Air Circulation

[JAmuso]

We've just purchased the Regency I2400. Cannot wait to get it! My question - I want to get good circulation from our room with the insert to the upstairs/kitchen-dining area. Aside from installing a ceiling fan in our living room - Do any of you have other fan(s) in the room with your stove? If so - names...brands...etc. I'm looking at the vornados...but i dont know if they're more hype than function. I do know they're quiet which is a big plus. Thanks for your feedback....Joe

 

[cmonSTART]

We have a few of those doorway fans they sell at HD strategically placed in a few doorways. They make a noticeable difference.

 

[begreen]

We took the corner doorway fans down. They were too noisy for us. A single 12" table fan replaced them. Put the fan on low speed, on the floor, in the cold area, pointed towards the stove. It will assist establishing a natural convection loop. The fan is whisper quiet. If it works well in your situation, you may be able to leave the ceiling fan off.

 

[KevinM]

I bought the vornado with the clip grip this summer. We use it instead of the full sized box fan in the living room. It is a bit noisier but way smaller and can't be knocked over. It is clipped on the child gate near the front door and we can pivot it around to blow air out of the house or around the room. It does get the air in the room moving but I'm not sure how you "measure" a fan at 65 feet.

Haven't figured out where to use in in the winter when we are burning wood.

Kevin.

 

[fossil]

Ceiling fans are very effective at destratifying the air in the room where the stove/insert is located, reducing the vertical temperature gradient that will inevitably form in the absence of a fan. This evens out the temperature in the room and takes better advantage of the heat being produced by preventing it from just forming a hot air layer near the ceiling. The higher the ceiling, the more benefit there is to having a ceiling fan. My workshop has a 10' ceiling, and my little ceiling fan does a wonderful job in there. Moving warm air horizontally in the house is a real challenge, and one that ceiling fans do little to overcome. Conventional wisdom (and a lot of practical experience) says that moving cold air low in the house (near floor level) toward the space in which the heat source is located is typically more effective than trying to push warm air out of the space. Here, you're taking advantage of the density difference between warm air and cold air. Any fan will move more air, pound for pound, if the air's cool as compared to warm...there's more air mass in a cubic foot of cold air than the same volume of warm air. Since nature abhors a vacuum, as you remove cold air from remote areas down low, then warmer air will flow in to replace it...thus the thermal "loop" previously mentioned in this thread. Every structure is somewhat unique, and a lot of experimentation is typically required to find a system that works in your particular situation. Good luck! Rick

 

[JAmuso]

hmmmm.....i kinda get the idea of pushing the cold air towards the stove in order to warm that. My dilema is that I'm trying to find an effective way to get the heat towards the kitchen/dining area and up the stairs where the bedrooms are. Our home is a dutch colonial (around 1800 sqft). It's not necessary to get the upstairs as warm as down - but I do want to take the edge off upstairs while not over heating us in the living room where the stove is. Our living room is 13 X 23 with the insert in the middle of the longest wall....we sit just a few feet from it (as discussed in prev thread) and do not want to over heat ourselves when we're watching tv - nor do we want to lower the temp of the stove to be comfortable and not be able to spread the warmth to the rest of the house.....My idea of pulling warm air from the living room - sending towards the stairs so i can rise up - as well as push to the dining area (ceiling fan there) would ensure the down stairs anyway is comfy and 1/2 the battle is won.

Would it make sense to have 2 fans - one pushing air into the room with the stove and one pushing it out? Our down stairs has two pass ways into the kitchen dining area. I chase my son round and round thru there - so it's kinda a loop already...

Yes I'm probably overthinking...but i want to make the most of this investment.

Thank you for your comments.

Joe

 

[jeffman3]

We use a box fan on the floor, pointed toward the stove two rooms away, and the ceiling fan in the living room where the stove is. works good enough for us. For us anyway the trick is to keep the cool air moving toward the stove. It will heat better then you think it will. At least ours does.
We burn a little Tribute and it does a great job! Just keep the air moving and you will be amazed at how well it will work. Cool air toward the stove, warm air away from the stove. I think a fan on the floor moving cool air to the stove and a fan near the ceiling and/or in an upper corner of a doorway blowing away from the heat source would work great. you create a thermal loop and aid the natural movement of air and warmth in your home.