Insert Fan Speed

[velvetfoot]

Somehow I'd think I should know this by now, but I don't.
On what speed do you get the most heat? I'm thinking high, but is it linear?
I'm thinking the air is hotter at lower speeds so maybe the hit isn't that great.
My fan is pretty noisy at full speed.

 

[jqgs214]

I adjust my fan speed with my insert temp. When its cranking at 650+ I'll blast the fan almost on high, high is a tad too noisy. When I drop down to 400-500 i'll lower the fan speed to about half. On overnight burns I keep it low. The fan cools the insert down some so thats what I do, dunno if thats best but hey I like it

 

[Dunadan]

I've read that on high, yes you get more air, but the temp isn't as high as it could be because it doesn't have time to full heat before being blown out. On low, the air gets much hotter, but comes out slower.

Personally, experimenting with both, I think I get more heat using the lower fan speed, especially when burning 24*7 where I'm not looking for a quick heat up.

Reminds me of the question -

When it's raining, do you get more wet going from point A to point B moving slowly, or fast? If you go slow, you're out longer, but you're not hit by as many drops, and you don't splash. If you go fast, you're not out as long, but you splash and more drops hit you.

 

[ozarkjeep]

My cat stove, will easily run away temp wise WITHOUT the blower on high.

the blower has 2 fans, one was not working well, I replaced them with 2 new slightly larger capacity fans.

and IM hoping for more heat out of it this season.

the cat easily gets hot enough to heat the air no matter how fast its moving in my experience.

I leave it on HIGH almost whenever the stove is running, until wife complains about its noise ( bothers her TV watching)

and of course, I turn it off when first starting a fire, or -reloading until its back up to temp.

generally on high all night long though.

 

[jqgs214]

You get wetter running (well thats what the Mythbusters said)

 

[Rich M]

Something I've learned is running the blower on medium to medium high will get the back rooms of our house (1500sf) much warmer as it moves a greater volume of air. Running it on low keeps the area around the insert warmer as the air is hotter and there is less volume being moved.

I've experimented with every conceivable fan in the hallway/doorway/ceiling/etc. and believe it or not, just the insert blower running by itself has been the best at warming the whole house. I crank it medium high while the stove is hot and turn it down to medium low during coaling. Overnight I set it on medium low.

 

[eernest4]

on my pellet stove, that relies only on convection hot air to heat, I always run the room air blower on high & the pellet feed speed on low with the outside combustion air on 2/3 closed,
because too much cold air into the combustion chamber just cools down the fire too much &
blows too much heat out the hot air vent pipe.

On the other hand, if I close the cold air inlet past 2/3 closed, I build up clinkers in the fire pot, probably from incomplete combustion and the slower air feed through the conbustion chamber
causes the viewing glass to soot up too quickly.

If I open the cold air inlet past 2/3 closed,I get no clinkers & the viewing glass stays clean longer, but I think I am blowing some of my heat, more heat than I need to, out the vent pipe.

All in all, I think that running either a pellet stove or a wood stove is somewhat of an art & i know I get better at it with experience & trial & error of different settings.

I have gotten a great education on the fundamentals here at hearth.com & am applying them
in an ongoing learning experience.

I heat 3000 sq ft with a wood stove primary & pellet stove secondary with oil burner backup.

The oil burner only ever fires on my mother's special request; otherwise, its wood stove or pellet stove.

I have been burning wood 2 years and pellets 1 yr.

I hope this post helps some one out.

 

[Harley]

Certainly take this with a grain of salt, since I've never used a pellet or insert, or any stove with a blower... But I would think there's no real "right" answer. There may be good general guidelines. I would think the many variable in each home (room layout, ceiling height, other ceiling fans, furniture layout, drafts, etc), the user would just have to "play around" and find the sweet spot.

 

[kalevi]

If the blower is off, you only get convection for an insert which is not very good. You heat more of the fireplace on the 3 sides not facing the room. As you crank up the air flow, you move more heat out. At some point, which probably changes with insert heat output, increasing the fan speed will not crank out more heat. It will just push the hot air farther. I like to keep the fan at a medium setting so it is not too loud. If watching TV, we can crank it up but it doesn't seem to warm the room any faster or any more.

 

[Mike Wilson]

Low speed gives you the best heat over the long term. High speed will give you a nice burst of heat for 30 minutes or so, but eventually the air starts cooling down the firebox, which may cause the stove to dip below the temperature required for secondary combustion. Once that has happened you've got to heat it up again.

I use low speed, always.

-- Mike