How do you run your blower?

[soxfan13]

Trying to figure out the best way to run the blowers on my insert. The manual says to run them on high when the air is fully open, med. high at 1/4 open, med. low at 1/8 open and low when the air is fully closed.


I thought to get the most heat in the room I would want to run the blowers as high as I could as long as I could still watch tv. Right now I only run my insert after work and weekends and I really like the ability to get heat into the room quickly. Does running the blowers on high cool off the stove to much?

What do you guys do?

 

[BotetourtSteve]

I've got a blower on a freestanding F600 and I run it WFO as long as it feels chilly in the house. May just be for overnight, or multiple days on end, depending on temps. It is a variable speed blower, but I keep it on highest setting. It has manual or temp-activated "on" switch. On mornings after overnight (10 hrs) burns, fan is still blowing warm air and stove top temp is 250-300, so I don't think excessive cooling is an issue. Fan has been blowing non-stop since last night and I have maintained stovetop temps of 400-450 today/tonight, which is basically the same temps I maintain when fan is not on.

 

[JimmyMood]

On my 350, I find about full to 1/2 turn less than full actually makes a difference in the fan speed. I can run the fans on full speed down to 1/2 to 1/4 open on the air control. With the air control less than that, and I turn the fan knob down to 1/4 or so off of full speed.

In the 550 manual, do they also describe the air control position as sort of non-linear function? I mean, they skip 1/2 open and describes the air control as:

1. Full Open = high
2. 1/4 open = medium
3. 1/8 open = low

 

[High_Iron]

Full blast all of the time. I have 18xx square feet to heat, not gonna do it with the blower on low. Regardless as to the position of my damper rod.

 

[Redox]

I have been modulating the fan speed according to the burn rate, but it is "full speed ahead" whenever the stove air control is more than 1/2 open. I am scared to leave the air control open more than 1/2 for any length of time when burning hardwood. The top of the stove runs about 500F and I think that is hot enough.
Has anybody found a controller that will vary the fan according to stove temp? I hate coming home to the stove after it has burned down to coals and the blower is still crankin away.

 

[jadm]

Yes, they do. And then they add not to shut down the air control because of creosote formation on the low settings.......so why do they give us any control at all??? :gulp:

On my 350, I find about full to 1/2 turn less than full actually makes a difference in the fan speed. I can run the fans on full speed down to 1/2 to 1/4 open on the air control. With the air control less than that, and I turn the fan knob down to 1/4 or so off of full speed.

In the 550 manual, do they also describe the air control position as sort of non-linear function? I mean, they skip 1/2 open and describes the air control as:

1. Full Open = high
2. 1/4 open = medium
3. 1/8 open = low

 

[Cearbhaill]

Trying to figure out the best way to run the blowers on my insert. The manual says to run them on high when the air is fully open, med. high at 1/4 open, med. low at 1/8 open and low when the air is fully closed.

I've read that and wonder what they are thinking as I run mine almost the exact opposite.
At first I thought it had to be a typo but after having seen it numerous times I don't know.

When my air is fully open I am starting up a fire or reloading and wanting things to get going NOW so I slow the blower all the way down to allow heat to build up faster in the firebox. For me too much blower at this stage keeps the insert too cool to get the wood cooking, especially if it is not 100% perfect wood to start with. As the fire establishes I cut the air to about half to keep the fire from just consuming my wood and put the blower to medium to get the hot air into my room. Once things are perking along really hot I close down the air to preserve the secondary burn and turn the blower full blast to keep the temperatures from inching up too high and also to get all my yummy heat.

That's opposite to what they advise but works for me.

 

[derwood]

On my insert, I run the blower between 1/4 and 3/4. Not too fast, not too slow. From an automotive forum, and this seemed to make sense to me, running a fan in medium settings will prolong the life of the motor.

Is it true? I don't know but it seemed to made sense.

 

[kalevi]

This discussion came up before and someone pointed out a good fact: With the blower on high, you are extracting more heat from the stove therefore cooling it. If you need to bring the stove temp up, keep the blower on low until it gets to temp. After that, let her blow.

 

[fugazi42]

The blower on my Jotul 450 insert has three settings- high, low, and off. It will only activate when the stove reaches a high enough temperature. I understand the newer Jotul inserts have a variable speed control, and a manual on/off control as well.

When I start the stove in the morning the blower usually won't kick on until the stove reaches 600 degrees or so (I kept an eye on it this morning). I run the blower on high at all times, unless we're watching a movie or something, in which case I'll turn it down to low. Without that blower I've found that the insert really can't circulate the heat.

Josh

 

[Corey]

My fan has two settings - I flip the toggle switch one way an the fan is on all the time flip it the other and the fan is on a snap switch to come on if the air lingering at the top of the insert hits 180F. Generally when starting from a cold stove, I let the temp switch turn the fan on, but I switch it to 'solid on' before I go to bed. That way, it extracts all the heat as the fire dies and the stove cools.

I guess I have not noticed a substantial amount of 'fire cooling' due to the blower. My firebox is lined with firebrick, so all the heat going into the steel of the stove has to come from the flue gases. It's real easy to build a fire that can put more heat into the stove than the fan can pull out - even with a 500 cfm blower.

 

[BotetourtSteve]

The blower on my Jotul 450 insert has three settings- high, low, and off. It will only activate when the stove reaches a high enough temperature. I understand the newer Jotul inserts have a variable speed control, and a manual on/off control as well.

When I start the stove in the morning the blower usually won't kick on until the stove reaches 600 degrees or so (I kept an eye on it this morning). I run the blower on high at all times, unless we're watching a movie or something, in which case I'll turn it down to low. Without that blower I've found that the insert really can't circulate the heat.

Josh

That seems awfully hot before the fan kicks on - mine runs at 200. Might want to check your sensor and make sure it is seated good against your stove. My fan would never cut on if it was like yours as I never take a fire past 600, and I've got a big stove.

 

[milner351]

I have often wondered ( and I think I even posted this here before ) why none of the stove companies have put in a smarter fan control.

Especially with everyone wanting longer burns now - it shouldn't take too many fancy electronics to make a blower that slows down as the stove starts to cool down at the end of an extended burn.


To me it makes the most sense to have the blower off or very low when loading and getting a new fire established, then bring up the blower speed as the fire gets established and you "throttle down" the stove for long burns.

our insert is in an external chimney on one end of the house - without the blower on high and the ceiling fan a few feet away spinning 24/7 - the heat doesn't move around the house. As is - you can feel the heat going up the stairs.

 

[granpajohn]

The blower on my Jotul 450 insert has three settings- high, low, and off.

For the several users who have on/off only fans; I'm sure you're aware that a rheostat can be added. This is the one I bought and used for several years: (broken link removed to http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5SA-4008)
I had single speed blower motor, due to the repairs I had to make. This little $20 switch makes life with insert so much nicer, and it's durable and works great. I really liked it. (The new Quad insert has a factory rheostat.)

Just wanted to offer some experience for those considering it.

 

[WarmGuy]

I wish someone (or some company) would do some experiments to determine:

1. How the blower speed affects the temperature of the stove

2. How the blower speed affects the temperature of the room.

Concerning item 2, I think it's possible that blower speed doesn't make much difference, since with a lower speed, the air has more time to heat up as it passes around the box.

Aw, heck, I'll do a mini experiment now (fire is 4 hours old, coal stage, air shut down). With the kludgey setup shown below, the air coming out of the blower leveled off at 134 degrees with the blower on low speed.

Just set the blower to high, and the temp is dropping...

After a few minutes the temp dropped to 122 degrees and stayed there.

So, I have a choice of lots of air at 122 degrees or less air (plus less noise, less electricity usage, and less fire cooling) at 134 degrees.

I'll repeat this experiment when the stove is really cranking.

 

[WarmGuy]

P.S. Another variable for decided which blower speed to use is the temperature of the room. If the room is as warm as I want it, I'll set the blower to low to save heat for later.

 

[karl]

Warmguy,

i did the same thing early this winter and got about the same temperatured difference. With only a 12 degree temperature drop with probably twice the volume of air flow. You're definatley getting more heat on high.

I run mine just a little below high, because of the noise on high.