How many of you DO NOT need electricity to run youre stove?

[fatalbie]

Useless without electricity, which is working on my mind every time I burn We had a Heritage and moved. Since we liked the mantel so much, we decided on an insert rather than ripping out the woodwork. Installed a Hampton insert, and although it heats OK, I do not care for it nearly as much as the free standing. Don't get me wrong, it looks nice and heats, but w/o the fan, forget it. The noise of the fan is annoying as an added bonus. Tough to justify the initial expense and now want to make the change, but I may be building a slighlty raised hearth, going free standing, and boring a hole into the existing flue. Not trying to start a debate, just offering my experience now that I have done both.
Jim

 

[Cluttermagnet]

My free standing stove can run great without electrical power. But- I'd never run it that way unless forced to by a power outage. I have a great setup- stove out in front of a two- sided fireplace. Big box fan on the far side, blowing through the fireplace and over the back of the stove. It also removes heat from the horizontal, single wall pipe and elbow going up into the blockoff plate. A ceiling fan in the room behind the wood stove stirs the air. And most important, there are a couple of small fans in the doorways of the two bedrooms at the far end of the house. They are surprisingly good air movers that get a good circulation going. It would be OK without the four fans, but it's way better with them.

 

[Lanningjw]

My Princess insert works really well with out the blower. So yes I can use this type of insert w/o electricty.The design of the fan does not restrict air flow and because the unit sit 13" onto the hearth, means I only run the blower when the temps are below 20 degrees outside.

 

[glassmanjpf]

No electricity needed, however like many others to enjoy the full warmth and comfort do have a hallway corner mounted fan about 15 feet away from the stove and a small fan near the stove. Oh and yes an electric humidifier going as well. In a pinch could keep warm without any of them.

 

[raybonz]

I'm pretty sure most freestanding wood stoves do not require electricity to run.. My stove does have a blower that I grafted onto it and it makes a big difference in distributing the heat and in my opinion may even prolong the life of the stove as it reduces the stove surface temperature.. If it's cool but not cold I run without the blower but usually always have the ceiling fan on to move the air.. At least if the power goes out I will get heat from the stove.. I considered a pellet stove at one time but the fact that they must have power to run plus the fact that I can't find pellets laying in the woods kept me a wood burner.. Someday I would like to get a new stove and it will be a daunting decision on which way I will go for sure.. Running the stove without the blower is definately MUCH quieter!! ;-)

Ray

 

[Todd]

You should ask this question over in the Pellet room. :lol:

 

[raybonz]

You should ask this question over in the Pellet room. :lol:

They can always use a gerbil with an exercise wheel to run those stoves lol.. Pellets do have their place and have some features seems pretty cool to me.. Anyone that heats with non-fossil fuel is OK by me..

Ray

 

[awoodman]

You should ask this question over in the Pellet room. :lol:

They can always use a gerbil with an exercise wheel to run those stoves lol.. Pellets do have their place and have some features seems pretty cool to me.. Anyone that heats with non-fossil fuel is OK by me..

Ray

They could get creative and run pullys and gear reductions off of a roof mounted wind turbin.. ;-)

 

[PapaDave]

The first 3 seasons here, no electricity for the stove blower.
I started using it this year, and it really helps to distribute the heat and keep temps down on the stove. The hearth looks like it was added when the room was put on the house (well before we moved in), but there's no outlet near the stove. I run an extension cord to it.
The stove will keep the house VERY warm without the blower, so no, don't NEED to use elec. for the stove.

 

[Adabiviak]

We're good without power - like the previous poster, the fans let us heat the house from a cold start quicker, but aren't necessary for thorough heating.

 

[Wet1]

Below 20, the blower is on but I suppose we could get away without it. Just wouldn't choose to.

Do you really notice much of a difference with the blower on? After running mine both ways on and off for a while, I can't say I really notice enough of a difference to bother running it much any more... if just seems to be wasting electricity and creating noise while moving little air.

 

[cycloxer]

Do you really notice much of a difference with the blower on?

Yes, a measurable difference. I've done significant experimentation with blowers (for my setup) and there is a measurable difference in both stove top temperature and room temperature. I can literally prevent my stove from over-firing with a 200 cfm blower. This allows you to run with a higher air setting, burn more fuel quicker, and then extract that heat.

I'd say running my fan at roughly 80-100 cfm the stove runs about 100°F cooler on top at a given air setting and the room temperature goes up several degrees and it gets there quicker. Also, the heat disperses into the rooms further away from the stove much better - maybe as much as another 5 degrees.

From a cold stove start-up what I do is to get the firebox packed and when the temp hits 400 or so I engage the fan at 75-100% depending on how quick I want to heat up the room. Then I continue to run my stove at wide open air and let the temp climb to 600 (if I can get it there - tough to do with the blower on max). Then I can reload the box with another full charge of fuel to the top of the baffles and back off the air setting to whatever I like and back off the blower to the 25-50% range where it becomes very quiet and almost unnoticeable. I will turn it off completely if the room temp gets too high, but I prefer to keep it at 25% just to keep the circulation of the air into the room.

The blower allows you to extract more convective heat from your stove. I've seen #'s ranging from 15-30% and that seems plausible based on my measurements. In my hearth mount case where the stove is partially in the fireplace, the blower makes a big difference. If you have a stove smack in the middle of the room with no obstructions where you already get good natural convection, it isn't going to be nearly as beneficial. We are really just blowing air over a heatsink, but it works remarkably well.

 

[raybonz]

Do you really notice much of a difference with the blower on?

Yes, a measurable difference. I've done significant experimentation with blowers (for my setup) and there is a measurable difference in both stove top temperature and room temperature. I can literally prevent my stove from over-firing with a 200 cfm blower. This allows you to run with a higher air setting, burn more fuel quicker, and then extract that heat.

I'd say running my fan at roughly 80-100 cfm the stove runs about 100°F cooler on top at a given air setting and the room temperature goes up several degrees and it gets there quicker. Also, the heat disperses into the rooms further away from the stove much better - maybe as much as another 5 degrees.

From a cold stove start-up what I do is to get the firebox packed and when the temp hits 400 or so I engage the fan at 75-100% depending on how quick I want to heat up the room. Then I continue to run my stove at wide open air and let the temp climb to 600 (if I can get it there - tough to do with the blower on max). Then I can reload the box with another full charge of fuel to the top of the baffles and back off the air setting to whatever I like and back off the blower to the 25-50% range where it becomes very quiet and almost unnoticeable. I will turn it off completely if the room temp gets too high, but I prefer to keep it at 25% just to keep the circulation of the air into the room.

The blower allows you to extract more convective heat from your stove. I've seen #'s ranging from 15-30% and that seems plausible based on my measurements. In my hearth mount case where the stove is partially in the fireplace, the blower makes a big difference. If you have a stove smack in the middle of the room with no obstructions where you already get good natural convection, it isn't going to be nearly as beneficial. We are really just blowing air over a heatsink, but it works remarkably well.

+1 on this post...

Ray

 

[Wet1]

Sorry guys, I should have been more specific... I was inquiring about Solar's BKK. I know the fans make a difference, but i just haven't noticed all that much of a difference with the setup on my BKK.

 

[begreen]

We have the Ecofan for power outages. It's been effective for gently circulating the heat. To satisfy my curiousity, a couple weeks ago I added the PE blower kit to see how it works in comparison. As far as house heating, on low speed, not too much difference noted at all. However, with a strong fire, the house will heat up faster if the blower is running on medium to high speed. The really noticeable difference though is in the stove top temps. Without the blower, at peak secondary burn the stove top would typically be in the 600-700 °F range. With the blower, it rarely gets over 550 °F at peak.

One downside I've noticed with the blower is that it creates a small vacuum over the door. This means that the blower needs to be turned off before reloading the stove or there will be a slight whiff of smoke that escapes the stove.

 

[waynek]

As you can see by my avatar...no electricity needed. The stove was built before electricity was available. It is located in the basement of a two story brick home (circa 1920) and heats the home comfortably until it gets around 15 degrees above zero. When that happens and I want to maintain the first floor at 72 degrees I have the option of burning the fireplace.

Although it is rare to have a power outage in this area, there have been 3 or 4 serious outages in the last forty years...the worst in 1976. Power was out four and one-half days. We opened up our home to neighbors and relatives. It was quite a house full at times.
The old stove saved the day.

Last Wednesday the power went out for a few hours due to an ice storm. Our daughter and son were here for the holiday and thought it was great fun to pull up chairs near the old stove within the light of some kerosene lamps. We all seemed to be disappointed when the power came on.
jackpine

 

[TMonter]

I have a Quadrafire 3100i Insert with no blower and it heats my house just fine. For the really cold days I do fire up the Englander 13NCL down in the den to supplement, but it is nice not needing any electricity for keeping the house warm.

 

[Battenkiller]

Yes, a measurable difference. I've done significant experimentation with blowers (for my setup) and there is a measurable difference in both stove top temperature and room temperature. I can literally prevent my stove from over-firing with a 200 cfm blower. This allows you to run with a higher air setting, burn more fuel quicker, and then extract that heat.

I'd say running my fan at roughly 80-100 cfm the stove runs about 100°F cooler on top at a given air setting and the room temperature goes up several degrees and it gets there quicker. Also, the heat disperses into the rooms further away from the stove much better - maybe as much as another 5 degrees.

From a cold stove start-up what I do is to get the firebox packed and when the temp hits 400 or so I engage the fan at 75-100% depending on how quick I want to heat up the room. Then I continue to run my stove at wide open air and let the temp climb to 600 (if I can get it there - tough to do with the blower on max). Then I can reload the box with another full charge of fuel to the top of the baffles and back off the air setting to whatever I like and back off the blower to the 25-50% range where it becomes very quiet and almost unnoticeable. I will turn it off completely if the room temp gets too high, but I prefer to keep it at 25% just to keep the circulation of the air into the room.

The blower allows you to extract more convective heat from your stove. I've seen #'s ranging from 15-30% and that seems plausible based on my measurements. In my hearth mount case where the stove is partially in the fireplace, the blower makes a big difference. If you have a stove smack in the middle of the room with no obstructions where you already get good natural convection, it isn't going to be nearly as beneficial. We are really just blowing air over a heatsink, but it works remarkably well.

This is very interesting to me and makes perfect sense. Heat is transferred from a area of high heat to an area of lower heat. If your blow air over a hot surface, more of that heat will be transferred to the surrounding air because more molecules are contacting the surface. This will reduce the amount of heat in the metal, which will now be able to absorb the heat from the fire itself. This should lower the internal temperature by robbing the fire of some of its heat. Opening up the draft should increase the intensity of the burn and bring internal temps back up into the normal range.

I have several used squirrel cage fans hanging around. I might give this a try and see what happens. My VC Vigilant has hot spots (800-900ºF at times) on the front doors, so I would likely direct the air flow at them. It will be interesting to see the effect on flue temps as this will give a better understanding of what is going on inside the black box (I have no windows on my stove).

Cycloxer, you say you turn off the blower if the room gets too hot. I assume you reduce the air first to quiet the fire down and avoid an overfire situation. What concerns me is what happens if the power goes out? Do you have a generator backup, or do you only run the blower when you are there to monitor it? Increased air going into a raging fire is more than a little worrisome to me. I'd have to be awake and watching things to push my stove that hard.

This may explain why I have a bit of a problem with extreme running temps in my current installation. The stove is placed in a basement corner, against a cement block wall and behind a wall of wood 3 feet away. As I walk around that stack of wood, I can feel the temps rising almost 15º (measure it as well). My previous attempts to move this air have been to turn on my overhead air filtration unit (low setting about 550 CFM), but this was unsuccessful at making any changes. So I'll give the blower directed right at the stove a go and report the results.

 

[goofy]

Electricity? We don't need not stink'n electricity!


We have a very open floor plan, which creates it's own circulation both downstairs and up.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Below 20, the blower is on but I suppose we could get away without it. Just wouldn't choose to.

Do you really notice much of a difference with the blower on? After running mine both ways on and off for a while, I can't say I really notice enough of a difference to bother running it much any more... if just seems to be wasting electricity and creating noise while moving little air.

Big difference. Reduces burn time by about a third and I am confident the heat is not going up the stack. N60 reported similar. I agree, however, if you don't need the additional output the noise and electricity consumption does not make a lot of sense.

 

[Martin Strand III]

I live in the boonies in NW MI about 4 miles from northern Lake Michigan on a hill where the wind whips, the snow flies horizontally and winter storms cause frequent power outages. I love it here 'cause it reminds me of my old sailing passages. Plus, can't get LPG for the furnace delivered some years from November to April due to the driveway grade (steep). I am blessed with adequate acreage for hardwoods giving me an unlimited supply for the cost of sweat, chainsaw gas/lube and tractor diesel. This adds up to having redundant non-powered (no fans, no gears) accessory heaters for my 1950 SQ FT home (main floor, loft):

A TempCast 2000 masonry heater on the main floor:

https://www.hearth.com/gallery/pics/fireplaces/source/tilestove.html

and a Harman TLC 2000 wood/coal stove in the basement:

https://www.hearth.com/gallery/pics/woodcoal/source/harmanbasement.html

which is now finished. This Harman will heat the entire house. It is a beast.

It warms me further that this setup trims downward my contributions to the large home heating fuel and electric conglomerants.

Now in my 9th winter, the above has served me well: proven to be extremely reliable in the nastiest weather when I need it most and is supremely comfortable. I would not change a thing.

Aye,
Marty

 

[jharkin]

No electric needed here.

Heck, there is probably a way to wire up two car batteries in series to the 24v circuit on the boiler and keep the central heat on fora long time without power as well.

 

[awoodman]

Electricity? We don't need not stink'n electricity!


We have a very open floor plan, which creates it's own circulation both downstairs and up.

goofy I like you're attitude got any pics. of the house layout?....

 

[cycloxer]

I have several used squirrel cage fans hanging around. I might give this a try and see what happens.

That's what I did before I selected the exact Rotom blower that I am now using. I still have to get around to completing the sheet metal shroud, but it works quite well even w/o this. I ended up picking the smallest cfm blower (130) that I needed as well as one w/ a very low 1,250 rpm's. So, when you throttle it back to 25-50% speed it is very, very quiet. Most people would not hear it unless I pointed it out.

you say you turn off the blower if the room gets too hot. I assume you reduce the air first to quiet the fire down and avoid an overfire situation.

Yeah exactly. I throttle down the primary air to like 10% open and let the fire settle down first. With the blower on high you can actually cool down the surface temp of the stove much quicker. Then when the surface temps drop below 500 I can turn the fan way down or even off if I so desire.

What concerns me is what happens if the power goes out?

I only operate the stove with the primary air wide open w/ a full box of fuel and the fan on high if I am around to monitor the temp. Obviously this is not a situation you want to leave unattended. However, it does allow me to extract more Btu's out of my stove in a shorter period of time. I am not a 24/7 burner, so this is the technique I employ when I want to get my house up to temp as quick as possible. It heats up the house several degrees more per hour as compared to w/o a blower - really, no exaggeration. Again, I think my install is a very good candidate for this setup because w/o a blower a lot of my hot air (no pun intended) gets trapped in the old fireplace where it does me no good.

As I walk around that stack of wood, I can feel the temps rising almost 15º (measure it as well). So I'll give the blower directed right at the stove a go and report the results.

Try out different setups. I did that too before I settled on my final location. The cold air sits down low and the hot air rises off of the stove as a natural convection current. What seems to work best is to circulate the colder air around the stove so that it heats up and then direct it back into the room. So think about how you can best accomplish this. There are different approaches, but that is the general idea. My fireplace acts as its own ductwork and I literally pull the cold air in from the hearth floor and blow it up around the back of the stove. Then my block off plate at the top forces the air to circulate across the top of the stove and then out into the living room. If you look at the design of the blowers and shielding on some free standing stoves they employ the same concept.

 

[jlow]

Our EQ as you can see is in the middle of our family room. It faces north and the heat is drawn towards the front of the house and then rises to head upstairs. If the thermostat in the kitchen is 75 our bedroomupstairs is 69-70. If I need to use the fan (which can be battery operated ) it would be early morning to start the movement of the heat. The majority of the time the heat moves nicely without any added boost.