blowers on wood stoves

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I have a Quadrafire 3100 step top some will knoe just what this modle is for the rest of you it is a mediums sized air tight epa rated stove , it works very well for me

when it is 20 degrees out a small fire once the house is at temp will keep it 69 degrees all day long

but when Zero i need a hot fire kept going all the time to keep temp around 68

my question is for those of you who have a blower on your stove do you notice a big difference in the amount of heat it puts into the room when the blower is on vs when it is off

the blower for my stove is a bit pricy
currently i use a pedistal fan near the stove to blow over the top to move air in the room

i would especialy like to hear from anyone with a quadrafire as they have what they call radiant heat pannls , bassicaly side heat sheilds that give it very close toollerances to conbustables , the blower for the stove would force air up from the bottom in back thru the space made by thes pannles and it would exit at the top of the pannles , the air currenly moves this way thru natural convection ,but i would realy like optimize the heating capabilities of the stove

so please let me know do you knotice a big differnce with the blower on vs when it is off or before you had it.

[Jim S.]

It's a huge difference. Even if you mount a regular fan to the ceiling blowing the heat that rises out into the room, it is a huge help.

Mine has a small squirrel cage blower on it like Grainger sells. Check out WW Grainger and see if they have something you might could fit up to it for less.

Mine...

[ginnie5]

ours has a blower in a squirrel cage on the back of the stove. The first year we used this stove though it wasn't hooked up. This year it is. It makes a HUGE difference in how much heat it puts out. We used a small fan blowing on the front of the stove last year but it didn't even compare to the the one that was made for the stove.

[hunter63]

C.P. I have a Quadra-fire not sure which model , would have to look it up.
I too have been pleased with it.



I had the blower installed when I purchased it, used it for a while, but found that in my situation cabin w/lofts that there was plenty of heat, so haven't used it at all after the first winter. Also was noisy.

Cabin is solid logs and when you get it warmed up, it pretty much stays that way.
Also has an open floor plan, so you don't have to move the air around much.
A ceiling fan above it seems to do the trick as far a evening out the heat.
I would guess if your trying to move air between rooms a blower would be the way to go.

The blower shown would probally fit as it wasn't anything special, (like an OEM blower)

[Helena]

We have a wood coal master as one of our stoves with a blower..we found that it doesn't work that well at all. Noisy. With the stove rolling you really don't need any more heat blowing around the house..I would just put a small fan at the back of the stove instead of actually buying one of the stove blowers and try that first. Good Luck !!

[MELOC]

there is a big difference in my house. i have a fireplace insert and the air channel is a bit too narrow to allow good natural flow of air without a blower...at least when i really need heat. since this place is drafty, i really need heat quite often.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

this is the stove and fan i currently use , it heats the living room well, and that heat gets around the house decent i do need to add a ceiling fan in the living room to push that hot air down with 9 foot ceilings you ca find a 20 degree difference between flor and ceiling it will be 85 high and 65 on the floor
and i also need to add more isulation to the attic but first i need to rewire the attic , insulation ontop nob and tube wiring is a bad idea

it sounds like most of you found that the stove pushed a lot more usable heat whith the blower for some of you it was to much heat , and i would realy only be needing it when near zero or below but if i can get mre heat into the room from a fire that makes less wood needed , right no i go thu about a 1/2 -3/4 a wheel barrow load a day . yes i found the wheel barrow fits thru the front doot and while my wife complains it tracks in snow i think 1 wheele barrow trip brings in less snow than 5 trips of me with boots and i clean it up any way

[neolady]

I have had two different Drolet model stoves - each with a different style blower. Neither was worth cr*p. Noisy, ineffective. A standalone fan worked better. These were blowers designed for the units but were totally ineffective. Another family member had a Cobra unit with their fan and it worked like a charm. I think it's all in the design of the unit.

[hunter63]

C.P. Looks like you have about as much luck keeping the glass clean as I do.
Losing battle.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Originally Posted by hunter63

C.P. Looks like you have about as much luck keeping the glass clean as I do.
Losing battle.

since it got cold out and i am keeping a good hot fire going it is not bad a freind gave me the secret to keeping it clean besides using wood split a bit smallet to avoid smokey fires untill a good hot bed of coals is built up , when you clear the ashes in the morning before adding more wood and getting things going for the day , wipe the glass with a damp paper towle the problem is when it is real cold is that i don't every want to let it burn down enought to clear the ashes but i just have to let the furnice take it for a couple hours in the early morning then i can clear the preivios days ashes.

[FoghornLeghorn]

We have a wood stove and all the heat tends to stay in the family room where the stove is located. We discovered that if we put a fan on the floor of the other rooms we want to heat and blow the cold air from that room INTO the family room the warm air has to go into the room with the fan it it. The family room is still warmer than the rest of the house but the rest of the house is quite toasty.

[tamsam]

We put a small fan on the ceiling in the corner behind the stove and another just before the door going into the kitchen which is in the corner farest away from the heater. Works great and since they are on the ceiling they arn't in the way. Sam

[jross]

Originally Posted by Helena

We have a wood coal master as one of our stoves with a blower..we found that it doesn't work that well at all. Noisy. With the stove rolling you really don't need any more heat blowing around the house..I would just put a small fan at the back of the stove instead of actually buying one of the stove blowers and try that first. Good Luck !!

I found that squirrel cage blowers are sensitive to the size of the air inlet or outlet when it comes to noise. It seems too wide an inlet and outlet allows instability of the rotor. The blower I'm using on our Avalon has 50% of the inlet covered with sheet metal ( I blocked it) to keep it quiet. Even with the fan speed control, certain speeds will produce noise so we avoid those speeds. The ideal method is to partially block the outlet, creating a little back pressure. Also running the fan at high speeds does not mean more heat will be sent into the room since the moving surface air around the stove can only absorb heat at a certain rate called dwell time. Any more air just wastes energy. One way to find out is block the inlet a little at a time while the fan is running until it is quiet. If that works then a can lid screwed to the housing well inside the blower cage rim will provide an adjustable control you can play with to find the quietest running. Also clean the rotor once a year with a skinny paintbrush or air hose, especially inside the rotor vanes where the ---- builds up. Cleaning the blower cage works for noisey bathroom fans which are designed with restricted air paths,too.

[Jim S.]

Originally Posted by GREENCOUNTYPETE

it sounds like most of you found that the stove pushed a lot more usable heat whith the blower for some of you it was to much heat...

I put a rheostat on my fan's cord. I can now vary the speed. Too warm in the room, we cut 'er down some.

[Wolf mom]

I have a Magic Heat blower installed in the piping to the ceiling.

I never knew how much heat it blew into the house until I lost electricity last week for 6 hours. I just couldn't get the living room warm!

I'm seriously looking at the thread on back up electricity. Origionally just for my well, but now for the house too.

[Homesteadwi5]

Originally Posted by FoghornLeghorn

We have a wood stove and all the heat tends to stay in the family room where the stove is located. We discovered that if we put a fan on the floor of the other rooms we want to heat and blow the cold air from that room INTO the family room the warm air has to go into the room with the fan it it. The family room is still warmer than the rest of the house but the rest of the house is quite toasty.

Thats why alot of wood furnaces have an extra hole in the back for cold air return,by piping cold air from other rooms to the stove it draws the warm air better through out the house.My aunt and uncle have a heating and air business and that's one of the most common things people don't address when installing a wood burner is cold air movement.

[sbeerman]

My Dh brings the wood in with a wheelbarrow too. I had to laugh, greencountrypete, I sometimes complain because there is a trail but it is a lot less then then 5 or six trips. and I will mop come spring.
Our fan is way to loud to use every day but I use it if it real cold like 12 yesterday/ we use the table fan almost every day to help the heat get in the rest of the house but 12 is my limit>
Sandie OR.5/6

[Big Dave]

First Rule of AC maybe it applys here? HEAT GOES TO COLD. We just keep our doors open and the house stays warm. We have ceiling fans to push the heat down. HOT AIR RISES.
We also have a tower fan that ocillates in one corner to move the air around.Just my .02

[Cheribelle]

Well, our stove is in the family room at the back of the house. We have a blower fan in the chimney pipe. Behind the stove we have a small table fan, and we have another one fastened to the top corner of the doorway into the kitchen. We do pretty good for heating the whole downstairs. We looked into the blower/fan assembly for another stove and it was almost $300. $300 will buy several of these small table fans! And they're quiet.

[sidepasser]

I have a blower fan installed on the chimney pipe. Mine is quiet and helps distribute the heat very well. Every room in my house has a ceiling fan as with 10 - 14 feet ceilings, I use them to push the warm air down into the rooms. Bought them when our Kmart went out of business so got a great deal on them. I do notice a huge difference in the amt of wood I have to use when I have the blower on vs. not on.

Don't know why everyone's is noisy, mine is very quiet, about the same amt of noise as a small table top fan.