Thermoelectric Power: Testing the Generator

As John was wiring, I was researching commercial thermoelectric generators for wood stoves. Thermoelectric power generation is common in large businesses, but home applications are few and far between. Then I found a video on YouTube and contacted the vendor, TEG Power (unfortunately no longer in business).

Ron was in the initial stage of producing modules to work with wood stoves. Then he changed his design to a hybrid thermoelectric generator. I have not found anouther company that sells a complete system, but there are several that do sell individual components that you can use to build your own wood stove generator, if you have the skills. You might check out TEC from Ontario, Canada.

After John had the wiring in place, and our thermoelectric generator arrived, it was time to test our new system. It came with directions, but Wayne and I are new to electrical applications. We sure learned a lot along the way. We purchased three 25 watt strips for a total of 75 watts of output. In amps, that's a little more than 6 under optimal conditions (heat of fire vs. coldness of water).

In our tests, we got about one amp per power strip. To make the cold side of the system work, we have to use an electric pump that uses about one amp, so the total charging capability of our system was around 2 amps. But if you know batteries, small trickle charges over a long period of time are the best.

So whenever our wood stove surface is about 300 degrees C (we use an Imperial thermometer so we don't exceed the 325 degrees C threshold), we are generating power. Now that is a good thing, especially during the winter when our solar generation is limited. -- Margy