[Stoves] Using a differential windlass as motive power for stove

[AJH]

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:22:13 +0200, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott wrote:

>I am thinking that there is a fundamental that I am missing about 
>thermocouples.  I was not aware there had to be a temperature drop across 
>anything to get power from a thermcouple.

Essentially if you heat one end of a piece of metal the excited
electrons migrate to one end, a potential is developed by no current
flows. Add a second metal and the differences in potential produced
allow electrons to migrate across the boundary until an equilibrium is
achieved. If you break the equilibrium by removing heat from one
junction then a current can flow but this current is only a small
portion of the heat that must also flow.

>  That is the case for a peltier 
>device which generates power in a totally different way.

Same effect but because it is reversible if you apply a potential then
one end heats up and the other cools.

AJH