Jotul F-600 blower install

Hello everyone.

I am considering installing a blower on my F-600 to help distribute the heat to the rest of the house. The stove is in the basement, and I currently have a few fans distributing the heat, and pushing the cold to the stove.

I haven`t visited the local woodstove store yet, and have no idea on the price. I was wondering if those who have installed a blower on their F-600, whether:

1) it was worth it, i.e. it really pushes the heat to the rest of the house;
2) it would cost less to run a couple of fans instead;
3) and whether it was difficult to install.

If someone has an installation manual, would you be so kind as to share it?

I`m not much of a manual person, and I was wondering it the installation would be difficult.

Thanks!

Laurent

begreen said:

Is the staircase the only way for heat to get upstairs? Where is the stove in the basement in relation to the stairway? How do you currently have fans setup?

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The basement is a rectangle, with the stove being at one end of the rectangle, and the staircase being in the middle. There is a 12``x12``vent to the upstairs situated 10 feet from the stove. A fan blows heat up towards the vent. The staircase has a half level, with a door to the outside. A fan blows the cold air down the staircase from the half level.
I`ve tried different combinations of fan placement. I place the fan at the bottom of the staircase, pushing cold air towards the stove. I`ve had the fan placed 15 feet from the stove at an angle, blowing towards the stove (this seems to work better).

The stove should have been on the first floor, but when I bought the house, they already had a smoke dragon downstairs, with the hole already cut in the cement basement wall. I decided to scrap the old stove, and replace the chimney (they had single wall pipe going from the stove, to outside, to the top! The pipe actually crumbled in my hands when I took it down. Eesh! A fire waiting to happen. The old stove had an 8 inch crack at the back. I could have had it welded, but I decided to trade it for some dry maple instead, to get me through the first year of burning.

Anyway, it gets hot downstairs. It hovers around 80F, with the upstairs being at 70-71 (especially when it`s 10F or less outside.) When it gets in the 30s or 40s outside, then the upstairs gets warmer quicker.

I know I have some insulation issues upstairs (the wall are cold, so the old 50s type kraft paper covered insulation needs to be replaced. Downstairs has been fully renovated, insulated, etc.. by me. So I know it was done well.

This is my second year burning. Last year wasn`t a particularly cold winter, but I burned from November to June, and saved $900. This year has been brutally cold. But I`ve been able to warm up the house with the stove, and that`s counts for much.

All that to say that I`m thinking about installing the blower, and need to know how to install it, and if it is difficult to install. A copy of the installation manual would be appreciated, if it exists.

Laurent

begreen said:

By downstairs do you mean in the basement? Are the basement walls insulated or is this the first floor walls? How many floors in the house total? As a test I would try reversing the fan in the 12x12 vent near the stove so that it blows down toward the stove and have no fan at the basement door, but leave it wide open. I suspect this would be as effective as putting a blower on the stove.

If you can post a sketch of the 1st and basment floorplan we may be able to spot other opportunities.

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Yes, downstairs is the basement. So there`s just the basement and ground floor. The basement walls and sill plate are insulated with 2 inch foam, covered with R20 pink insulation, followed by sheetrock. I can feel the hot air coming up in the 12x12 vent, so I would rather keep it there . The vent s located in the hallway leading up to the bedrooms, and helps getting them warm. With the fan blowing towards the stove, I can feel the hot air rise in the staircase, leading up to the main floor. I was thnking perhaps cutting another 12x12 vent further away from the stove. Maybe there`s just not enough openings to bring the air up.

begreen said:

At least try it as a test. You can always revert it. Have some thermometers so that you can note the difference.

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I will try it.

weatherguy said:

I think the blower costs about $310 for the Jotul, I was in the stove shop yesterday and that's what they quoted me for the F-55 or Rangely.

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Wow! That`s a lot of money!

Nick Mystic said:

Before I spent $425 for the Jotul fan and heat shield I think I would fabricate something on the cheap to see if I noticed enough of a difference to fork over that kind of cash. You can pick up a fan pretty cheap and making a heat shield can't be that hard for a man of your talents!

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Hi Nick!

I have the rear heat shield on the stove. I already have 2 fans. Just wondering if the blower would make a difference.

Laurent

So has anyone have experience installing a blower on the F-600?

And how does it work? Does it blow the h air sideways, or towards the top?

Laurent

logger said:

Im sure it works the same as the Oslo F-500. Its a small fan that hangs down between the stove and rear heatsheild. The warm air is blown up the heat sheild and comes out over the top of your stove where your heatsheild bends forward. Im telling you, its not going to do much if you have two fans going already.

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What if I installed a furnace pipe from the top of the stove to the main floor?

begreen said:

What could go wrong?!
Try reversing the existing vent fan first.

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I`ve reversed the fan this morning. I will monitor the températures on the main floor to see if there is a noticeable difference. With the fan reversed, the only place the hot air has to go is up the staircase, which it was already doing. But maybe the debit will be higher. We`ll see...

begreen said:

If you can post a sketch of the 1st and basment floorplan we may be able to spot other opportunities.

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Here`s a sketch of the main floor and basement.