I have an Enerzone 2.5 ZC and while it is a good unit, I have a 3000 sq. ft home in Minnesota, so I'm always looking for more heat. The other day I was at a buddies garage and he had his stove running in his garage. I noticed he was using a box fan and asked him about it. He claims to get a lot more heat out of his unit if he blows a fan at the stove. This makes sense: virtually all inserts and good fireplaces and now many stoves have built in fans.
This got me thinking: why not try it with my fireplace? True, my fireplace already has a blower, but maybe more airflow would further increase the heat output of the stove. So I tried it. I had a good fire going and the living room (cathederal ceilings) was up to 72. I turned on a box fan on and pointed it at the fireplace. I got the room up to 73 within 20 minutes or less. I turned the fan off for awhile and the room dropped to 72. Later I turned the box fan on again and the room got up to 74 in about 1 hour. During this entire time outside temps were steadily falling as night was descending. Also, we weren't cooking.
Do any of you guys use box fans to increase your heat output?
This got me thinking: why not try it with my fireplace? True, my fireplace already has a blower, but maybe more airflow would further increase the heat output of the stove. So I tried it. I had a good fire going and the living room (cathederal ceilings) was up to 72. I turned on a box fan on and pointed it at the fireplace. I got the room up to 73 within 20 minutes or less. I turned the fan off for awhile and the room dropped to 72. Later I turned the box fan on again and the room got up to 74 in about 1 hour. During this entire time outside temps were steadily falling as night was descending. Also, we weren't cooking.
Do any of you guys use box fans to increase your heat output?