer fan is blowing air into the pipe. A positive pressure “should there ever be a hole” should in theory guard against CO gas entering from the fire itself and then being expelled into the room. Not trying to reinvent the wheel, just trying to get more btu’s out of a poorly designed fireplace.

[@alexazar2990]

Thanks for the Video! Question, What kind of voltage and amp a adopter did you use and did you use the pipe for a while to see if it really works well? thx!

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

Azar jan I used a 12v battery float charger, 1.5 amps, and although the video is new, I have been using the exhaust pipe for 3 years now! It works wonders!!!

[@lesliekendall2206]

If the cold end was where you have it and the hot end was coming out the top center of the fireplace, wouldn't the cold air push the hot air out without a fan/electric usage?

[@ironnads7975]

Yes it would but not as fast, not as much volume.

[@lesliekendall2206]

@@ironnads7975 Yeah, that's probably true but I live without electricity (except for my phone charger 😁) and wanted a way to increase the heat without the fan. Thanks for agreeing with my theory. Just wish I had a man to make that pipe 😆. Oh well.

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

The fans make all the difference.

[@soggybottomboys2792]

Make sure those pipes aren’t galvanized if they are the coating on them will burn off and kill you

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

Mild Carbon Steel, nothing fancy, and can be found in almost every town, big or small.

[@jamiebarr7367]

Gunnar Stahl those pipes aren’t galvanise u can tell by the way they look

[@plandsurvival7144]

omg that's a fugly design... I'll have to build one my self.

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

Oh yeah, it's certainly fugly! BUT that dang thing throws the heat! Kind of like my 2000 Jeep Cherokee XJ, 300K miles and as rough as they come......BUT, she starts, and drives anywhere I want her to go, EVERYTIME! Any item in my life that works as hard as I do, although others may think its terrible looking, to me, sure looks like the most precious thing I have ever seen! Post photos if you build one, make sure your welds are sealed and enjoy the heat! -TOGG

[@plandsurvival7144]

@@thatoffgridguy8373 I'll start building mine later today. was up till 3 am watching videos lol

[@weldercamaro]

how long did the tubing last before it burned through?

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

It’s been seven years and still working like it did on day one. No sign of wear.

[@nard0q695]

@@thatoffgridguy8373 wow. so the weld is not safe on fire? can u pls explain why. thank u

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

It’s not that the welding/welds aren’t safe in the fire. It’s that most people are terrible welders. And a terrible weld will have pin holes in it that allow for carbon monoxide to seep through. So when employing a heat exchanger such as this, please as with all indoor fires use carbon monoxide and smoke detectors.

[@SEPU03]

Can you burn wood with a gas fireplace

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

Well....you can at least once! LOL Certainly what type of chimney and flue are going to dictate what type of burning medium one would use. Of course any form of combustion gives off Carbon Monoxide, SO education and fresh air are key!

[@rottmanthan]

fans in my fireplace will blow out a lighter in front of those vents.

[@thatoffgridguy8373]

My vents hardly did anything at all. So I thought, hmmm physics! I want my stuff to work awesomely! Is that a word? LOL -TOGG