Blower and Air intake for Osburn 1600

[Flylikeaneagle]

Howdy Ho, neighbors!

I have the Osburn 1600 installed in my shop and would like to add a blower to the unit. They want $300 for a blower from the "factory". I can fabricate the mounting and such and am wondering if I can scare up a blower for less than $300. According to the owners manual the optional blower is 130cfm. There is only 6" of clearance between the wall and the stove and I'm not sure how big these squirrel cage blowers are??

Bonus question:
As you can see in the picture the air flows in from the front of the stove and the air intake is on the bottom of the stove. It wouldn't take much to put a short piece of duct in there and run it straight out through a hole in the wall to the outside. I wonder if this would be worth the effort though? Does outside combustion air really improve the performance of a stove?

The shop is 944 sq. feet, open ceiling, about 12' at the eaves, 17' at the peak, insulated, heated only when I'm out there, large center mounted ceiling fan.

Thanks
Wayne

 

[Flylikeaneagle]

Anybody put blowers on their units????????????

 

[North of 60]

Anybody put blowers on their units????????????

Yes. blowers can make a significant difference. My new unit has prop fans which are a positive displacement.
@ 150 cfm a side witch I have two. Now #1 question for the shop is do you store any products that carry accelerants/fuel.
If yes than a solid fuel burning appliance is not a good idea and may be a code issue. Now a common sense issue is if any painting ect that may happen an outside air supply is a good idea as your stove is picking up combustion air along the floor witch can lead to an uncontrolled source of ignition right into the fire box. If you know what I mean. Its all about safety here and just my 2 cents.
Welcome to the hearth.
N of 60