Wood Stove Heat Reclaimers...Any Good?

[bkuhn]

I wondered if anyone has or has used a heat reclaimer on a wood stove? (something like this:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200331512_200331512)

In the past I thought I'd heard negative comments about them because they lower the chimney temperature. But reading all the comments listed on the link above they seem unanimously positive. Though for all I know that may just be because the company has already deleted the negative comments.

So I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on them? Extracting an extra 8000 to 30000 btu from exhaust gas sure sounds well worth the investment but there may be more to the story than I realize.

I currently use a mid size quadrafilre wood stove (no catalitic burner on my unit, not sure if that matters or not).

Thanks for the advice,
Brad

[annabella1]

The ad says peak performance with the use of our "Flue Stove Pipe Cleaner" What it doesn't say is that the cooling of the flue will cause a build up of creosote that will catch fire very easily so you better clean it out regularly. The cooling of the flue can also reduce the draw or draft of the fire and you may get smoke back in the room or even more dangerous carbon monoxide. That said it might just work great for you, and then it might not.

[machinemaker]

years ago I worked in a shop that had one of those heat exchangers and it worked great, however any time that you lower the flue gas there is more build up in the chimney, so also buy a brush for your size of chimney and clean it a couple of times a year. I built a large heat exchanger for our wood stoves (house and shop) and If I clean the chimneys once a year the build up isn't bad.
kent