Is a doorway corner fan good for anything?

[N.E.K. - D.D.S.]

I have long known from my Yukon work days that the best way to move heat out of a room with a wood stove is to push the cold air into it from the adjacent room, using a fan on the floor. I am pleased to see people on hearth.com promoting this effective method.

My neighbor gave me an old corner doorway fan. Considering that it is mounted at the top... should it be used to blow the hot air out? Would it work to blow cold air in from that position? Is ii worth having the corner fan blowing outward and the floor fan blowing inward?

OR is the thing useless, and I should get rid of it?

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I use 1 to move the hot air to the cold room. It helps the convection loop.

 

[kborndale]

Why does it have to be mounted up high? Mount it low to blow cold air towards the stove.

 

[stoveliker]

I think the OP wants to have a fan on the floor blowing to the stove and this fan up high blowing the other way.
I would not do that. I don't think it's needed (air flows that direction anyway, proportional to how much cold air the low fan takes away), and it only results in more turbulence - whereas moving the cold air with that fan on the floor on *low* is aimed at consistently moving a small quantity of cold air without mixing it up with the warmer air up high.

I think it won't help much. And given I'm 6'4", I hate things up high in the door ways... Especially at night...

 

[NorthernFireplaceFool]

We use one in our living room to move some of the hot air towards the back of our house from the room with the fireplace. They help, how much is hard to say! They're small enough they don't really get in the way and I use the 3M removable adhesive strips to hold it up there and take it down after the fireplace gets closed up for summer. It made my wife happy so I find that to be a win itself!

 

[N.E.K. - D.D.S.]

I use 1 to move the hot air to the cold room. It helps the convection loop.

This is interesting

Why does it have to be mounted up high? Mount it low to blow cold air towards the stove.

It is the way the fan mounts. It is shaped to fit in upper corner of the door. I got it for free and was trying to use it, but not sure if it is worthwhile. To blow cold air toward the stove as you suggest, I have a floor fan. It obstructs the doorway, which is annoying... but at least it works.

I think the OP wants to have a fan on the floor blowing to the stove and this fan up high blowing the other way.
I would not do that. I don't think it's needed (air flows that direction anyway, proportional to how much cold air the low fan takes away), and it only results in more turbulence - whereas moving the cold air with that fan on the floor on *low* is aimed at consistently moving a small quantity of cold air without mixing it up with the warmer air up high.

I think it won't help much. And given I'm 6'4", I hate things up high in the door ways... Especially at night...

Yeah, I was trying to see if there is any useful setup for the doorway fan. I was also trying to figure out which way a corner doorway fan should be blowing (if used alone).

We use one in our living room to move some of the hot air towards the back of our house from the room with the fireplace. They help, how much is hard to say! They're small enough they don't really get in the way and I use the 3M removable adhesive strips to hold it up there and take it down after the fireplace gets closed up for summer. It made my wife happy so I find that to be a win itself!

I suppose I can try it. It is just a terrible design. The cord is in the wrong position, so I have to cut a hole in the fan and reroute the wire. This 'free' fan is making work for me, and more hassle than it is worth. I would consider a through the wall fan, but this is one area that has a brick wall, and not only that it is a former exterior wall so very very thick.



This house is actually two houses connected together. The new part (from 1855 or so) is brick. The old part (from early 1800's) is wood. I have this big old cast iron antique stove in the upstairs of the wood house. I have my drums, darts, etc. in that rec room and it is only heated occasionally when in use. We got down to 30 degrees the last two nights. I didn't want to heat this whole big house yet (It will be 70 degrees on Thursday afternoon), so I just heated the rec room and hung out in there. The first level of my house was really cold, but I was amazed that I got heat from the upstairs rec room (in the wood house) to the upstairs bedrooms in the brick house. Running a fan on the floor blowing cold air from the brick house through a doorway into the wood house made it warm enough for sleeping.

Anyway, if I am going to add on the corner doorway fan at all I suppose it should blow heat out, rather than cold air in, right? And maybe it is good for nothing.

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

I prefer to use the little blower style fans because they are reasonably quiet and can do their work when placed quite some distance from the doorway instead of blocking it. Searching "Stanley blower fan" or "Lasko U12104" would show you the style I'm talking about if you don't know.
These fans usually have outlets on them that can host a night light to serve as a marker if they need to be placed somewhere where they're still a trip hazard in the dark.
They do double duty in the summer as a window fan, because they can do the exhaust job when aimed at a small high up window, rather than leaving a large low window wide open with a box fan in it, which smells like an invitation to a bear.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I often use a fan on the ground blowing cold air into the room with the stove.

The little corner doorway fan doesn’t perform miracles, but it does make a difference. If anything, it’s just a little more control.

It’s been used in 2 houses now since around 2004.