FAN ONLY option to work with pellet heat?

[SophieLake]

Hi,

I recently bought a mountain lake cabin that I hope to use on weekends. I"m hoping to use a forced hot air system to keep the place warm enough not to freeze and get a pellet insert to warm it up when we get there. I have a couple (more) questions:

*Was recently told that many new forced hot air systems don't have a true "fan only" system, even tho HVAC guys will tell you there is. The fan is what I had been hoping to use to get the pellet heat to circulate thru the house during the shoulder seasons -- putting a return near the fireplace. Anyone know anything about that? We're not too picky about cold rooms, but I would like the hot air to move somewhat if possible.

*I'm new to the whole stove world. I really want a reliable one. I moved into a new apartment a year ago with all new appliances and every single one has needed to be serviced. Control panels! I can't take a million MORE half days off work to meet the service people, especially when it's a drive away. Is any manufacturer known for reliability? I'd also like it to be big in size if possible -- the fireplace it's going in is quite large. It doesn't have to be super strong. The house is not large.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Gooserider]

Not really a boiler room question, so I'm bouncing this over to the Pellet room... but will add a couple of comments...

Hi,

I recently bought a mountain lake cabin that I hope to use on weekends. I"m hoping to use a forced hot air system to keep the place warm enough not to freeze and get a pellet insert to warm it up when we get there. I have a couple (more) questions:

Sounds like a reasonable approach, but not sure it's the perfect plan you're hoping it is...

*Was recently told that many new forced hot air systems don't have a true "fan only" system, even tho HVAC guys will tell you there is. The fan is what I had been hoping to use to get the pellet heat to circulate thru the house during the shoulder seasons -- putting a return near the fireplace. Anyone know anything about that? We're not too picky about cold rooms, but I would like the hot air to move somewhat if possible.

There are code restrictions on this - it is absolutely prohibited to have a return located w/in 10' of a wood or pellet stove, as they are afraid that smoke leakage could result in spreading CO through the structure and poisoning everyone if a return started sucking up smoke... Also those folks that have tried it, have found that using HVAC systems to spread stove heat gives mixed results at best, most find it doesn't work well at all.... In general it seems to work better to try and move cold air towards the stove as opposed to getting hot air moved away from it.

*I'm new to the whole stove world. I really want a reliable one. I moved into a new apartment a year ago with all new appliances and every single one has needed to be serviced. Control panels! I can't take a million MORE half days off work to meet the service people, especially when it's a drive away. Is any manufacturer known for reliability? I'd also like it to be big in size if possible -- the fireplace it's going in is quite large. It doesn't have to be super strong. The house is not large.

Thanks a lot.

I'll admit to a bias towards cordwood, but I don't know of ANY pellet stoves that don't have control panels, and all are complex mechanical devices with lots of moving parts to go wrong (per Murphy, at the worst possible moment of course....) Some brands are designed to be customer service friendly if you are capable in that direction, other brands will insist on having a dealer service call for pretty much everything, but I can't comment on reliability beyond that. Size varies per different model lines....

Personally if reliability was a big issue, and / or if one wants the "ambiance" of a "real" fire, I'd consider going with a cordwood insert rather than a pellet insert, but that is just me....

Gooserider

 

[WoodPorn]

I'll second Goose's cordwood comments however, having the ability to push a button and get heat is always a plus!

I have an Englander 25 PVDC and love it,... inexpensive, easily serviced (by me) and the Englander's customer service team is TOP NOTCH!

I would not reccomend a return at the stove, instead use a fan at the opposite end to push cold air to the stove.

Just my .02

P.S. Goose, great to have you back in the saddle!

 

[Fsappo]

I've used the fan only option on my heating system to move heat from a wood stove. x2 on not having the cold air return near the stove. It seemed to work good, but only slightly better than a couple of ceiling fans. As far as reliability on a pellet stove...thats a tough one. Pellet stoves have a million little parts and pieces in them. I've sold $1500 stoves and $5000 stoves. Both and all in between have the potential for a service call at some point.

Wood of course will be much less trouble for you. You mentioned a forced hot air heating system. If it was going to be propane, you may want to consider a propane fired stove. Propane costs more than pellets per btu, and much more per btu than cord wood. BUT, come into camp and flip a switch. Also, unlike most pellet stoves, a propane stove will operate during a power outage. The cost per BTU may not be much of an issue if your only using the stove once in a while to take the chill off.

I sell American Energy, Enerzone, Regency, Paromax, St Croix pellet stoves. I can not say that one is hands down a stand out from another as far as service calls go. For a stove that is easy to work on for a homeowner the American Energy Magnum would be my choice. Thats a pretty simple workhorse of a stove. They are reasonable to purchase and if you use a good quality pellet they just seem to keep on chugging. In the event you had an out of warranty issue, parts are available online as well as directions for repairs.

 

[RobC]

There are some thermostat that have include Fan selection only. The Honneywell Vision pro has a Fan / Fan & Heat / Fan & Cool. The fan itself has On / Auto / Circulate settings. Circulate will give you 20 minutes minimum of fan run time every hour regardless of heating cooling cycles. Fan settings can be chosen differently for each program during day. White Rodgers also makes a unit I believe. Then there is a dedicated unit below.
To keep it simple and low electric load I would think wood stove and ceiling fans. Ceiling fans are good for summer too.....
http://www.aircycler.com/
Rob

 

[stoveguy2esw]

a pellet stove and the fan only recirculation method will actually help distribute heat even if the return is not close to the stove keep in mind that a central system is set up to recirculate air throughout the whole structure so the heated air will move regardless. that said its not going to be very effective at a fast pace, you are trying to spread convective heat thoughout a larger area simultanously and there simply will not be enough BTU's availible for rapid temp change. what it will do is over time the heat as it builds will stay fairly even doing it that way , but it will be a slow process. were i looking to bring a house up quick ,i'd lean to cordwood rather than pellet as you simply can get more BTu's per hour in most cases from a cordwood stove than a pellet stove which really shines more when its run long term. if you need fast heat go cordwood and go steel
just my 2 cents, hope it helps