I have a hearthstone starlet stove which is steel body, surrounded by a metal shroud, surrounded with a cast frame and soapstone tiles. The design of the shroud encourages a natural flow of air up the back, across the top of the stove and out the front.
I ran it for about 3 months like this but thought I'd try a fan to see if I could get a bit more heat. Nothing extreme, just a gentle flow as I didn't want noise. What a difference, amazing how much warmer the place gets on the same amount of wood.
The fan is a 4 3/4 inch computer fan rated at 60 cfm and 18 db on 12 volt. I hooked it to 9 so maybe pushing 40 cfm. I was thinking of running 2 or even 3 at a lower voltage and speed if noise was an issue or if I wanted more flow. They can be run from 6 to 12 volts. The air flows in the bottom back and out the front grill.
I ran it for about 3 months like this but thought I'd try a fan to see if I could get a bit more heat. Nothing extreme, just a gentle flow as I didn't want noise. What a difference, amazing how much warmer the place gets on the same amount of wood.
The fan is a 4 3/4 inch computer fan rated at 60 cfm and 18 db on 12 volt. I hooked it to 9 so maybe pushing 40 cfm. I was thinking of running 2 or even 3 at a lower voltage and speed if noise was an issue or if I wanted more flow. They can be run from 6 to 12 volts. The air flows in the bottom back and out the front grill.