Flame Stower

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Came across this from another site…… In a complete SHTF situation this could come in handy. But I would extend it somehow to use on a free campfire. Thoughts?

 
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That is a great idea. It must be some kind of thermoelectric junction stack, the water cools one side. The more temp differential, the more efficient they are. Sort of like the millivolt stack in my furnace.

It would be much more efficient to burn the fuel in a little engine, but this is simple and can be put over any flame source. But I bet it is still pretty inefficient in terms of having to burn a whole tank of propane to talk on the phone, that is probably several kilowatts-hours of energy in to get a couple of watt hours out.
 
From the FAQ on www.flamestower.com

How does it work?
The FlameStower Fire Charger works with the energy of your cooking or camp fires. Once the blade is in a fire, the thermal energy is transferred to the Thermoelectric Generator (TEG). The opposite surface of the TEG is in contact with the water reservoir – hot side gets hot, cold side stays relatively cool, and the temperature difference generates electricity.

How Fast Does it Charge?
FlameStower generates the same energy as a USB port on your laptop computers, or half the power of phone charger in a wall outlet. So, if it takes an hour and a half to completely charge your phone at home, it will take three hours to completely charge your phone with FlameStower. Put another way, for every minute of charge time you should get about three minutes of talk time. Not bad!
 
Sounds pretty inefficient to me. Solar I think would be a better option. Use solar to charge batteries to run an inverter to charge your stuff when you need it, not just when you have a fire going. Cant imagine having to run a propane tank for 3 hours to charge a phone. I think that thing would be pretty cruddy if you tried to use it over a wood fire.
Sounds like one of those gimmick items that no one would actually use. It would be in the drawer next to the Chia Pet
 
Wonder if they'd consider adding a lens to focus sunlight on the blade. Does the thermal generator have a longer lifespan than solar panels?
 
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