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Funny story. My father was so proud to have installed a wood stove in his old house that he purchased one of these engine-type fans for on top of it. He purchased a premium model and claimed that it made the stove look more sophisticated. He was disappointed when the brand new, rather expensive, fan did not spin but for about 5 rpm. He left it sit on the stove as a decoration though. One day I walk past it and pick it up to examine the mechanics of it. I happened to notice that there was a cellophane cover (like what comes on a new TV) on the very bottom between the fan and the stove. He removed that cover, and within 5 minutes the fan was blowing clear across the room with warm air.

Three videos in three days, what a much needed breath of fresh air!

Cody, the Sterling engine was invented by a preacher. He was concerned about steam boiler explosions and he designed an engine that used air instead. Those are graphite pistons and glass cylinders for low friction.

Love you videos. Your description is fairly accurate except: I think the displacer is made of a light non metallic substance. The temperature difference does tend to allow the heated air to rise but, that is a tiny effect countered by the displacer. The real motive force is the heat increasing the pressure inside the lower cylinder. I am a retired chemist. Worked in an industrial lab but, as part of a local science outreach program, I used my sterling engine to teach gas laws to middle school students. Basically, heating a gas in a closed vessel increases the pressure. That pressure pushes the top pistons. As the gas expands in the top pistons it cools and is pushed back down into the hotter lower cylinder by the return motion of the piston and the displacer. For what is worth, I included a poorly written but, more detailed description of the physical chemistry of the system below. I believe I was a good scientist but, never a very good writer so for what it’s worth…. Ideal gas law is PV = NRT. P is pressure, V is Volume, N is the amount of gas, R is a constant to keep the mathematical terms all the same, and T is temperature. Seems complicated except the amount of gas (in this case air) in the system remains constant, the gas constant is also constant. So simplifying the Pressure and the volume varies directly as a function of the temperature. In the big cylinder where the gas is heated the volume is also constant. So heating the gas increases the pressure or mathematically since V, N,R are all constant then P=T. The pressure increases in dirrect proportion the temperature change. If the lower cylinder was sealed that is all that would happen. The increased temperature would just cause the gas pressure to increase. However, the bottom cylinder isn’t sealed but, is connected to the upper cylinders. The increased pressure in the bottom cylinder pushes the pistons in the upper cylinders. In the top cylinders the pressure pushes the piston. As the piston move upward the volume of the cylinder increases allowing the gas to expand. As a gas expands it cools and further cooling occurs because the upper cylinders are further from the heat source. The purpose of the displacer is to help move the cooler air at the top of the piston back down to the the bottom of the bottom piston. Why a gas cools when it expands is a longer and for me a much more difficult explanation. But, most refrigeration is based on the fact that gases cool when they expand so please take my word for this. Again love your videos so keep them coming.

That is an awesome gadget! I also wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your father Cody, I have been a fan of your channel for a long time and I really felt for you when you posted about it. After that video it compelled me to patch things up with my Dad, him and I hadn't been speaking for a while, but I didn't want to waste any more time not being in touch with him. We have to make the best of the time we have with the ones we love before its too late. Glad to see it seems like you're doing a bit better. Cheers from Ohio!

A Sterling engine has two strokes. Stroke one is When the displacer is lifted the air rushes down towards the hotplate and expands, driving the pistons up. The second stroke is when the displacer moves down and displaces the air upwards allowing it to cool, contract, and suck the Pistons down.

I've always enjoyed Sterling engines, found them very fascinating. And what a great way to move air around the shop. Blessings

I so genuinely love these! Years ago, I purchased one for my grandfather's stove and it took a small wood stove that gently warmed his family room in the basement, turning it into a real furnace that could make the entire basement and 1st floor a warm and tasty paradise after just a few minutes. All from a simple radiator-like device! So neat!

This was one of the “coziest” videos I have seen for a long time :) Thank you Cody and I am glad you are feeling better.

Dual power pistons, can you imagine that? I'm having flashbacks to the alternators. The first thing this brought to mind was the candle heat powered angel ornament. Its beautifully engineered Cody, I'll have to remember this if I ever get a wood stove.

Sometimes you just crack yourself up. That is an exquisitely designed piece of engineering. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Interesting use for the Stirling Engine! You can tell it has excellent quality built into it and made with good materials. Thanks for the video!

Yup, way cool Cody, great find!! More importantly you really are sounding much better, much more like yourself!! Thanks again.

There's something very cathartic about watching a mechanical object run so smoothly and flawlessly. Also I see the watch buying bug seems to have struck again, some sort of Sub with a blue bezel and a Daniel Craig bond nato?

No one else is delivering this much diverse content like Wranglerstar.

Hey Cody, I just watched another KZfaq video explaining how these engines work. Apparently if it's running on top of a warm stove and then set on a cold surface such as ice, it will slow down, stop, and run in reverse. Just a cool little fact I learned and wanted to share.

It needs another alternator. Nice piece of machinery!

Designing a Sterling engine was the first project at my mechanical Engineering study. Just amazing that they work on something as easy as a tealight.

This video, your ram pump video and your wood stacking (pic-a-roon) video are my favorites so far. Physics and practical farm boy uses of natural science. 👍

I have one of those thermal conductive fans to improve the performance of my Buddy heater. Not as beautiful as this, but amazingly effective. A ton of heat just goes straight up where it is not needed. This helps move the air around a bit for better dispersion, less hot spots.

Got 2 of these on my stove! they make a tremendous difference! Glad to see you are recovering well! 😁

Wranglerstar! So glad you added a link to them in the comments. Thank you, and hope you are feeling better!

When you end your videos saying, "May God bless you and your families." it always tugs at my heart. idk why.

This is why I subbed many years ago, so genuine. Enjoyed laughing with you as if I was there. Beautiful machine.

Good to see you back on your feet and in high spirits!

I have always wanted to see someone pair a sterling engine with a pellet stove. The sterling engine would drive the pellet auger removing the need for electricity to keep the stove running.

Good to have you back and glad your health is getting better.

I’ve always been confused by the sterling heat engine. I can’t say I’m less confused but what a cool video anyway. Definitely a great quality device. Thank you Cody for your amazing content. Have a wonderful thanksgiving and a merry Christmas for you Mrs. W, jack and of course the sweet loaf.

I'm glad you sound like you are feeling better. How is everyone else doing? Can you tell us where you got the little fan, please? I'd love to put one on my wood stove. Thanks!

The displacer is used to cause the temperature differential (the displacer is likely made of a heat insulator) when it's at the down position (closest to the base) it blocks the heat and the air inside the chamber starts to cool causing the pressure to drop. Which in turn allows the power piston to move down. At that point the displacer is now in the top position and isn't blocking the heat, exposing the air to the hot side. This increases the pressure and causes the power pistons to move up and then it repeats. The air doesn't push the displacer up or down it's just a very loose fitting piston to displace the air from the hot side to the cold side, to cause the air to expand and shrink.

That's a really neat peice of precision engineering. Glad to see you back up and running Cody

These are the future for offgrid and tinyhousw living. Thanks for the video wrangler

Enjoyed this so much I went back and played the closeups at 0.25 speed.....remarkable! Thanks so much for sharing this!

You are sounding much better Cody. If I remember right, this is the 2nd time you've gotten Covid? Praying you have bulletproof antibodies to protect you from future infections.

Getting one for our family this season thank you wranglerstar!

The first practical use I've seen for one of these engines.

I have seen these as a "Children's" STEM Project/Kit. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) But I usually see them with a Safety Fan Grill. Great for distribution of Heat in a Large Area, and really cool to watch!

Lmao 🤣🤣🤣 thanks for the laugh Cody! I was extremely well versed in Sterling engines and am now much less so! This was great and I hope you know we love you for your self awareness

If you're using this with a Catalytic stove instead of a standard one, put 3 spacer washers under it in a triangle pattern to create an air-gap. Two at the front near the blade, and one at the back in-line with the crankshaft. Not doing so can damage the engine, oh, and oil/clean it twice as often. I learned that the hard way.

I understood your explanation of how those fans work. I was just talking about them yesterday and we wondered how it works. Now I know.

Wow I didn’t know it was possible to fall in love with an object. Cody I’m not talking about you I’m talking about me! 😂

This is the accuracy you get with the metric system Cody!!!!! Glad you’re feeling better. Andrew (UK!)

I got my little brother a engin like this that you put on top of your coffee cup and when the motor stops the coffee is just the right temp :-) thank you Cody you have a beautiful piece

That is the most neatest thing I've ever seen in a long time and the thing about it is that it also makes it a great tool into explaining how and internal combustion engine works for those that have no idea Cheers Anthony

My father was so proud when he finally got his Barometric CLOCK. Fine wood, brass and glass construction. Self running ( perpetual motion) has a wedge arm under case to stop it. I'm sure that you can find one some where still.

Seriously, you explained it well and I understand how it works! Thank you for showing it to us!

I've been fascinated by these for years now! Keep up the great videos man much love prayers and respect from Tennessee!

I’ve been trying to figure out how to use stirling motion for alternative energy for years. This gave me an idea of how to use my spring fed ram pump and a stirling fan to cool my wood shop here in the south.

Always loved when form follows function and you end up with a beautiful machine…

That is the coolest stove topper I've seen. Glad you are feeling better. My taste and smell are still weak from CV19 that I got around Easter.

I have one of these that runs on the heat given off by a mug of coffee. Beautifully smart but power companies don't really fear them as their output is hardly more than the input energy and barely any torque. Although they're just enough for a simple fan like this, nice explanation though ;)

That is a beautiful Sterling motor. They work off of hot and cold. They can be hours of entertainment. For no animation you did a pretty good job of explaining how it works👍

A stove top stirling engine attached to a generator would be a game-changer. It's old tech, very doable.

Been using one of those for the last couple years .after seeing this now I want to build one so I can see the internals. That's awesome

Glad to see that you seem better!

You did a fine job of explaining the function. ☺

That's a very cool little engine. I'm an engineer so things like that always fascinate me.

Glad you’re back and still e joying sharing your love for cool stuff like this.

I’ll have to be on the lookout for one of those!

I'm glad to see you're feeling better

I must say when I first learnt about the sterling engine, it was hard to understand because they used the beta type sterling engine which was the simplified version of the alpha type sterling engine. Many components of the alpha type engine have been combined to make the engine more compact in the beta type design which makes the explainations harder to understand.

This fan and the ram pump both amaze me. So cool.

Awesome, this is classic dad'splaining. Super neat device. I know mechanisms like this continue to be invented today in the pursuit of energy conservation. A symbol of the industrial revolution.

I like how you paired the two tone stainless steel Rolex with the Warpfive with brass and stainless steel.

Absolutely insane price. I suppose if I received it for free, I would think it was "really cool"

Wow, Cody. You explained in 2 minutes what a college professor taught me in 3 semesters of college physics!.That is a really neat machine.

It’s refreshing to see a person who is not afraid to stumble in the public eye….your videos are brilliant common sense, which is a breathe of fresh air today in a world of senseless dominance. Thank you.

Another really cool thing about Stirling engines is that there's so many differrent designs of them all working off of the exact same basic principal. It's a really good example of just how many different machines can be made to do the exact same task on the exact same physical laws, while differing drastically in construction method.

Good to see the Rolex back on the wrist Cody! I guess just like the Benchmade the good old standby always ends up ousting the shiny new toys. I get it though, I'm a creature of habit too. Glad you're doing well and I hope the same for the rest of the family. Missed you while you were gone.

I really appreciate the fact that you share this information in plain english. Thank you bro. Godbless you aswell👍

There is a huge Stirling Engine near me that generates power. It has a 30 ft reflector dish made of multiple plates the engine is mounted on the center arm and runs off heat of the sun. Pretty cool, looks like a huge flower.

I had suggested the stove fans a while back and you told me it was a gimmick glad you finally tried one out

Very excited to use my new tipi tent with wood stove this weekend. I’d imagine that a stove fan may even help warm the tent. Perhaps I’ll give it a shot. I’ve been fascinated with those fans for a while, anyway. Great vid! Thanks & it’s great to see you doing well.

It gives me the fizz! And loving the nato strap just like the royal navy used to issue with it milsub rolex submariners it used to issue to navy divers through the 60s and 70s, nice 👍

Glad to see you’re feeling better Cody!!

I built one of these in Highschool metal fab class, machined it all myself. Very cool and simple motor. Never though about putting it on my woodstove...

Hahahah! I notice all of the East Coast Heating Guys chiming-in. LOL!! Y'all are the "original" Steam Reamers. The very first, "Old Dead Guys" reside "over there". Respect!!

Super cool engine! If I ever get another wood stove (or coal) I would get one to put on top. What a great idea!

I have the same fan! Or rather a slightly different model but from the same manufacturer. A beautiful piece of engineering.

I have a good friend living in the Bull Mountains of Montana who has a wood stove to heat his tiny house build. This fan sure looks like a good solution for our winter weather.

Neat video, knew about Sterling engines which turn external heat to mechanical energy… didn’t know this had been adapted to drive a fan to circulated air on metal stove … neat technology… immune to EOTW catastrophe events and very steam punk… very cool!

Super cool gadget! Looks like they are built to last a long time.

I have a 1/4 scale Ryder Ericsson I put together from casting many years ago. A late friend of mine had a full size version.

Natural laws of thermodynamics. You did a great job, thanks for the younger people, yes .

This is cool and I'm sure more than my wife will give me for allowance... They do make air circulator without the whole rotating mass assembly that spin a fan based on the heat alone and move the warm air through the room. They're still not cheap but they're affordable and last forever. I need one for the wood stove in my front room. 😀

Thank you for sharing. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thermodynamics students appreciate your attempt. No complaints. Love you videos. And most of all, your passion for being ready.

Wood stoves in general are under appreciated

I would absolutely love to see how it's connected to a battery or generator to apply the energy it puts put. I'm certain it's simpler than I'm imagining but I would love to see the certainly ingenious application you've found for it.

What a fascinating 'widget'!!! And what a great tool for teaching about heat, pressure, andnother physics and mechanical topics. Now i need one...and a wood stove too!!👍

The only cycle more efficient then the Stirling cycle is the Carnot cycle but the Carnot cycle is theoretical; Stirling cycle is actual. Not only what you have is a beautiful piece of art, but it's completely functional too. Not often do you see both at the same time. Cool stuff, Cody. :)

Now all you have to do is make some copper coils or magnets strategically placed and then you can start storing some of its kinetic energy into a battery bank or charge your phone. I guess if you made a big enough one you could power a house. Idk it looks beautiful and is masterfully built. I’m glad I ran across this.

Thank you Cody for sharing such magnificent equipment on the channel. I might just have to put this on Santa's list!

Does this push more air than the ones with just the heat fins? They need to make one like this with a little charger to help charge off grid battery.

I use a similar fan on my stove in the hot tent. Makes all the difference in there!

Beautiful piece of engineering and functioning piece of equipment. Don't see how ANYone wouldn't actually want one of those. Perfect for a wood stove. That or anything that has a flat, level top, enabling warm air to be circulated. Very nice!! EDIT: Okay... but BEWARE: STICKER SHOCK!!! But remember... this thing takes NO energy (other than what you are already using) to run. So, in TIME, it will literally pay for itself. IF one has an area that is not "heating" (heat transfer is too great elsewhere) this will help "push" the heated air over in that direction. In that case, eventually, it will pay for itself. Heh!

The balance is amazing as well

Cody I could see myself setting by the fireplace in my wooden rocking chair with that miniature Stering gadget with what looks like a tiny helicopter blades keeping me warm through the winter months. 👍

Professional homeowner. . . (Starts explaining how a fan works.) (Pauses) . . Start’s questioning reality! 🤔