Fan or no fan on insert

I also have an insert (regency i2400) and burn with my fan on low. I don't think the heat gets out of an insert without a fan. I have noticed that if I put my fan on high, the stove temp drops and the duration of the burn is shorter.

The higher the fan, the drier the wood, the better the wood species, like red oak, the better results you will achieve.....a stove that is a 100 degrees more without a fan running on high, will not heat a room better. It's about heating the room, by convecting the heat out to warm the air.... This is what I am finding out.....

Your stove may get hotter when the fan is off- because the fan is not pumping the heat out of it into the room.

The goal is heating the room, not the stove

There are only two speeds on my insert. Last year I had the fan on high a lot. This year otn low a lot. The quiet is nice. If I want a lot of heat fast, I'll turn on the fan to high. I feed it about three times a day.

Edit: Also, I turn it on high for a while when I feel the fire is a little too vigorous in the early part of the burn with the air closed off, which I did just now.

Try this. Put a thermometer in your stove room but not too close to the stove. Run the stove for an hour once you have a steady burn going without the fan. Then turn the fan on and run it for another hour. See what the difference is in the temperature of your room.
Its not about heating your stove up. Its about transferring that heat to your living space. It's about heating your house, not getting another 100* higher on your stove.

From my experience with my previous smoke dragon, I initially ran the fan on slowest speed on my new insert, I even fabricated a battery-powered backup/replacement fan for use during power outages. Over time I have realized that the fan doesn't help much, if at all, and now unless I really want to heat things up fast, or cool the stove down fast, the fan stays off. That way the surrounding brickwork absorbs more heat, and I get a more even heat over the burn cycle and beyond.

TE

Fan puts heat into room. No fan lets more heat escape up vent.

The room a little while ago got to 78, the flames became less vigorous and I put it back on low and opened the air a little. It's now 73. The high speed fan warms things up in a hurry.

Is there any truth about shorter burn times while running the fan?

hamsey said:

Is there any truth about shorter burn times while running the fan?

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I would not doubt that, but that's why you get 3+ years ahead and you don't have to worry about things like that.....

Not worried about getting 3+ years ahead. Just trying to figure out why I get lousy burn times. 2-3 Hours if I am lucky and letting the coal bed burn down where it just barely lights on reload.

Ok then it comes down to what type of wood you are burning and how dry it is......

How much are you filling the box is another important question....

1 Yr. Ash Trying to keep it 1" from baffles. Sometimes it's about 1/2" form baffles. Pieces are 18" long. 5-6" Girth I can get 3 or 4 in there. Started stuffing it with smaller splits to fill in.

my firebox is 18" wide by 18" deep. i can usually get 8-10 splits in there (4-6" splits). i pack it as tight as i can get it. i usually load n/s which gives out more heat but occasionally do a e/w load. i keep the air wide open until the stove temp reaches 250 then i close down all the way. depending on how cold it is outside, i can go 4-8 or more hours before reloading. my stove really can't keep up when its 15 degrees or colder out though. when its 30 degrees out, i can go 10+ hours overnight and still have a good coal bed to restart the morning fire.

hamsey said:

1 Yr. Ash Trying to keep it 1" from baffles. Sometimes it's about 1/2" form baffles. Pieces are 18" long. 5-6" Girth I can get 3 or 4 in there. Started stuffing it with smaller splits to fill in.

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I think you need more wood in your stove.

My box is 13" Deep and 22" wide. I have done some n/s. Maybe revisit it just have to cut down my splits. I thought e/w give the longer burn times?

Edit: Cannot really get that much more in unless they are cut flat. Think I am going to stuff it to the gills tonight n/s and see what happens.

hamsey said:

My box is 13" Deep and 22" wide. I have done some n/s. Maybe revisit it just have to cut down my splits. I thought e/w give the longer burn times?

Edit: Cannot really get that much more in unless they are cut flat. Think I am going to stuff it to the gills tonight n/s and see what happens.

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I cut all my wood 13-15" and stuff my stove full straight in north to south.

IW,

What are your firebox dims? I need to cut them down to 12" to load n/s 13" if I keep them tight to the back.

hamsey said:

IW,

What are your firebox dims? I need to cut them down to 12" to load n/s 13" if I keep them tight to the back.

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Something like 16x24.

hamsey said:

Is there any truth about shorter burn times while running the fan?

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I suspect that's the case with mine. My totally unsubstantiated theory is that the hotter firebox allows me to run with less air, resulting in longer burns. At the moment most of my loads are running with the air fully closed. That's only possible with well seasoned wood.

TE