Peltier --> project design

Yep. Besides building it without calculations or measurements, my problem was failing to recognize the purpose of the heat sink like structure between the Peltier/Seebeck module and the top of the wood burner. It provides part of a necessary temperature gradient, putting the junction in the optimum temperature differential. Mine was too small and too thick, resulting in the module running at 200C or more. If I had used a taller and thinner lower heat sink, it might have worked.

I don't have a fireplace insert and chimney, but various friends have them. They all have fans of some sort to move the trapped hot air to where it will do some good. In my case, I just want to move more heat around the room.

I have a collection of cheap RC electric airplane motors complete with spinners and propellers. At low RPM's, they spin merrily, but don't move much air. Wider blades, such as found in PC cooling fans, would work better at low RPM's. I melted the plastic on my first attempt at mounting a motor, but found that some insulation around the metal frame was all that was necessary to keep it happy. Also, don't lubricate the motor or you'll have the smell of burning oil.

I guess the first thing to do would be to measure how much heat (calories) your candle will produce: Then, convert calories to Joules or watt-seconds. 1 cal = 4.2 Joules If your Peltier device produces an optimistic 0.5 volts, you can probably calculate how many microamps are available to run the LED. The rest is converting whatever voltage and current the Peltier module will produce into something the LED can use.

Generate Electricity with Peltier Module - The Seebeck Effect Note that he lights up an LED using a Joule Thief. Also, notice the comments near the end about using a TEC versus a TEG module.