General question on Wood Burning Insert Blowers

[runnerxc]

I have an older Buck Stove wood insert...it's in decent shape and I am in the process of fixing it up to use this winter. My question is about the blower. The blower on it currently works but doesn't blow the air very hard. If you hold your hand about 3 ft away from it, you can feel it blowing...any farther and you can't really feel it.
Is this normal for an insert blower? Would a new blower be beneficial to move the warm air around the room more?
I hate to put the money in a new blower if I'm not going to notice a big benefit....but I feel like there is a lot of wasted heat that could be pushed through the room more.

Any thoughts/suggestions? How does your insert blower work?
Thanks for your help.

 

[Chargerman]

When mine is blowing hot you can't really stand 3' from it for very long. I will check later today as to where I can no longer "feel" it. More experienced members can respond but I really don't think they are designed to be like a normal room fan but rather gently move the air out into the living space. The size of the blower will make a difference too. My blower is a 3 speed 600 cfm unit.

 

[velvetfoot]

Don't forget to clean any accumulated dust bunnies on the intake.

 

[PAJerry]

Cleaning the intake will help a lot, and if you have time, take the unit apart and clean the barrel fans and lube the felt and bearings. Twice a season seems about right, unless you have a bunch of cats and/or dogs. Pet hair seems to migrate to these blowers.

 

[begreen]

Cleaning the blower blade fins and housing of accumulated dust and grit can help a lot. While it is out, I would also oil motor and fan bearings. If it is turning slowly due to the need for lubrication, cleaning is not going to help a lot. But, the problem is that many of these units weren't designed for oiling. I have had to drill a small oil hole in the location of the bearing felt on several of these low hp motors. Fortunately, the results are often worth the effort.