Vent hole fans

[Russff]

Here is a picture of our fireplace. The house was built in 1958 and the fireplace is original. I've seen other pictures of similar fireplaces with fans in the vent holes. Where do you get fans like that, I've looked all over and can't find them? The fireplace puts out a lot of heat from those vents and it would be nice to have fans.

We are looking into an insert, probably a Hampton HI301. Is the HI301 the big brother of the HI300? The firebox opening is 38"w x 31" high (ignore the tin foil, just trying to cut down on the smoke). I've heard Hampton's are good, but they're really hard to get right now (no surprise).

 

[djarseneault]

HI300 is the stove series, the 1 on the end denotes a matte black finish in the stove, 5 would denote Timberline brown porcelain finish (HI305) There are other colors, but I can't recall them right now.

 

[Russff]

Thanks for the Hampton info.

Does anyone know where to get the vent hole fans?

 

[begreen]

Take one out and post a picture. I'd start by looking for the motor at www.graingers.com. But if you are putting in an insert, why bother with them?

PS: Hope that is non-flammable masking tape.

 

[Russff]

I don't have a fan, I was hoping somebody could give me info on where to get them. I imagine they are meant for fireplaces so they can handle the heat and hopefully have thermostat control to turn on and off, so I don't think regular fans will survive the application.

We are looking into an insert, but money is tight right now and the units we were looking at are back ordered for months, so I wanted to put those fans in there to at least help us out for the next several months.

The tape is not fireproof and it's not directly in the heat. It's a little melted to the mantle and probably not the best idea, but I keep an eye on it.

 

[Redox]

What I don't see is an air intake. Is there something I'm not seeing?

Most fan motors aren't rated for much over 100 degrees, so anything you put in there will be kind of short lived. If there is an air intake down low, I'd put the fan in there.

Chris

 

[Russff]

What I don't see is an air intake. Is there something I'm not seeing?

Most fan motors aren't rated for much over 100 degrees, so anything you put in there will be kind of short lived. If there is an air intake down low, I'd put the fan in there.

The fireplace has a metal firebox and a second box surrounding the first one, with an air gap in between. The vents are in this air gap. It's like a box inside a box, the fire heats up the inside box, which heats up the air surrounding it and the vents then allow that heated air into the room. The inside box is sealed, so no fire or smoke gets into the air gap, only heated air. If I look into the vent, I can see that the gap surrounds the inside firebox, but I can't see completely into it, so I'm not sure if it's tied into the chimney or anything for an air intake. All I know is only warm air (warm like a hair dryer warm) comes out the vents, no smoke, and if I could draw more air from those vents, I could get a LOT more heat into the room than just the ambient heat from the fire.

 

[Redox]

Ok, the air has to come from somewhere and those vents around the edge are the intakes. Most prefab fireplace fans push the cool air into the outer shell and blow it out the top openings. You can suck the warm air out the top, but most fans can't handle heat over about 100F or so.

If you want to try something, look into computer type muffin fans from Grainger. A 4" fan is probably $20-30 or so and could be attached to the inside of the existing grille to blow out. You'll have to leave the wires exposed on the outside which isn't pretty and they may not last forever, but I don't see any harm in trying it. Don't be surprised when the air temperature drops off though. An open fireplace isn't going to give off a lot of heat, except up the chimney.

How's your draft? It looks like you have had a lot of problems with smoke spilling back out. Might want to get the chimney looked at before it gets much colder. The usual warnings about smoke and CO detectors would also apply.

Chris

 

[Russff]

Ok, the air has to come from somewhere and those vents around the edge are the intakes. Most prefab fireplace fans push the cool air into the outer shell and blow it out the top openings. You can suck the warm air out the top, but most fans can't handle heat over about 100F or so.

If you want to try something, look into computer type muffin fans from Grainger. A 4" fan is probably $20-30 or so and could be attached to the inside of the existing grille to blow out. You'll have to leave the wires exposed on the outside which isn't pretty and they may not last forever, but I don't see any harm in trying it. Don't be surprised when the air temperature drops off though. An open fireplace isn't going to give off a lot of heat, except up the chimney.

How's your draft? It looks like you have had a lot of problems with smoke spilling back out. Might want to get the chimney looked at before it gets much colder. The usual warnings about smoke and CO detectors would also apply.

If those openings are intakes, shouldn't they be lower? There are no other openings, so my guess is the they are just vents and not intakes or exhaust. Maybe the idea is if you suck air out one opening with a fan, the other opening acts as the intake. Both openings are connected around the inner shell, so that would make sense. Yes, the temperature will drop, but if I have a low RPM fan, it shouldn't be too bad. If I put a hurricane strength fan in there, it will suck the air out faster than the fireplace can reheat it and it will blow cool air after a while.

The draft is OK, I had the thing inspected last year (before I put the foil there). I read somewhere a while back that there should be a ratio between the fireplace opening and the opening going up the chimney. Mine was way above the ratio, so the fire was drawing more air than it could expel up the chimney, causing it to puff out into the room. That was the idea anyway. So I put the foil there to cut down the opening size. It did work, the puffing has almost stopped completely. It was so bad originally that the whole downstairs would fill with smoke much of the time (as you can tell from the black stone above the fireplace opening). I also have CO detectors, so no trouble there.

 

[Todd]

I suggest a cheap set of glass doors from Home Depot or Lowes, it would help your efficiency better than any fan. That big screen isn't blocking any of your warm air from the house from going up and out your chimney. I have a similar fireplace and good doors make a big difference.

 

[gpcollen1]

Most setups like this I have seen have had a vent on the top and bottom on each side. Hard to say how the air circulates here. Id blow some air in one vent and see if you can find where it comes out.

As for fans - you can find them on line I am sure.

 

[burntime]

When you get the hampton in there you will not want the fans running cooling the insert or you will have a creosote factory. It is made to run above a certain temp. I would almost seal them up or at the very least not use a fan. Just my opinion. I have the hampton in brown enamel, they are nice stoves.

 

[Todd]

I think I would consider a hearth stove in the future instead of an insert. That fireplace opening is huge and would take a very large surround possibly custom made to fill in the gaps around the insert.

 

[carp]

I doubt the air coming out is over 100 degress. Doesn't matter since inline duct fans are rated to 140+ degrees The air at the ceiling above my wood stove barely reaches 100. Get inline duct fans from Lowes, etc.. of appropriate size. You will need make a cord to plug it in. YOu can go with the cheap duct boosters or go commercial. You will need to be very careful that you don't pull smoke or carbon monoxide from the fire box. First task is to figure out were the intakes are.

Examples:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/categories/hvacr/fans/inline-duct-fans

I use Continental Inline Fans
http://www.continentalfan.com/