I have a fireplace xtroidinare 44 elite. It has a fan to bring outside air in to be heated. Since it runs from October to April I’m wondering if a more efficient fan could be retrofitted to save some electric. Cordless tools and rc cars talk about the efficiency of brushless motors but this runs on 110 and I’m not sure ac motors can do the same trick. I’m gonna try to get a amp reading on it tomorrow
Blower fan upgrade
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I have a blower on my Pacific Energy Summit that runs non-stop during the winter months, I don't think it costs much to run, as I don't see my power bill jump much. I think going to a brush-less DC motor would have a long payback. I just had a 96% furnace installed with a brush-less DC motor and I do let it run 24/7 just to help circulate the heat from the wood stove, so far so good.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
If you go DC, remember that your DC power supply has efficiency losses too. A magical perfectly efficient DC motor and an cheap power supply could be less efficient than your old AC motor.
When you are shopping for power supplies, beware of efficiency ratings. It's easier to be more efficient at higher differentials, so a power supply that says "90% efficient" and "120/240v input" on the tin may in fact be 90% efficient at 240v, and 70% efficient for your 120v application.
When you are shopping for power supplies, beware of efficiency ratings. It's easier to be more efficient at higher differentials, so a power supply that says "90% efficient" and "120/240v input" on the tin may in fact be 90% efficient at 240v, and 70% efficient for your 120v application.
Brushless DC motors are actually AC motors that use pulse-width modulated (PWM) inputs instead of 60 Hz sinusoid inputs.
In any case, yes, it would be more efficient, but good luck in finding a drop-in retrofit. A motor designed to run with PWM inputs is constructed with different insulation levels than one designed for 60 Hz inputs, so if you retrofit a variable-speed PWM control to your existing motor, the motor will likely fail in short order. And there don't seem to be any off-the-shelf retrofits available (I looked at this a few years back).
In any case, yes, it would be more efficient, but good luck in finding a drop-in retrofit. A motor designed to run with PWM inputs is constructed with different insulation levels than one designed for 60 Hz inputs, so if you retrofit a variable-speed PWM control to your existing motor, the motor will likely fail in short order. And there don't seem to be any off-the-shelf retrofits available (I looked at this a few years back).
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