fan speed

[soxfan13]

I want to move air from my cathedral ceiling FR to other parts of the house. After reading here, I will put a fan on the floor blowing cold air into the FR.

My question is what speed should I use? Slow speed to gently move air or high speed to get as much hot air coming back to other parts of the house.

Thanks is advance,

Very Tired Soxfan

 

[Elfin]

I would consider a ceiling fan, if you don't already have one.

 

[soxfan13]

I have a ceiling fan but wanted to move more air.

 

[Nice-N-Warm]

I'm in the same boat.... Family Room w/cathedral ceiling (ceiling fan included) .. From there a full width opening (16') leads into our kitchen (Kitchen has standard height ceiling). From there, it's just a standard door size opening that leads to the rest of the house. living room w/2 bedrooms down and a bedroom above that. The FR and kitchen (where we spend the majority of our time) are nice and warm, but after that things start to cool down and the upstairs gets pretty chilly without the oil burner going.

I DO have direct access to the upstairs bedroom through the kitchen via a wall in the FR at the opposite end of the room from where the insert is located Hhowever, I've read that running additional ductwork may be a no-no due to local code (still have to investigate a bit more). Anyone in the same fix come up with a work-able solution?

 

[begreen]

Try a box or table fan placed low, on the hallway floor blowing towards the woodstove.

 

[soxfan13]

Try a box or table fan placed low, on the hallway floor blowing towards the woodstove.

BeGreen,

Do you mean the fan on low speed or just on the ground? I was going to put the fan on the ground...I'm just wondering what speed.

 

[begreen]

Both, on the floor and on a low speed. If the fan is on too high a speed it gets drafty and uncomfortable. You just want to create a gentle convective loop.

 

[LISound]

yup, a box fan placed every 10 or 15 feet will move the air. If you can deal with 3 box fans on the floor.
I put a fan in the kitchen doorway that leads into the family room. It blows the colder kitchen air right at the stove and with the ceiling fan going, hot air is blowing back out the top of the kitchen doorway. Now in the kitchen, which is pretty long, i put the next box fan near the center hallway of the house. Again blowing the colder air towards the heat source at the far end of the kitchen doorway into the family room. Now the downside to this is...it sounds like a wind tunnel testing site in my house. plus the cords and fans on the floor look stupid..but we put the fans away when company visits.

hope this helps.

 

[DiBar]

We are also newbies. Right now we have a box fan mounted at the top of a six foot wide doorway to pull the heat OUT of the LR. We have 10 ft ceilings and 2 ceiling fans in the LR. In addition to the high box fan pulling heat out, should I put a fan down low sending cold air into the LR?

 

[mranum]

I was playing around with this last week and I was very surprised at the results. Slow fan speeds, with the fan on the floor blowing towards the heat source is the answer. We keep a room closed usually and when I put a fan blowing air into it it just wouldn't warm up at all. Then I turned the fan around and faced it towards the fireplace and immediately the heat was pouring in the room. The temp rose 10 degrees in about 15 min.

 

[LISound]

colder air is more dense, which is easier to move. It might not sound right, blowing cold air in but it works.