Insert blower usage

[Country Gentleman]

I have a large Regency insert and for the majority of the peak burning season have the blower running constantly on the lower setting. My plan for this coming winter is to limit use of the blower to half an hour after start up to get the heat moving and then shutting it off relying on the ceiling fan to continue moving the heat through the house. This will also allow the damper to be closed more than half way to get a longer burning time from each load.

What are your thoughts on this, lads?

 

[kingquad]

Sounds like your sending most of your heat up the flue the way you are burning right now. I close my stove all the way down and run my blower on low almost the entire burn cycle. My insert temps stay above 500 for several hours. Do you monitor temps on your insert?

 

[stejus]

What Regency Insert do you have? I have the Hampton HI300 which is the same size and features of the Regency I2400. I run my blower on AUTO LOW with the air shut down to 1/2" before fully closed and can get 8 to 10 hours with lots of coals for the next reload.

 

[KB007]

I have an I3100 and run the blower on auto / low all the time. With out it I find we just don't get as much heat out of it.

 

[fossil]

I have never owned/burned an insert, but after all I've learned on these forums the last several years, I wouldn't have a flush mount without a blower. Even one of the inserts that sits out of the fireplace onto the hearth a few inches, I think, would benefit from a blower. Ceiling fans I do know...I've had a bunch in different houses. My house I live in now has 4, plus I have 1 in my shop and 1 in my guest apartment. What a ceiling fan does is create a toroidal pattern of air circulation in the room in which the fan is mounted. This is very effective at destratifying what would otherwise be a hot air accumulating up high situation, and evening out the temperature (vertically) in the room. What a ceiling does not do to any degree is circulate warm air horizontally out of the room where it resides. If you want air (warm or cool) to move horizontally, you'll have to look for something other than a ceiling fan. Rick

 

[btuser]

I've got an insert and used to use the fan at high. Now that my wood supply has seasoned I tend to burn much lower and longer with a very low fan. I'm not a big believer in ceiling fans, maybe to even out the temp but not moving the air around.

 

[tfdchief]

My experience.

The blower on the insert is there for a reason. You will get much more heat from it if you use it. That is what it was designed for. It circulates air through a heat exchanger of some sort, just like a forced air furnace. Without it, it is difficult to extract the heat from the appliance since inserted it can't radiate heat very well, at least not to the room.

As others have said the ceiling fan does nothing except circulate air within the room it is in, and may actually upset a natural convection current in the house from other rooms to the stove room. No way to tell without experimentation as every layout works a little differently. In most cases the best way to move the heat out of the stove room and into other rooms is to move the cold air from those other rooms into the stove room.

 

[Jaugust124]

I have a large Regency insert and for the majority of the peak burning season have the blower running constantly on the lower setting. My plan for this coming winter is to limit use of the blower to half an hour after start up to get the heat moving and then shutting it off relying on the ceiling fan to continue moving the heat through the house. This will also allow the damper to be closed more than half way to get a longer burning time from each load.

What are your thoughts on this, lads?

Why? What's the difference? You're running a fan no matter what. Inserts are designed to be used with a blower. That's what its there for. If you're just looking to experiment than go for it, but I doubt you will get the desired heat without using the blower. Some freestanding stoves have blowers attached to move the heat around. An insert stuck inside a fireplace needs to get the heat out somehow. I'm not sure I understand what the point of shutting off the blower and running the ceiling fan is all about. You still have a fan running. Unless of course its a noise issue. I would think that a ceiling fan is quieter than a blower on the stove. Try it out and see how it goes.

 

[mhrischuk]

He wants longer burn time. The blower pulls heat off the stove and reduces burn time theoretically. But by increasing burn time by not using the blower you are probably reducing heat output and efficiency as well.

 

[Country Gentleman]

Sounds like your sending most of your heat up the flue the way you are burning right now. I close my stove all the way down and run my blower on low almost the entire burn cycle. My insert temps stay above 500 for several hours. Do you monitor temps on your insert?

No, I haven't been monitoring temps thus far - what is the best way to do that?

The instructions for my insert warn against operating the blower unless the damper is at least half open hence my question re closer the damper more and turning the blower off.

 

[Country Gentleman]

What Regency Insert do you have? I have the Hampton HI300 which is the same size and features of the Regency I2400. I run my blower on AUTO LOW with the air shut down to 1/2" before fully closed and can get 8 to 10 hours with lots of coals for the next reload.

I have the I3100 large and I also use auto low with the air half open but I'm not getting your burn times.

 

[Ash_403]

I have a Regency insert (I3100 in signature). I find that running the blower on auto/high is best for heat output. Running on low or off gives me noticably less heat output. In fact I rarely ever turn the fans on low. ("Shoulder season" perhaps.)

 

[stejus]

What Regency Insert do you have? I have the Hampton HI300 which is the same size and features of the Regency I2400. I run my blower on AUTO LOW with the air shut down to 1/2" before fully closed and can get 8 to 10 hours with lots of coals for the next reload.

I have the I3100 large and I also use auto low with the air half open but I'm not getting your burn times.

Read your manual again. This quote is out of my HI300 Manual which is a Regency Stove. It states at least 1/2" not 1/2 way. This means you can run the fan/blower with the draft between fully open and all the way down to 1/2" before being fully closed. I run mine fully closed at times with the fan on when I am around the stove. If you are running your stove with the draft 1/2 open, you are loosing heat up the stack, reducing heat output and burning through wood faster.


OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
FAN OPERATION
The fan is to be operated only with the draft
control rod pulled out at least 1/2" from the
fully closed position. The fan is not to be
operated when the draft control rod is in the
closed position (pushed in). The fully closed
position is the low burn setting.

 

[Country Gentleman]

What Regency Insert do you have? I have the Hampton HI300 which is the same size and features of the Regency I2400. I run my blower on AUTO LOW with the air shut down to 1/2" before fully closed and can get 8 to 10 hours with lots of coals for the next reload.

I have the I3100 large and I also use auto low with the air half open but I'm not getting your burn times.

Read your manual again. This quote is out of my HI300 Manual which is a Regency Stove. It states at least 1/2" not 1/2 way. This means you can run the fan/blower with the draft between fully open and all the way down to 1/2" before being fully closed. I run mine fully closed at times with the fan on when I am around the stove. If you are running your stove with the draft 1/2 open, you are loosing heat up the stack, reducing heat output and burning through wood faster.


OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
FAN OPERATION
The fan is to be operated only with the draft
control rod pulled out at least 1/2" from the
fully closed position. The fan is not to be
operated when the draft control rod is in the
closed position (pushed in). The fully closed
position is the low burn setting.

Stejus, I've just had a face palm moment. Thanks for your help.

 

[Jaugust124]

He wants longer burn time.

Yeah, totally missed that part of the original post. My Bad.