Hello everybody, I just joined the community. I used search and spent few days just reading however I still have questions. I have Lopi Answer wood stove that we use once in a while. We put fan in front of the stove to improve circulation but from what I've read stock blower is more efficient. Dealer quoted me $280 for it. I've read that people add their own blowers. I looked around and not sure what specs factory blower has like RPM, CFM so I could match. At surplus I've found this http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=16-1405&catname=electric. Is this like original type? If any Lopi owners or other DIYers chime in that would be great.
Addon blower. Lopi
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Hi grey, welcome and great find on that blower. I do not have your stove but I have been wondering the same thing. Others with my stove have said the blower works great so I have been wanting to get it, but the stock blower is in the neighborhood of $225. For my stove, the specs are something like 115CFM.
I have a small fan (~5 inches) and I measured the speed of it at high then did a ballpark calculation for CFM and ended up around 75-80CFM. I set it behind the stove and gave it a try and like your experiment, didn't notice much of a difference. Not sure if it was the lower CFM, the direction of the air current or starting farther back from the stove. I think if we could better understand the direction of the air current it'd be easier to come up with a DIY solution. I'm sure someone with better understanding will chime in soon.
I have a small fan (~5 inches) and I measured the speed of it at high then did a ballpark calculation for CFM and ended up around 75-80CFM. I set it behind the stove and gave it a try and like your experiment, didn't notice much of a difference. Not sure if it was the lower CFM, the direction of the air current or starting farther back from the stove. I think if we could better understand the direction of the air current it'd be easier to come up with a DIY solution. I'm sure someone with better understanding will chime in soon.
I guess my main question is whether the above type blower will work for the front application. I could not find any information or pictures about factory blower.
Wow, that blower in your link looks very similar to the OE unit on my old Lopi. I am going to quit using mine and replace it with a commercial grade blower I salvaged from an old oil furnace. Problem with the design Lopi put on my old stove is that it has bronzite bushings (no actual bearings) and is not really a continuous duty type unit. Very surprised the replacement cost is over 200 bones, as it is actually about a 40 dollar blower apparently. My only complaint regarding build quality of the old girl is that damned noisy blower.
yes it looks similar but I am not sure about specs. Another thing is mounting that blower at the front since the air control handle could be in the way.
ironworker
Burning Hunk
I have a Lopi Freedom insert with blower that came with unit and love it, it is quit and does a good job.
MarkinNC
Minister of Fire
I looked at mine and it is shielded so it does not look like the one you posted a link to.
Take a look at this link:
http://www.lopistoves.com/product_guide/detail.aspx?id=209
Look towards the bottom at the fan, rear mount and click on it. You might note the location of the mounting holes from the pictures.
I am really happy with my OE fan unit.
Take a look at this link:
http://www.lopistoves.com/product_guide/detail.aspx?id=209
Look towards the bottom at the fan, rear mount and click on it. You might note the location of the mounting holes from the pictures.
I am really happy with my OE fan unit.
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