More ceiling fan advice

[Deadcalm]

Hello fellow woodburning folk. I know there have been various posts about ceiling fans, so here's a new one.

Our cathedral style salon in France is huge, and difficult to heat, as all the heat rises into the roof space. We have oil-fired central heating (which is expensive to run), and a Jotul F600 in the fireplace in the salon. The Jotul chucks out a lot of heat, and apart from the radiated heat directly in front of it, most of it sits way up out of reach (and our benefit!).

So we are therefore considering a couple of ceiling fans to move the warm air about a bit. I don't know if anyone can recommend a fan fit for purpose (bearing in mind we live in France...) - we are not interested in the silly lights which seem to come with most of them!

Photo attached in respect of the best places to fit them. Would they be better placed up high, or in a lower position - the photo shows the available options (both crossbeams are roughly over the seating area).

Thanks

 

[CountryBoy19]

I don't have too much advice, but you definitely want to put them higher. That is so they blow the warm air down better, if they're low they're not going to move as much warm air down. Also, being higher, they will create less of "drafty feeling".

Ceiling fans should be available without lights, they're just not as common; you may have to order online to get them. If you still can't find any, you can typically buy a normal ceiling fan and just not install the lights; the manufacturer likely even has some sort of cover that will go over the mounting area for the light kit.

One thing I noticed in your photo is the vertical beam that runs between the 2 horizontal beams. Have you thought about how you will attach a fan to that without having clearance issues for the fan blades vs. that vertical beam? Maybe a better approach would be to attach the fan to the ceiling directly (most fans can be purchase with a kit that will allow you to mount it on an angled ceiling) where it can be out of the way of the support structure; then use a longer drop-rod to get the fan down far enough from the ceiling.

 

[savageactor7]

I don't know nothing about thermo dynamics so I'd just split the difference and hang it at 12". Good luck.

ps love that stone wall ...

 

[vvvv]

place them high & blow them down. so long as u dont feel the breeze from the fans, which i think u wont,it will work better i think. fans located on either location blowing up will create a pressurized zone above the fans which will accelerate heatloss thru the roof i think.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I don't know, but that picture is pretty amazing.

 

[Deadcalm]

Thanks for the advice so far - to give an idea of size, the upper cross beams have about 5 feet between the vertical beam and the angled roof support beams, and about 9 feet on the lower cross beams, so there should be adequate clearance in either position. We were thinking of fans with about 40" - 50" span, ideally reversible with remote control.

Just to give an idea of scale, this is lower down from the view in the original photo (I think I posted this one last christmas). The Jotul is dwarfed...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2760/4063936672_9d214f79a4.jpg

 

[Adios Pantalones]

You're making us drool

 

[firefighterjake]

Loving the stonework on the house . . . thanks for reposting this pic.

 

[nate379]

NICE!

I think the TV looks completely out of place in that room though hahah!

 

[oldspark]

Oh la la!

 

[vvvv]

lovely, though the thermal conductivity of all that rock looks like a nightmare

 

[tickbitty]

Wow, you live in a castle!

 

[Deadcalm]

It's not a very thermally-efficient building, granted. Apart from the sheer size, the whole house is built from 2 foot thick stone, and short of covering it all with plasterboard and insulation thus ruining it visually, what can you do? Once warm (or cool) the stone retains temperature for a while, but needs a constant influence. In the summer, it's sublimely cool, in the winter it's a bugger, but so long as the area where we mostly inhabit is warm, we're not too bothered - we just put on extra clothing. I'd rather it this way than live in a thermally-efficient, soulless box any day - even if it costs more to heat!

Oh, and we've managed to source two fans to the right specification in the UK - both black, reversible, 3-speed, remote-controlled, and 56" span. I shall look forward to installing them.

I'll put up a few more pics of the house later, but only if anyone's interested...

 

[vvvv]

It's not a very thermally-efficient building, granted. Apart from the sheer size, the whole house is built from 2 foot thick stone, and short of covering it all with plasterboard and insulation thus ruining it visually, what can you do? Once warm (or cool) the stone retains temperature for a while, but needs a constant influence. In the summer, it's sublimely cool, in the winter it's a bugger, but so long as the area where we mostly inhabit is warm, we're not too bothered - we just put on extra clothing. I'd rather it this way than live in a thermally-efficient, soulless box any day - even if it costs more to heat!

soul is within or is exterior beauty part of the equation?i'd cover exterior with r20 spray foam & chop the chimney masonry at the roofline & transition to class a pipe. Is that ceiling insulated?

 

[madison]

Regarding the placement of the fans, as you may or may not know, there are "drop tubes" (i don't know the real name) that allow you to mount the fan higher, and place it any height you desire.

 

[madison]

Regarding the placement of the fans, as you may or may not know, there are "drop tubes" (i don't know the real name) that allow you to mount the fan higher, and place the fan blades at any height you desire.

 

[Deadcalm]

"...soul is within or is exterior beauty part of the equation?i’d cover exterior with r20 spray foam & chop the chimney masonry at the roofline & transition to class a pipe. Is that ceiling insulated..."

Ooooohhh! can't do that! I'll show you later. Yes, the ceiling's insulated (but probably not to today's standards).

 

[DanCorcoran]

"i'd cover exterior with r20 spray foam & chop the chimney masonry at the roofline & transition to class a pipe. Is that ceiling insulated?"

Noooooooooo! Reminds me of that 60s song, "They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot".

 

[vvvv]

It's not a very thermally-efficient building, granted. Apart from the sheer size, the whole house is built from 2 foot thick stone, and short of covering it all with plasterboard and insulation thus ruining it visually, what can you do? Once warm (or cool) the stone retains temperature for a while, but needs a constant influence. In the summer, it's sublimely cool, in the winter it's a bugger, but so long as the area where we mostly inhabit is warm, we're not too bothered - we just put on extra clothing. I'd rather it this way than live in a thermally-efficient, soulless box any day - even if it costs more to heat!

Oh, and we've managed to source two fans to the right specification in the UK - both black, reversible, 3-speed, remote-controlled, and 56" span. I shall look forward to installing them.

I'll put up a few more pics of the house later, but only if anyone's interested...

gotta have more pics! please

 

[pyper]

Nice room!

Put the fans high. That's the way they do it in churches.

I don't think it will matter much which direction you make them run, but for ease of use, if you blow them down then they might be nice in the summer too. You'd probably run them on high in the summer and low in the winter. Usually you have to move a switch on the body of the fan to reverse them, which would be a drag.

A good quality fan is a nice thing. When we run ours on high you can feel it in the adjacent rooms.

 

[Deadcalm]

OK, at the risk of boring every one to tears - you can see why we can't do anything externally in terms of insulation...

House front (right)

House front (left)

House side (right)

House side (general)

Pool

And, finally, the view. (And I'm NOT trying to sell it!) And the weather isn't always like this, either.

 

[oldspark]

I'm speechless, beutiful place you have there!

 

[Deadcalm]

Thanks for the comments, and all the advice. As regards the fans, we'll put 'em up high, as suggested, and yes, we have also ordered 18" drop tubes to make sure of the clearance for each fan (the tubes, apparently, can be cut to size).

As an aside, it would be really good to see others' houses, too - ours is nothing special, just a typical French ex-farmhouse with a bit of loving attention applied.

So how about a thread for other wood burner's living accommodation?

 

[vvvv]

sorry but trying to take pic of my ghetto broke the camera! still, Id foam the exterior & insert plastic vines which wouldnt shed leaves in the winter & could be spray painted different colors! Pool got a heater or does solar do the trick? ..........nice pad

 

[agartner]

Looking at that room, which is gorgeous, by the way, here's my take. I'm by no means an expert, but common sense to me tells me to take the path of least resistance to your two fans. Warm air rises, and cool air sinks. Take the fan that's closest to your stove and set it to "pull" the air up. Have the other fan that's away from your stove "push" the air down. This way, you're working with the natural tendency of the air and simply "accelerating" the convective flow of it all.

Good luck, and let us know when you build a guest house - if I'm ever in France...lol.

Cheers,
-Al