Efficiency
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Not sure a cold air inlet would increase efficiency. The biggest effect there would be that you are not using the indoor air to feed the fire and you would cut down on floor drafts. The blower, in theory, would send the heat away from the stove where you would get the benefit. However, don't forget the principle of using a small fan, on low in a doorway to blow the cool air from a hallway or room into the warmer room. It works!
woodslinger said:
Most (including me) have found that moving cold air to the warm stove creates a better convection loop than the other way around.
Edit: try it---you'll like it. :cheese:
Please don't take that as sitting a fan in front of the stove blowing air right onto the stove. Some have taken it that way.
Blowing the cooler air into the warmer room is the biggest thing I've picked up on this forum. It simply sounds backwards but after experimenting I found it really does work wonderfully. We have a hallway where we sit a small fan on the floor and run it on low. We also do have a fan by the stove blowing towards that hallway. We've found that this just seems to work the best.
Here is another little tidbit where I was wrong. Hot air rises, so, you should have the ceiling fans blowing down in the winter, or so I thought. Not so! It is just the opposite. Blow them down in the summer and up in the winter. For sure that alone got rid of a draft down low.
Blowing the cooler air into the warmer room is the biggest thing I've picked up on this forum. It simply sounds backwards but after experimenting I found it really does work wonderfully. We have a hallway where we sit a small fan on the floor and run it on low. We also do have a fan by the stove blowing towards that hallway. We've found that this just seems to work the best.
Here is another little tidbit where I was wrong. Hot air rises, so, you should have the ceiling fans blowing down in the winter, or so I thought. Not so! It is just the opposite. Blow them down in the summer and up in the winter. For sure that alone got rid of a draft down low.
Cool air is more dense than warm air. It's easier to displace the warm air with cool air than it is to displace cool air with warm air.
Think of it this way... an F350 and a Civic get in an accident. Which one is going to displace the other?
If you think about it in terms of moving the cold air in order to displace the warm air to where you want it, it will make more sense.
-SF
Think of it this way... an F350 and a Civic get in an accident. Which one is going to displace the other?
If you think about it in terms of moving the cold air in order to displace the warm air to where you want it, it will make more sense.
-SF
I installed outside combustion air and a new set of air tight doors to my fireplace and it made a huge difference. Fireplaces use a tremendous amount of air and if this air is sucked from inside your house it will create cold drafts from makeup air being sucked in from leaks like windows and doors. If you use the outside combustion air and have a good set of doors the drafts and make up air are reduced and it will take less energy to heat the space.
If you are using your fireplace for ambiance or recreational use the blower and outdoor kit might be a good idea.
If you use it as primary or supplemental heat a better investment might be a wood stove or insert, you will use less wood and get more heat
If you use it as primary or supplemental heat a better investment might be a wood stove or insert, you will use less wood and get more heat
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