Recoheat and solar - a customer view

We make a unique technology, so our customers are the only people in history who can actually describe how the technology works in that great research laboratory of the real world. At the moment, that’s just over a thousand people who’re in that position of being world leaders - pioneers in heating technology!

Any feedback we get is therefore incredibly valuable to us, and Sahlan in the Republic of Ireland has put together a detailed analysis of his experience of the device in his home and shared it with us, and on a blog he writes about his experience of solar power in his home.

Key things he reports is that the Recoheat moves heat away from the stove, that it heats his upstairs area after about an hour, and that he finds adding a stove-top fan increases the movement of air in conjunction with the Recoheat, so that it complements it to a clear degree. The first two we understand and expect, and the third is reported by lots of customers though we don’t particularly understand it. But one thing we do know is that real life doesn’t lie and it’s a really important observation to add to our knowledge of our fabulous device.

Thanks so much to Sahlan. Do check out his blog at https://www.unusual-mysteries.com/the_solar_power_blog/index.php?post/2025/05/31/The-Recoheat and read his full feedback to us below.

“We have our Recoheat intaking air from outside the house, rather than from inside. This creates a positive pressure, forcing warm air beyond the living room. We have a 40 foot wide bungalow with an upstairs extension. It's interesting that about an hour after lighting the stove downstairs, I usually feel the need to switch off the electric heater in my upstairs office. Maybe the difference is only a degree or two but clearly enough to increase the comfort in the house and save money.

 We recently purchased one of those stove-top fans driven by a thermocouple that uses the heat of the stove to generate the electricity to power its fan motor. We wondered whether this purchase would be a waste of money, as we already have the Recoheat blowing warm air into the room. On the contrary, we found it to be an effective supplement. The stove-top fan seems to have the effect of mixing the air in the living room more effectively, so that the room now feels warmer away from the immediate vicinity of the stove than it did previously.

 I'd be sceptical of your advice to leave the Recoheat running. It would definitely not work for us, with the pump drawing external air. In fact, the one time we did this by accident, the entire house felt noticeably colder in the morning. Because of this experience, I now have the pump connected to a wi-fi plug programmed to turn the Recoheat off automatically at midnight, which is usually the time at which the air coming out is borderline warm, with the fire being run down from about an hour and a half earlier.

We are aware of the particulate pollution increased when fuel is burnt below an optimum temperature. We fitted a stove top thermometer and always bring the stove up to optimum from scratch as quickly as possible and with maximum airflow. We have a modern 85% efficient Heta wood-burning stove and frankly it only takes minimal time to come up to temperature from a cold start, with as you correctly state the advantage that the Recoheat circulates the flue heat immediately the fire is lit, without the delay of the stove itself heating up.

 The Recoheat is just one component in our humble attempt to help the environment and save money since our antiquated oil-fired central heating broke down irreparably several years ago. Specifically, we now have 18 solar panels on the roof, battery-backed, and saving us about 3500 Euro a year, including money that has to be paid back to us under Irish law when we export to the grid between April and September; we also added a south-facing front-porch with high-efficiency double glazing - in the winter, spring and autumn we leave the front door open onto the porch and the greenhouse-like heat flows into the house; finally we lined the attic with layered aluminium and wool insulating blankets.”