I've been burning wrong all along....?

[bfunk13]

This is my first winter with my insert and with the weather i am finally able to really get it cookin.
I have always used the blower. Never thought not to. Well last night i was curious what kind of temp i could get out of it.
I got a good load of wood charred and burning well. Shut off the blower and turned the air back.
Quickly i got the stove up to 650, and it cruised between 550-650 for hours. I actually had the living room up to 86 degrees. :roll:
The rest of the house was warmer than normal, definitely comfortable. And the wood load lasted twice as long as usual.
My three year old was actually complaining about being too hot.

My theory has always been why not run the blower and get all the heat possible out of the stove.
At least in my case i think i was cooling the stove off too much (usually 325-375) with the blower, making me keep the air open more
and use more wood.

Tonight i came home to a 80 degree house and the wife said she "used less wood today"
I checked the temp and it was right at 600.
This is only the second day not using the blower and operating at higher temps, but i think its a better way to burn.
I have heard people say theirs wont heat with out the blower running. I am curious to see how you guys run your inserts.

Brad

 

[Elderthewelder]

If I do not use the blower i can actually watch the temp drop on the digital thermometer in living room. Unfortunately seems like blower is a must for me

 

[chad3]

Can't say I use a insert with a blower, but each stove is a bit different. You do need to play with your stove in your house and go from there. Glad you have found your niche. I thought I found a new deal with mine, but I need to still play with it as it seems as though it wasn't as good as I thought.
It is fun, if you think about it. Fiddle until you fine exactly the best for you. Standards seem to say: Smaller wood will burn faster and hotter, larger will burn longer but a bit cooler. All are better off than not having the stove, and hope you have enough to get you through the year.
Good luck, and think you will have knowledge once you get a power outage...
Chad

 

[roac]

This is my first winter with my insert and with the weather i am finally able to really get it cookin.
I have always used the blower. Never thought not to. Well last night i was curious what kind of temp i could get out of it.
I got a good load of wood charred and burning well. Shut off the blower and turned the air back.
Quickly i got the stove up to 650, and it cruised between 550-650 for hours. I actually had the living room up to 86 degrees. :roll:
The rest of the house was warmer than normal, definitely comfortable. And the wood load lasted twice as long as usual.
My three year old was actually complaining about being too hot.

My theory has always been why not run the blower and get all the heat possible out of the stove.
At least in my case i think i was cooling the stove off too much (usually 325-375) with the blower, making me keep the air open more
and use more wood.

Tonight i came home to a 80 degree house and the wife said she "used less wood today"
I checked the temp and it was right at 600.
This is only the second day not using the blower and operating at higher temps, but i think its a better way to burn.
I have heard people say theirs wont heat with out the blower running. I am curious to see how you guys run your inserts.

Brad

The Blaze King Princess insert sticks out a lot more than most inserts. I'm sure since more of it is in the room and not surrounded by masonry that it has an easier time heating the room and house without the aid of a fan. Just a guess.

 

[bluefrier]

This is my first winter with my insert and with the weather i am finally able to really get it cookin.
I have always used the blower. Never thought not to. Well last night i was curious what kind of temp i could get out of it.
I got a good load of wood charred and burning well. Shut off the blower and turned the air back.
Quickly i got the stove up to 650, and it cruised between 550-650 for hours. I actually had the living room up to 86 degrees. :roll:
The rest of the house was warmer than normal, definitely comfortable. And the wood load lasted twice as long as usual.
My three year old was actually complaining about being too hot.

My theory has always been why not run the blower and get all the heat possible out of the stove.
At least in my case i think i was cooling the stove off too much (usually 325-375) with the blower, making me keep the air open more
and use more wood.

Tonight i came home to a 80 degree house and the wife said she "used less wood today"
I checked the temp and it was right at 600.
This is only the second day not using the blower and operating at higher temps, but i think its a better way to burn.
I have heard people say theirs wont heat with out the blower running. I am curious to see how you guys run your inserts.

Brad

Without the blower the bricks from your fireplace is absorbing alot of heat and then slowly releasing it over a longer period of time.

 

[jtp10181]

I would try getting the thing up to temps really good THEN turning on the blower. See what that does. Might help move the heat around better.

 

[bfunk13]

I would try getting the thing up to temps really good THEN turning on the blower. See what that does. Might help move the heat around better.

I have done this before, the temp drops and eventually cruises around 350-400

Bluefrier, you are exactly right. I noticed the entire hearth and fireplace much warmer than usual.

Brad

 

[LeonMSPT]

I use the blower intermittently sometimes. Sometimes I don't use it much at all. Depends how cold it is in the house. I have to say I don't get nearly the heat without it that I do with it. But my surround is bricked in, and most of the insert is inside the fireplace. Sometimes wish I could slow the motors down, but it's an old insert with old motors... on-off... that's it.

 

[kenny chaos]

Lopi Liberty free standing stove- I certainly get a lot more heat with the blower on. Some guys like to watch their chimney for smoke. I watch mine for heat and see no heat waves coming off the chimney with the blower on but a whole lot of heat waves with the blower off.

 

[Cearbhaill]

When I reload I turn my blower down fairly low. I only put it on high speed when my insert is really, really hot like at the very top of the burn cycle. Once I see that the temps have peaked and begun to drop I turn it down to about halfway and that's where it stays until reloading time.

 

[lexybird]

possibly get a dimmer or something to slow the fan motor down on your blower so it circulates air throughout ,but not so much CFM that it has a cooling effect

 

[LeonMSPT]

Tried a rheostat, as one is shown in the original parts diagram. My problem is, it hummed to such a degree with it installed and turned on, I was afraid I was going to do in my blower motors. It's an old insert, and I like it. But, I've sworn to kill it, put it out of its misery, if it costs me into the hundreds one more time.

In all honesty, anybody else would have put this thing on the side of the road years ago. Only because I am so handy with refractory cement, gasket materials, and have a friend in the business who could get me a deal on parts, is it still going.

 

[WoodButcher80]

Baker wood/coal combo insert here.... it def likes to have the fan on. 200cfm , but need to install a rheostat to lower her down , too loud. temp will hit 500 or so with upon reload and air knobs open for 10 minutes to catch new wood, then i turn the knobs almost all the way in and fan on and she is cruisin at 300-375 constant . .

ill have to try again without the fan, but i know its good to have on in every which way but the electricity bill.
another very important thing -one that is not mentioned too often on this site - is the thermometer LOCATION .

when i got the insert, i popped it on the cooktop, and was hitting 500-650 . . . moved it to the loading door between the hinge bolts and went to 350-450 , a whole 150 degrees less . i called the manufacturer (yes, theyve been in business since 1977 and still make em in spite of the epa stuff ) and they said to put it on the door for correct measurement. . . . ill start a post soon on thermometer location and avg running temp and loading temp.

 

[Burd]

Im have the same thing happen to me when Its cold out like 30 or lower I cant get the insert to cruise above 375 with the fan on.It seem like its sucking in a lot of cold air and keeps it at that temp and my air control is wide open.What Ive been doing as of late is turn the fan off and get temps up to 600 or so and then turn on the fan.This in turn get the house temp up Quicker. As the house is up to temp I reload and shut the air down and leave the fan on half way intill I see the house temps start to drop.

 

[Shawn]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. The blower blows air across the top of the stove where it is heated and then goes back into the room. The blower does not impact the temperature inside the stove. The stove top may appear cooler due to the cool air passing over, but the internal temp should remain the same. I agree that you might burn hotter to get the stove top temperature up to the same temperature without the blower on. In this case then would the internal stove temp not be hotter still?

 

[WoodButcher80]

ok heres how mine is set up . if your looking inside my stove and up to the top of the inside, i have a baffle box to keep the flames in the firebox longer to help with secondary combustion etc etc , then you see 5 tubes coming towards the front of the stove (SEE PIC ) . those carry air that comes from the squirrel cage blower on the side of the stove , pulls it through an external tube that enters the back of the stove and into the baffle box and out the 5 tube pipes and right in your face. .. the air pipes are not in the heart of the coals to cool down the fire, though, the baffle box with the house air traveling through it is only 10" above the main coal bed. . .

my temp difference between the door thermometer location and the cooktop location is simply more direct heat is on the top of the stove than the thick door. im just pointing out that you cannot compare other peoples temps to yours, its apples and oranges... every stoves different.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

That's weird. The blower shouldn't affect your burn time. I think we're not seeing the whole picture.

 

[vtdavid]

possibly get a dimmer or something to slow the fan motor down on your blower so it circulates air throughout ,but not so much CFM that it has a cooling effect

A regular light dimmer should not be used on an electric motor like a ceiling fan or blower. There are control units specifically for speed control of electric motors, they don't buzz or hum.

 

[Rockey]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. The blower blows air across the top of the stove where it is heated and then goes back into the room. The blower does not impact the temperature inside the stove. The stove top may appear cooler due to the cool air passing over, but the internal temp should remain the same. I agree that you might burn hotter to get the stove top temperature up to the same temperature without the blower on. In this case then would the internal stove temp not be hotter still?

The rate at which the heat transfers from the inside of your stove to the stove itself will be directly related to the delta T (difference in temperature between the two). Since the fan removes heat from the stove surface and into the room, the temperature diffence is greater and therefore the heat can transfer faster from the fire inside the stove to the stove itself. This is how the fan makes the stove more efficient at putting heat where it is needed.

 

[gpcollen1]

That's weird. The blower shouldn't affect your burn time. I think we're not seeing the whole picture.

Yup - don't think this 'experiment' holds much water. Seems to be some other factors involved. I think you may just have finally gotten your stove in the temp range that it needs to really cook. I barely use my blower in warmer months and need to use it when it gets frigid. There is no way that you can get the place hotter without the blower if burning conditions are the same.

The good news here is that you got some good heat out of that stove. Get it cooking again and then turn the blower on low or higher and I bet you'll see some serious heat.

 

[WoodButcher80]

i agree. . . the manufacturer says run fan anytime after 200 degrees, to prevent overfire, cool her down, and spread the heat around. . . im not worried about stove temp as long as its not below 300degrees at the door im fine.

 

[jadm]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. The blower blows air across the top of the stove where it is heated and then goes back into the room. The blower does not impact the temperature inside the stove. The stove top may appear cooler due to the cool air passing over, but the internal temp should remain the same. I agree that you might burn hotter to get the stove top temperature up to the same temperature without the blower on. In this case then would the internal stove temp not be hotter still?

The rate at which the heat transfers from the inside of your stove to the stove itself will be directly related to the delta T (difference in temperature between the two). Since the fan removes heat from the stove surface and into the room, the temperature diffence is greater and therefore the heat can transfer faster from the fire inside the stove to the stove itself. This is how the fan makes the stove more efficient at putting heat where it is needed.

Okay - so if the temp. difference is greater and heat transfer is faster does this explain why more fuel/wood is used with blower on? I was under the assumption that the air being drawn in by the blowers was cooler and that accounted for the drop in temp. ie. that cooler air is cooling things down as it moves around the insert while it is being warmed up....Now I am confused :roll:

 

[Jersey Fire Bug]

Glad you posted this forum. I was looking for info on better fan operating procedures.
I just always kept the fan on auto and let it do what it did. Now I will try some of these
different methods and see what happens. I like the idea of turning the fan on when stove is "VERY" hot. I will try that first .

 

[Rockey]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. The blower blows air across the top of the stove where it is heated and then goes back into the room. The blower does not impact the temperature inside the stove. The stove top may appear cooler due to the cool air passing over, but the internal temp should remain the same. I agree that you might burn hotter to get the stove top temperature up to the same temperature without the blower on. In this case then would the internal stove temp not be hotter still?

The rate at which the heat transfers from the inside of your stove to the stove itself will be directly related to the delta T (difference in temperature between the two). Since the fan removes heat from the stove surface and into the room, the temperature diffence is greater and therefore the heat can transfer faster from the fire inside the stove to the stove itself. This is how the fan makes the stove more efficient at putting heat where it is needed.

Okay - so if the temp. difference is greater and heat transfer is faster does this explain why more fuel/wood is used with blower on? I was under the assumption that the air being drawn in by the blowers was cooler and that accounted for the drop in temp. ie. that cooler air is cooling things down as it moves around the insert while it is being warmed up....Now I am confused :roll:

I dont think it will afect the burn time, but I will concede that answer to the experts. My opinion is that no matter how fast you remove heat from a fire it will not affect the burn time. The burn time is dependant upon the draft, air supply, MC of the wood and density of the wood.

 

[fattyfat1]

That's weird. The blower shouldn't affect your burn time. I think we're not seeing the whole picture.

It does on our stove because the air control runs on a thermostat. when on high, the stove gets up to about 550-650 on top, and automaticaly dampers down to keep stove temps in desired range. cooler stove(ie; blower running) means more air is open and wood will burn faster. If you make a thermostat change, it takes about 20 minutes for change to take affect. thats why there is about 100 degree variance in the "high" range.