If I use the small fan at the furthest end of the hallway away from the stove, does a ceiling fan in the stove room mess up this conveyor belt effect by eliminating the hot layer up top & cold layer down low?
Does a ceiling fan mess up the small fan pushing cold air to the stove method?
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USMC80
Minister of Fire
I suspect you may not need the ceiling fan then, but experiment and try it. Put a thermometer at the end of the hallway. Try with just the ceiling fan running, in reverse on low speed. Then try it with the table fan down the hallway and no ceiling fan. Then try both. Give each test at least an hour for temps to equalize. Let us know what you find out.
I've wondered about this. I would think that if the floor fan was right outside the stove room door blowing in, that would overcome the possible disruption caused by the ceiling fan. It would be interesting to throw a variable-speed ceiling fan, or rheostat, into the experiment....don't know if that has been tried.
Augie
Feeling the Heat
All I have is a celing fan in the room furthest from the stove blowing the hot air down, this encourages the convection loop. Turn it on after I load say 20-40min I can shut it off and it works on its own.
I would perform the test, but unfortunately I do not already have a ceiling fan in the stove room, just in the bedrooms.
I'm thinking of adding the ceiling fan but wondering if there will be positive results.
Probably should just go ahead & do it. Heck, you only live once, right? Might as well go big.
I have 2 large ceiling fans. One is on the cathedral ceiling and one in the loft bedroom. They work well moving air around. IAs for my back bedrooms down the hallway the cold air runs out of them along the floor with out any fans. I haven't noticed any changes to the heat in these rooms when the ceiling fans are on.
As was stated, try multiple scenarios, but especially try what you don't think will work as well. For example, ceiling fans in some of my rooms circulate heat better if drafting gently upward, other rooms it works to have the fan in reverse of this. Thermometers and how you feel will be the key.
I run my ceiling fan in the stove room in reverse and it really works well pulling heat to the other rooms, also keeps all the heat from going up my open staircase to my bedroom. That room used to be way too hot, now it's perfect.
Holzstapel
Burning Hunk
Every situation will be a bit different. Generally if you have one level, with one level ceilings and need the heat to go far back into the house, then turning the fan on will disrupt the 'conveyer belt'. If you have high / multi level ceilings, especially in the stove room, then a fan may help get heat back to the ground level where it can then be distributed by other fans.
A basic concept many of us have discovered is to move air into a room you need to move air out. For example to get hot air to rise out of a basement stove area, it's best to push cold air into the room under pressure and the heat at the top of the room will rise.
It's a good question - IMHO the only way to really find out (in your own place, since there are many factors, some subtle, that can affect the result) is to give it a try.
FWIW - I have 2 large ceiling fans in the stove room, cathedral ceiling. Turns out I get a convection "flow" that also moves air into the adjoining kitchen area quite nicely without any floor fans. Interestingly, if I spill a bit of smoke out the stove door, and the fans are turning, the place where you can smell it is in the far end of the other room, a few seconds later. Augie mentioned a natural convection loop - I also see the fan blades slowly turning even when they're turned off, from the air movement. Turning them on (slow speed) speeds up the natural flow a bit, which I think is probably what helps to move some of that air into the next room.
In other words, the natural convection + 2 ceiling fans helping seems to mix it up pretty good for me across the entire space. Just need to experiment a bit (it's part of the fun...)..
FWIW - I have 2 large ceiling fans in the stove room, cathedral ceiling. Turns out I get a convection "flow" that also moves air into the adjoining kitchen area quite nicely without any floor fans. Interestingly, if I spill a bit of smoke out the stove door, and the fans are turning, the place where you can smell it is in the far end of the other room, a few seconds later. Augie mentioned a natural convection loop - I also see the fan blades slowly turning even when they're turned off, from the air movement. Turning them on (slow speed) speeds up the natural flow a bit, which I think is probably what helps to move some of that air into the next room.
In other words, the natural convection + 2 ceiling fans helping seems to mix it up pretty good for me across the entire space. Just need to experiment a bit (it's part of the fun...)..
A ceiling fan is probably not needed in that case. There's a 9.5' ceiling at my MIL's house, and a ceiling fan in the stove room. The stove room is at one end of the house, but it has two doorways. I tried one fan on the floor outside one doorway but it didn't seem to do much, maybe because of the other doorway? I'm going to try two small, very low-speed fans, one in each doorway blowing into the stove room. I really need to get a little more scientific I guess, maybe some thermos like bg said....maybe even mess with the ceiling fan again. Last winter it was pretty good over there but that wasn't a cold winter; I need to optimize, just in case....
No, the ceiling fan will not have a negative effect and the 8' is also no problem. Just remember to have that ceiling fan blowing up rather than down. Up in winter, down in summer works best for the ceiling fans.
I thought so. Looks like a ceilng fan is in my future. Wish they made low profile ceiling fans because I like to put my son on my shoulders and he could get hit. The other ceiling fans in the house are over beds so they are easier to avoid.
That was my main concern with the 8ft. ceilings. I am only 5'8" and always feel like I am going to get clipped by a low fan.
They do make low profile fans if you really want to have one.
http://www.hunterfan.com/Ceiling-Fans/#Location=Low_Ceiling
http://www.casablancafanco.com/Ceiling-Fans/#Location=Low_Ceiling
They do make low profile fans if you really want to have one.
http://www.hunterfan.com/Ceiling-Fans/#Location=Low_Ceiling
http://www.casablancafanco.com/Ceiling-Fans/#Location=Low_Ceiling
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