Maybe a blower would be overkill??

[guy48065]

I have a Vermont Castings Stardance (DV-gas) in the center of a long narrow living room. My knees are only 6 feet from the stove when I'm sitting on the couch. I bought just the stove and didn't pop for the thermostat, comfort control system or any of that but I was planning to add a blower. Would a blower be a bad idea with me sitting directly across & so close to the stove?

What got me thinking was the worry that I couldn't slow the blower down enough or make it quiet enough (the TV is near the stove). Then I spotted a fan setup on eBay that used 2 small 4" "muffin" fans. That would be very quiet and not blast hot air in my face--even at full speed.

I don't have the ceiling height for a ceiling fan but I could put some sort of fan to the side or even behind the stove to move some air around, if it's a good idea to do so.

 

[guy48065]

Nobody has an opinion on this?

 

[Elfin]

I'm sorry that you haven't received any answers... I don't know that I can help you a whole lot but I'll try.

My only experience with blowers was with our pellet stove, and I HATED it. It was noisy (yes, we had to turn up the tv), made the immediate room too hot, and just was generally annoying, blowing us in the face anytime we were near the stove. With the pellet stove, we didn't have a choice of turning it on or off, either.

That being said, I'm not sure how a pellet blower and a woodstove blower compare in terms of this.

I didn't even consider getting one with the new woodstove.

 

[guy48065]

In searching past posts most positive comments come from people with inserts and there are lots of noise complaints from owners of freestanding stoves. I'm thinking I'm not a good candidate for the blower kit. The kit I saw on eBay is looking better all the time:

I might cobble up a similar kit for less.

Muffin fans are quiet and won't melt my face.

 

[R&D Guy]

At 6' away I doubt you'll feel the hot air directly off the stove unless you're standing up. I think you'll find that the hot air will rise pretty quick. Forced air convection will heat the room up several times faster. At worst I'd think you could just turn them down or leave them off all together.

I'd be real careful adding a blower kit that isn't made by your stove mfg. A lot of testing goes into the blower system to make sure the motor and wiring doesn't get too hot. Blowers and the supporting wiring isn't likely to be off the shelf components and are more then likely high temperature rated. Just be careful what kind of backyard engineering you might be buying if it aftermarket.