View Full Version : Heat Reflectors for stoves
Some alcohol stove makers suggest to use an aluminum foil heat reflector under their stove (Ion and WBS come to mind) to reflect heat back into the stove to increase heat retention for the stove to operate properly in cold weather.
My recent thoughts go like this:
A sheet of aluminum under the stove would be as a "heat sink" and take heat away from the stove. it would be just like a cooling fin on a motor or heat sink on a computer.
I would think a nonconducting product should be used such as a sheet of cork.
What are your thoughts on this?
Survivor Dave
08-16-2009, 17:18
I don't use one. They never seem to lay flat enough with a light stove and it just something else to carry.
I don't use one. They never seem to lay flat enough with a light stove and it just something else to carry.
What is your opinion on the benefits of using an aluminum one for those that may be using one?
Homer&Marje
08-16-2009, 18:09
I find that the aluminum plate I use coming out of the pack is warmer than the ground...at most times of year of course there is exceptions.
I use the aluminum plate turned downwards to create a cushioning air space in between itself and the ground...therefore the edges of the plate might cool down because of being in contact with the ground, but the air acts as an insulator between direct contact of ground and stove.
Not so much as a heat reflector but as a barrier from the cold I guess.
Jonnycat
08-16-2009, 21:35
A heat sink works by removing heat due to direct metal to metal contact (conduction).
If the aluminum plate has a hole in the middle where the stove sits (like the reflector included with MSR Whisperlite stoves), there is no (or small enough to be insignificant) metal to metal contact, and the aluminum will serve to reflect (radiate) the infrared heat upwards, instead of the heat being absorbed by the ground.
That's my guess, anyway. As for how significant the bottom reflector will be I do not know, but if you do some controlled experiments I would love to see the data you come up with.
zelph i just used an upside down tuna can as a docking station as i think the dead air space and being off the ground is the best of both worlds...
i don't really know if you question has an answer. i'd assume that heat conductors will conduct both hot and cold w/ equality. so i think you're trying to find an insulator
Survivor Dave
08-16-2009, 21:50
What is your opinion on the benefits of using an aluminum one for those that may be using one?
I can't if I don't use one anymore. Like I said, it's something else to carry.:)
Thanks to those that have replied so far. The same question has been posted on 3 other site and some interesting information is coming through. I'll share the most important findings in a day or two.
Please continue to add to this query. Thank You!
Rocket Jones
08-17-2009, 18:14
I haven't used one yet, but did cut one out recently. I too thought about the reflecting properties but never considered the possibility of a heat sink effect. Still, if the entire reflector is heat sinking under the pot and within the windscreen, it might not help, but it couldn't hurt. The grams carried for a piece of heavy foil for a reflector would really be objectionable only to the die-hard ultralightists.
I've used one which I cut to the exact dimensions of the top of my Evernew 1.3 liter pot. It fits in the depression right under the lid for packing. It seems to work and, more importantly, it keeps the stove from burning holes in the tops of tables, floors, benches and shelves. I don't use it on the ground.
Here is some info I read today on the Packafeather site:
http://www.packafeather.com/windscreen.html
Get the most out of your FeatherFire Stove!
We recommend using a heat reflector placed under your stove. Our testing showed that doing so decreased boil time an average of 15 seconds. And of course faster boil time equals less fuel used.
The quote says under the stove but the photo shows at the top of the stove.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/obijiwa/sub%20two/disc1.jpg
MikenSalem
08-17-2009, 22:46
I wondered about the cold transfer so I peaned my reflector so it wouldn't have full contact with the ground or the stove. It also is shaped slightly lower to the outside so the prime is not snuffed.
Jayboflavin04
08-18-2009, 02:05
Zelph,
I have a feather fire and that is the way I use my heat reflector.
Wouldn't the ground be the heat sink. Once the pc of aluminum foil got to ground temp . I think the aluminum needs to be considered more for its reflective properties more than its ability to pull heat away from the stove. The foil is never gonna get colder than the object it is in contact with....the ground.
The Mechanical Man
08-18-2009, 02:12
If it stops the ugly round burn spots on all the shelter floors and picinic tables.
I am all for it. :)
Two Speed
08-18-2009, 07:57
. . . A sheet of aluminum under the stove would be as a "heat sink" and take heat away from the stove. it would be just like a cooling fin on a motor or heat sink on a computer. . . To a certain extent it probably does, if the reflector is in direct contact with the stove. However, it should reflect more radiant heat back to the stove than additional heat lost to the reflector. I'd love to play with that, but my thermodynamics ain't up to that ****.
I would think a nonconducting product should be used such as a sheet of cork.
What are your thoughts on this?If you wanted the ultimate bomb reflector I guess you would put an insulating layer beneath a reflective surface.
On somewhat of a tangent, I have set my Trangia Westwind on a pair of wet socks. Dried 'em out a little bit.