Circulation blower or not - Oslo ?

[eyefish2]

I recently decided to purchase an Oslo for our 20X20 addition (still need to make the purchase). Thanks for all thoughts and opinions on the "grates post". I would have taken a harder look at the Rangley T50 had it been on the market longer. The wood stove will be in the corner of the addition and will also have a ceiling fan in the room. For the folks who have blowers on their stoves.......is it worth the money?? and do they move the air good?? I am not opposed to running a small fan or two to keep air moving if needed. If there are alot of benefits to the blower, I would be more inclined to get one. I did not plan on getting heat shields for the stove. Not sure if these blowers push air between the shields and the stove body? An added benefit of the blower may be to help keep the stove a little cooler? Although, I do not believe this would be a big issue with a cast stove. I have seen where the fire boxes on steel stoves will warp over time and the cooling air can help minimize this to some extent. I don't think cast will warp (although it could crack).

Looking forward to your thoughts. Lance

 

[gdk84]

I vote go with the blower. Oil and gas prices are outrages. Around here, fuel oil is almost 4 dollars a gallon. 100 gallons around 400 bucks. Blower for my slove, paid something like 250 for it. Well worth it. When its -15F that blower holds its own when it comes to throwing the heat throughout the house. Wouldnt own a stove without one, Plus, you can always turn it off!

 

[BrotherBart]

Since the price difference for the blower usually isn't any different at stove purchase time or later I always advise trying it without and then adding it later if you think you need it.

 

[leeave96]

You can do a search on the Oslo and blowers, but what I have read is that the vast majority of Oslo owners don't get the blower. If they need it later after using the stove, then they buy it.

The Oslo sounds to me like a fine looking, very reliable, clean burning heating beast.

Good luck and enjoy your new stove.
Bill

 

[Shari]

I've got the Oslo. Don't have the blower. Can't honestly say that I've ever heard of anyone using a blower with the Oslo. We have a small 6" fan in our hallway blowing cooler air towards the stove and that seems more than sufficient. We are heating around 1600 sq ft very well with our Oslo. We do have a bottom heat shield but no rear heat shield. Stove is hearth mounted (see my avatar).

 

[savageactor7]

If that's a jacketed stove then for sure you should get one. You'll be glad you got it when the wind is blowing and the temp is below zero.

 

[Fsappo]

Not a jacketed stove, no real convection passages, blower will only slightly help. On a radiant stove sale I always suggest the same as BB. try it without the blower and if you really need a little extra umph, then go ahead and spend the extra 3-500 bucks.

I'd skip it

 

[firefighterjake]

I recently decided to purchase an Oslo for our 20X20 addition (still need to make the purchase). Thanks for all thoughts and opinions on the "grates post". I would have taken a harder look at the Rangley T50 had it been on the market longer. The wood stove will be in the corner of the addition and will also have a ceiling fan in the room. For the folks who have blowers on their stoves.......is it worth the money?? and do they move the air good?? I am not opposed to running a small fan or two to keep air moving if needed. If there are alot of benefits to the blower, I would be more inclined to get one. I did not plan on getting heat shields for the stove. Not sure if these blowers push air between the shields and the stove body? An added benefit of the blower may be to help keep the stove a little cooler? Although, I do not believe this would be a big issue with a cast stove. I have seen where the fire boxes on steel stoves will warp over time and the cooling air can help minimize this to some extent. I don't think cast will warp (although it could crack).

Looking forward to your thoughts. Lance

No blower on my Oslo . . . but I'll give you the same advice I got from my Oslo dealer when I asked him about buying the blower. He said that most folks he sells Oslos to do not buy the blower . . . and in fact he recommended that I not buy the blower and try the stove for a few weeks or months . . . and if I later thought I should get the blower he could sell it to me and it could easily be installed at a later date.

That advice won my loyalty to the dealer since he could have easily sold me the pricey blower and made a little more money . . . and truthfully I've found that with my 1,800 square home I do not need the blower to move the heat. I do however have a desk top fan (the type that everyone and their sister has somewhere in their home) that I sit near the doorway of my living room and I aim it towards the stove . . . three years in and the house is warm and I am happy . . . and I have not found any need to go back and buy that blower.

I will say I did buy the heat shields . . . for safety and to reduce the clearance . . . and it seems as though the small price you pay for the rear heat shield has the effect of moving some of the heat through convention on the back side. As for cooling the stove . . . I wouldn't worry about that . . .

 

[colebrookman]

No blower on mine. One of the joys of heating with wood is the quiet. I do use a small fan on the floor in our bathroom to blow the cold air out. Circulates the air but it's quiet. Be safe.
Ed

 

[DAKSY]

Not a jacketed stove, no real convection passages, blower will only slightly help. On a radiant stove sale I always suggest the same as BB. try it without the blower and if you really need a little extra umph, then go ahead and spend the extra 3-500 bucks.

I'd skip it

+1...

 

[Fsappo]

Back to the gas forums for you, Bob. Hows the new job goin?

 

[DAKSY]

Back to the gas forums for you, Bob. Hows the new job goin?

What? There's nothing happening
over there in Gas!

The job is GREAT, Franks.
My new avatar should have a HALO.
I have died & gone to heaven... ;-)

 

[Fsappo]

Can you get me a job there if I dont really know anything and am only willing to learn if I find it interesting?

 

[DAKSY]

Can you get me a job there if I dont really know anything and am only willing to learn if I find it interesting?

Not knowing & willing to learn are the ONLY prerequisites needed!
I didn't remember much about the chrome plating process,
since I hadn't had any involvement with it in 10+ years...
I'm amazed at what I've learned (and remembered) in the last four weeks.
A LOT of what I'm doing is plain ole common sense & since I've shown the
young fellas here - who didn't know me from Adam - that I have enough of
that to solve their problems in relatively simple fashion, I think I've earned
their respect. The guy who hired me knew what my skill sets were from my
time here from 77-00 & I'll admit I'm fitting right in.
I miss the people I worked with, but at my age (59) it's nice
to make a decent wage...

 

[Fsappo]

I dont think I'd find it interesting. How about a job kinda just sitting at a desk and surfing the web, making polite chit chat with customers and taking long lunches?

 

[DAKSY]

I dont think I'd find it interesting. How about a job kinda just sitting at a desk and surfing the web, making polite chit chat with customers and taking long lunches?

The interesting part is coming up with different fixturing to ensure the chrome deposition goes where it's needed.
You'd be amazed where chrome will go if the electrical amperage will pull it there...

The kinda job you described was what I was doing at the stove shop.
Easy, but no commission, with no customers coming thru the door...
Definitely time for a change, at least for me.
They may be doing better now that oil is still climbing in price,
but I haven't seen anyone from there since I left, to ask...

 

[Fsappo]

Rising oil isnt having the same effect as in 2008, at least for us brick and mortar shops. Shocking, but all my contacts in the builders, remodelers, architect file are starting to submit bids and placing orders. Hope this holds up.

 

[DAKSY]

We (the company I worked for) felt the BIG drop in the 2008 market,
at least on the new homes side, but there were still remodelers coming
in fairly steadily. Folks were (& still are) putting money into their existing
homes, instead of buying new. Furniture, umbrellas & grills were also
doing well over the last few years, due to the "staycation" mentality...
I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of you here who are on the vendor side,
as that's where I was, although I have the service & the consumer side
by being an actual appliance user as well...
Like I said originally, my move away from the hearth industry was primarily
financial, & I can feel the difference already...

 

[summit]

I recently decided to purchase an Oslo for our 20X20 addition (still need to make the purchase). Thanks for all thoughts and opinions on the "grates post". I would have taken a harder look at the Rangley T50 had it been on the market longer. The wood stove will be in the corner of the addition and will also have a ceiling fan in the room. For the folks who have blowers on their stoves.......is it worth the money?? and do they move the air good?? I am not opposed to running a small fan or two to keep air moving if needed. If there are alot of benefits to the blower, I would be more inclined to get one. I did not plan on getting heat shields for the stove. Not sure if these blowers push air between the shields and the stove body? An added benefit of the blower may be to help keep the stove a little cooler? Although, I do not believe this would be a big issue with a cast stove. I have seen where the fire boxes on steel stoves will warp over time and the cooling air can help minimize this to some extent. I don't think cast will warp (although it could crack).

Looking forward to your thoughts. Lance

No blower on my Oslo . . . but I'll give you the same advice I got from my Oslo dealer when I asked him about buying the blower. He said that most folks he sells Oslos to do not buy the blower . . . and in fact he recommended that I not buy the blower and try the stove for a few weeks or months . . . and if I later thought I should get the blower he could sell it to me and it could easily be installed at a later date.

That advice won my loyalty to the dealer since he could have easily sold me the pricey blower and made a little more money . . . and truthfully I've found that with my 1,800 square home I do not need the blower to move the heat. I do however have a desk top fan (the type that everyone and their sister has somewhere in their home) that I sit near the doorway of my living room and I aim it towards the stove . . . three years in and the house is warm and I am happy . . . and I have not found any need to go back and buy that blower.

I will say I did buy the heat shields . . . for safety and to reduce the clearance . . . and it seems as though the small price you pay for the rear heat shield has the effect of moving some of the heat through convention on the back side. As for cooling the stove . . . I wouldn't worry about that . . .

I love that story...

 

[skinanbones]

The one issue with the Oslo if you buy the blower is that you HAVE to buy the rear heat sheild as it hangs off the bottem of the sheild and blows up between it and the back of the stove. The one problem i have with that is that the heat sheild designed to look like it not there so all that air gets blow down the sides or sraight up, not across the top where you would expect it to go.

 

[firefighterjake]

I recently decided to purchase an Oslo for our 20X20 addition (still need to make the purchase). Thanks for all thoughts and opinions on the "grates post". I would have taken a harder look at the Rangley T50 had it been on the market longer. The wood stove will be in the corner of the addition and will also have a ceiling fan in the room. For the folks who have blowers on their stoves.......is it worth the money?? and do they move the air good?? I am not opposed to running a small fan or two to keep air moving if needed. If there are alot of benefits to the blower, I would be more inclined to get one. I did not plan on getting heat shields for the stove. Not sure if these blowers push air between the shields and the stove body? An added benefit of the blower may be to help keep the stove a little cooler? Although, I do not believe this would be a big issue with a cast stove. I have seen where the fire boxes on steel stoves will warp over time and the cooling air can help minimize this to some extent. I don't think cast will warp (although it could crack).

Looking forward to your thoughts. Lance

No blower on my Oslo . . . but I'll give you the same advice I got from my Oslo dealer when I asked him about buying the blower. He said that most folks he sells Oslos to do not buy the blower . . . and in fact he recommended that I not buy the blower and try the stove for a few weeks or months . . . and if I later thought I should get the blower he could sell it to me and it could easily be installed at a later date.

That advice won my loyalty to the dealer since he could have easily sold me the pricey blower and made a little more money . . . and truthfully I've found that with my 1,800 square home I do not need the blower to move the heat. I do however have a desk top fan (the type that everyone and their sister has somewhere in their home) that I sit near the doorway of my living room and I aim it towards the stove . . . three years in and the house is warm and I am happy . . . and I have not found any need to go back and buy that blower.

I will say I did buy the heat shields . . . for safety and to reduce the clearance . . . and it seems as though the small price you pay for the rear heat shield has the effect of moving some of the heat through convention on the back side. As for cooling the stove . . . I wouldn't worry about that . . .

I love that story...

And I love Rockys Stove Shop . . . haven't had a need to go back . . . but when I need any replacement gaskets or ever get another stove that's where I'll be heading to first . . . simply because of how they treated me . . . of course also having the best price on the stove didn't hurt either.

 

[My Oslo heats my home]

I considered the blower as well. Put the heat shield on and almost did an aftermarket blower to move some heat and went with a suggestion from here, a small floor fan pointed in the 'right' direction. Actually Jake might be the man that helped me with that too. Anyways, when the stove gets to cruise control I put the fan on low and it does the job.

 

[chad3]

Have the same stove and have no troubles producing enough heat for a 1400 cape. No blower and shorts mid winter.