Wood burning automatic swimming pool heater

Claim 1

A wood-fueled, automatic heater comprising: a body having a surrounding side wall, top and bottom, defining in the lowermost portion thereof a fuel combustion chamber, a pre-heating down draft manifold communicating with said fuel chamber combustion chamber with inlet adjacent to the lower part of said body, a damper in the upper part of said down draft manifold, a thermostat so mounted as to respond predominantly to heater temperature for moving said damper in closing direction as heater temperature rises, said manifold heating air as it moves in a downward direction toward the primary combustion area, draft tubes mounted to the upper rear wall of body extending inwardly and upwardly toward the upper area of the fuel combustion chamber admitting air under all combustion conditions and presenting portions thereof to the combustion area to cause a preheating of said secondary air tubes and thus a pre-heating of entering secondary air, a flat, horizontal heat exchanger in the upper portion of the body and spaced downwardly from the top, a baffle positioned just above the heat exchanger and immediately below the inside upper portion of the body and attached to the body on three sides leaving a space for escaping smoke and gases toward the front of the chamber in effect trapping and holding the combustion process and resulting hot gases and radiated heat and confining and holding such gases and heat in the area of the heat exchanger for a longer time than ordinarily possible, and a collar on the upper rear portion of the body to accept a smoke pipe.