Anybody use heat-powered stove fans?

[Amin1992]

Hey guys, saw these recommended online and never even knew this tech existed haha. It's a heat-powered fan. The hotter the stove gets, the more power it gets and thus, faster it spins.

Voda Heat Fan @ Amazon

I've been posting on here about some issues with my convection blower on my wood insert. However, from videos these things seem dead silent, and don't require electricity.

I know they definitely wouldn't be as powerful as a blower fan, but does anyone use these and what do you think? Can't be worst than just not using the blower which is what I intend?

My insert sticks out 7" from the hearth so I have a surface to set this on.

 

[showrguy]

I bought one just for a conversation piece..
I think mine was made in Sweden ?, I forget ... not chinese though..
If you’re hoping to move heat with it, I’d suggest you save your money..

 

[bholler]

To get the benifit from a fan with an insert you really need to be pulling or pushing air through the convective jacket. A fan like that won't accomplish that very well at all.

 

[sen166]

We have one (Eco Fan) on our Mansfield. It's more of a novelty than anything. It moves a little bit of air as it will blow a lit match out if you hold it in front of it, but I don't really think it makes a notable difference for spreading heat into the room.

 

[Amin1992]

Got it, thanks for the replies. I'll buy one for the heck of it as I'm otherwise not using a blower on my insert. Thanks!

 

[Ludlow]

I have one. It blows a bit of the heat off the stovetop. Not much. More of a novelty than anything.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

To get the benifit from a fan with an insert you really need to be pulling or pushing air through the convective jacket. A fan like that won't accomplish that very well at all.

The used Rainier I bought did not come with a blower. Purchased 2 blowers off Amazon ($60). Man what a difference! Insert without blower is half the heat.

 

[Amin1992]

By blowers do you mean these stove top fans? Great to know!

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

By blowers do you mean these stove top fans? Great to know!

No. Blowers are electric blowers blowing air from the front bottom of your insert into the stove jacket.

 

[Amin1992]

No. Blowers are electric blowers blowing air from the front bottom of your insert into the stove jacket.

Ah I see. The blowers are cool but too loud for us, and we have a sitting area about 4 feet from it and don't want to swelter

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Ah I see. The blowers are cool but too loud for us, and we have a sitting area about 4 feet from it and don't want to swelter

I got 2 of these. Perfect and not too loud on low.

 

[lml999]

Got it, thanks for the replies. I'll buy one for the heck of it as I'm otherwise not using a blower on my insert. Thanks!

My Kodiak 1200 insert has an integrated blower. I don't find that the blower distributes much more heat than the normal movement of air through the room. So I don't bother to turn it on....I find the noise objectionable.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

My Kodiak 1200 insert has an integrated blower. I don't find that the blower distributes much more heat than the normal movement of air through the room. So I don't bother to turn it on....I find the noise objectionable.

My insert is intalled extended. I try to get the heat upstairs. Without blowers, no way to get that done.

 

[mar13]

I thought all inserts needed working blowers to be decently efficient?

My eco-fan got knocked off the stove one year, now it's certainly not silent when it gets going fast. It's sort of an audible alarm for me to start watching the stove top temperature. I can't really tell if it helps much with moving the heat around. I don't have a blower (not an accessible power outlet for one) on my stove, which I'm confident would do a much better job.

 

[jetsam]

I have a semi flush insert that is the only heat source in the house (backup oil is set to kick on at 45°), and I use my $30 Amazon stovetop fan full time. I only run the blowers when it's below freezing now. It gets a significant amount of heat out into the room- but not as much as the blowers on a lowish setting.

If you have a jacketed stove, it will be a lot less helpful.

 

[bholler]

I have a semi flush insert that is the only heat source in the house (backup oil is set to kick on at 45°), and I use my $30 Amazon stovetop fan full time. I only run the blowers when it's below freezing now. It gets a significant amount of heat out into the room- but not as much as the blowers on a lowish setting.

If you have a jacketed stove, it will be a lot less helpful.

All inserts are jacketed stoves. So much less helpfully.

 

[Amin1992]

I got 2 of these. Perfect and not too loud on low.

View attachment 255330

Cool! I'm a bit confused looking online though, since these are generic... where do you put them? Do you hide them next to the insert behind the trim piece or somethign?

My Kodiak 1200 insert has an integrated blower. I don't find that the blower distributes much more heat than the normal movement of air through the room. So I don't bother to turn it on....I find the noise objectionable.

That's exactly how I feel about the blower, and it looks like that Kodiak 1200 is quite similar to my Heatilator ECO Wins-18, in that it sticks out 6+ inches from the masonry. I'm just looking to heat the room it's in, and maybe the adjacent room 10 feet away, so hoping I'm in the same boat as you. Thank you for sharing.

I have a semi flush insert that is the only heat source in the house (backup oil is set to kick on at 45°), and I use my $30 Amazon stovetop fan full time. I only run the blowers when it's below freezing now. It gets a significant amount of heat out into the room- but not as much as the blowers on a lowish setting.

If you have a jacketed stove, it will be a lot less helpful.

Awesome to know, thank you. Could you link which one you got?

I know a lot of people here like yourself use the insert as a primary heat source. For me, it is only going to be used on some cold nights and fun weekends, no more. My house has too many doors that we like to keep shut. Also, we have a pellet stove and when that is running with its convection blower, we roast on the couch next to it, and it's in a larger living room than the insert is (pellet stove is in a 300 sq foot room with open floor plan to dining room and kitchen, versus the insert which is in a small 200 sq foot room give or take, with furniture about 4 feet in front.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Cool! I'm a bit confused looking online though, since these are generic... where do you put them? Do you hide them next to the insert behind the trim piece or somethign?

I put them in front of the insert on the bottom, where normally the factory blower is.

 

[Amin1992]

Cool! I'm a bit confused looking online though, since these are generic... where do you put them? Do you hide them next to the insert behind the trim piece or somethign?

I put them in front of the insert on the bottom, where normally the factory blower is.

Oh that's pretty cool. I like it not only because it's cheap but also I can put away when not in use. $30 is much more worth it than the $300 to replace the original blower, and even then I don't like it haha

 

[jetsam]

Cool! I'm a bit confused looking online though, since these are generic... where do you put them? Do you hide them next to the insert behind the trim piece or somethign?



That's exactly how I feel about the blower, and it looks like that Kodiak 1200 is quite similar to my Heatilator ECO Wins-18, in that it sticks out 6+ inches from the masonry. I'm just looking to heat the room it's in, and maybe the adjacent room 10 feet away, so hoping I'm in the same boat as you. Thank you for sharing.



Awesome to know, thank you. Could you link which one you got?

I know a lot of people here like yourself use the insert as a primary heat source. For me, it is only going to be used on some cold nights and fun weekends, no more. My house has too many doors that we like to keep shut. Also, we have a pellet stove and when that is running with its convection blower, we roast on the couch next to it, and it's in a larger living room than the insert is (pellet stove is in a 300 sq foot room with open floor plan to dining room and kitchen, versus the insert which is in a small 200 sq foot room give or take, with furniture about 4 feet in front.

The stovetop fan is less than an insert fan on low, but it's a noticeable difference for me. My fan appears to be $40 now. I think it's 2.5 years old. It developed a nasty rattle due to the original blades being bent in shipment, and the company (Voda) sent me a complete rebuild kit free even though I'd had it for a couple years. Now it's better than it was new!

Hearth won't let me post links today (which is new behavior for it). I'll type it out in html and see ho the editor parses it... just copy everything inside the quotes if the link doesn't work.

<a href="Amazon product ASIN B01CD2AIV8">Linky linky</a>

 

[jetsam]

All inserts are jacketed stoves. So much less helpfully.

Hrm, I was trying to make a distinction between stoves that have stovetop sticking out and stoves that have jacket sticking out.

The PI has stovetop stickng out, so the surface that my fan sits on can get up to 750 if the stove's on high.

 

[Amin1992]

The stovetop fan is less than an insert fan on low, but it's a noticeable difference for me. My fan appears to be $40 now. I think it's 2.5 years old. It developed a nasty rattle due to the original blades being bent in shipment, and the company (Voda) sent me a complete rebuild kit free even though I'd had it for a couple years. Now it's better than it was new!

Hearth won't let me post links today (which is new behavior for it). I'll type it out in html and see ho the editor parses it... just copy everything inside the quotes if the link doesn't work.

<a href="Amazon product ASIN B01CD2AIV8">Linky linky</a>

I couldn't get the link to work either, I was having the same trouble earlier. Dont worry though, Voda is what Ive been looking at too so thank you!

Hrm, I was trying to make a distinction between stoves that have stovetop sticking out and stoves that have jacket sticking out.

The PI has stovetop stickng out, so the surface that my fan sits on can get up to 750 if the stove's on high.

I'm a bit confused, what is the jacket on a stove insert? My insert sticks out 7" so I think that is the actual stove extending outward. I hope my top would also get up to 750 as I'd like to cook on it!

 

[jetsam]

I couldn't get the link to work either, I was having the same trouble earlier. Dont worry though, Voda is what Ive been looking at too so thank you!



I'm a bit confused, what is the jacket on a stove insert? My insert sticks out 7" so I think that is the actual stove extending outward. I hope my top would also get up to 750 as I'd like to cook on it!

I couldn't find a good picture, so I doodled a jacket onto a diagram of an unjacketed stove.

It's a layer outside the firebox, designed to pull in cool air and let out warm air , usually using a fan. Combustion air is seperate; this air does not go in the firebox.

 

[Amin1992]

I couldn't find a good picture, so I doodled a jacket onto a diagram of an unjacketed stove.

It's a layer outside the firebox, designed to pull in cool air and let out warm air , usually using a fan. Combustion air is seperate; this air does not go in the firebox.

View attachment 255368

Thanks for mocking that up! Haha. OK my stove does NOT have a jacket so I suppose my surface could get nice and hot too right?

 

[jetsam]

Zap the flat area with an IR thermometer (which you should have anyway, they're cheap and useful).

If it says 200°+, the fan will run. The hotter it gets, the faster it goes. I think the package says it needs to be hotter than that, but mine doesn't.