Blower Cycle Question

[Hiram Maxim]

I got my electric bill and I was not happy 8-/ with the increase sense I started burn 24/7 for the season with the blower.

My question is have any of you guys tried using a timer for your blower?

The Idea I have is purchasing one of the 15 minute timers. That way I can go 15 minutes "on" 15 minutes "off" 15 minutes "on" 15 minutes "off"..................you get the picture?

Anybody ever try this??????

I assume it would cut my increase by half and actually help keep the stove hotter?

Thank you, Hiram

 

[chutes]

Newbie, so can't really offer advice, but curious as to the percentage increase you saw in your electric bill? Haven't seen my bill yet but my blower is pretty much running around the clock now.

 

[Corey]

How big is this blower? A 200W blower (which would be pretty freakin' huge - Grainger.com shows some fans moving 500-600 CFM drawing 23 watts!) running 24/7 for a month would be 200W x 24hours x 30 days = 144 KWh for the month which would be less than 15 bucks at 10 cents/KWh. More realistically, even a 500 CFM blower @ 23 watts would be 23W x 24h x 30d = ~16 KWh/ month - or about 1.50 -3.00 bucks a month depending on KWh rate.

You can try to run a timer to alternate your current blower on and off, but then you're spending money for a timer, adding another piece to the chain to fail, and getting less heat out of your stove which means you burn more wood. If your current blower is really hogging that much power, it might be better to replace it with a more efficient model, ie:

(broken link removed) or similar

(665 CFM, 23 watts)

 

[chutes]

How big is this blower? A 200W blower (which would be pretty freakin' huge - Grainger.com shows some fans moving 500-600 CFM drawing 23 watts!) running 24/7 for a month would be 200W x 24hours x 30 days = 144 KWh for the month which would be less than 15 bucks at 10 cents/KWh. More realistically, even a 500 CFM blower @ 23 watts would be 23W x 24h x 30d = ~16 KWh/ month - or about 1.50 -3.00 bucks a month depending on KWh rate.

Hope I'm not hijacking this thread, but since it seems it is about impact of blower on electric bill, though I would take a stab at cozy heat's formula. My blower, according to the manual, has an electrical rating of 115V, 60Hz, 80W. If I was running 24x7 (which I'm not, since blower goes off during overnight burn when temp of stove sinks) does that mean that my approx electrical usage is 80W x 24 x 30 = 57.6 KWh? My bill suggests that I pay (rounded up) about 12 cents per KWh, so price is 12*57.6 or about $7.00 a month? I can live with that, unless my math is way off which wouldn't be a surprise. Of course, have to take into account that I'm also running a couple of small humidifiers in the kids rooms and running 4 ceiling fans most of each day, but my guess is that those prices are relatively inconsequential as well?

 

[Hiram Maxim]

My bill went up like $30.

Granted the furnace has run a few times but still....

Standard Blower from ESW



AC-30 Blower Assembly

 

[BrotherBart]

Running flat out the AC-30 blower on my stove uses 67 watts. If it was ever run flat out, which it isn't, and ran 24/7 it would cost me $5.69 a month. You have something else going on in that house.

 

[bbeals]

I figure about $5 a month for the blower. Maybe your stove is too hot which is causing the refrigerator to run flat out. :lol:

Sounds like something else is using up the wattage.

 

[Hiram Maxim]

I'm going to go around and unplug things that are not being used.

There must be something going on!

Thanks guys!!

 

[BrotherBart]

I am admittedly a gadget freak but this thing is one of the best purchases I ever made. It is great for finding "phantom loads" and knowing what your electric appliances are costing you to operate.

http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

 

[Hiram Maxim]

Brother Bart,

That's really cool!

Might have to pick one of those puppies up.

Thank you,Hiram

 

[ControlFreak]

How big is this blower? A 200W blower (which would be pretty freakin' huge - Grainger.com shows some fans moving 500-600 CFM drawing 23 watts!) running 24/7 for a month would be 200W x 24hours x 30 days = 144 KWh for the month which would be less than 15 bucks at 10 cents/KWh. More realistically, even a 500 CFM blower @ 23 watts would be 23W x 24h x 30d = ~16 KWh/ month - or about 1.50 -3.00 bucks a month depending on KWh rate.

You can try to run a timer to alternate your current blower on and off, but then you're spending money for a timer, adding another piece to the chain to fail, and getting less heat out of your stove which means you burn more wood. If your current blower is really hogging that much power, it might be better to replace it with a more efficient model, ie:

(broken link removed) or similar

(665 CFM, 23 watts)

Hey Cozy,
The fan that you show here is a nice unit, however most stoves use a really cheap triac-based speed control that's basically a glorified light dimmer. While a fan such as this efficient unit sold at Grainger may consume much less power, adjusting its speed with a triac-based control may create unpleasant buzzing noises from the windings. Most stoves use inexpensive, inefficient shaded-pole motors to run their blowers. One advantage of these motors is that their speed can be controlled with the inexpensive triac without making a lot of nasty noise in the motor windings.

So, be careful that you can return a fan if it doesn't get along with whatever speed control happens to be in your stove.

Dan