Question for those who use ceiling fans to move air....

[dtabor]

My house came with a ceiling fan in the living room/kitchen area where the stove happens to sit now. Everything I heard before this site said turn it on "reverse" and low and it will circulate the warm air. Then the posts on this site said the same thing. Ive tried burning with the fan going and without and am wondering if its worth it.....here's what I mean....

When the fan is turning and you sit on the couch which is along the wall, you feel cool air coming down on you which I assume is how it should be, the fan is sucking the warm air up and pushing it along the ceiling and down the walls where we are sitting.....but shouldnt it turn to WARM air that you feel eventually? I feel warmer in the stove room when the fan is off and Im sitting there on the couch and the stove is radiating toward me. Is it not working right or am I not giving it enough time?

Im also thinking I wont get the correct circulation with the fan as my house is a log cabin with beams along the ceiling. I think maybe its sucking up the heat and channeling it down between just two of the beams instead of circulating it around the room???

Sorry for the long post on such a simple thing!

D

 

[SlyFerret]

If you don't need the fan, don't run it. No point in paying for the electricity (even if they're pretty cheap to operate).

Since every stove install is different, if you find you have cool spots and have trouble moving the air around, a fan can usually help a great deal. The thing is, each house is different, and while many people find the best results with the fan pulling up, I guarantee that there are others who have the best results with the fan pulling down.

It all depends on your particular stove/house setup.

-SF

 

[swestall]

Well, not sure if this helps, I have two fans one on each end of the room. (40 feet long) The one above the stove is going down and the one on the other end up. I find this circulates the air well. But, the stove room is always nice. I'd suggest that you experiment with it both ways and on low/med to see what works best for you.
I also got one of those Eco-Fans (the medium one) and am using it; I've noticed a bit of a difference with it as well.

 

[Metal]

Moving air will always create a wind chill effect, even if the air is warm. If the fan creates a draft and makes you feel cooler, turn it off.

 

[hfjeff]

I need the ceiling fan. Otherwise I just don't get the heat to circulate. Get the room with the stove up to 80+ and the draft will not feel cold. In my case it was a night and day difference since adding the fan. However, when the stove cools down and the furnace is holding at 68, the fan does feel cool and I will shut it off.

 

[jpl1nh]

My fan blows down...only :down: But in the configuration of my house, I think it is also the most effective direction. I have a cape with a cathedral ceiling up to a loft and open concept L shaped room on the main floor. If I had a flat ceiling, I think up would be best, but my ceiling slopes up to above the loft and dead ends against the wall of the upstairs rooms. Air being pulled up would com down on top of the loft landing and spill back into the center of the room anyway... Tough to explain, but anyhow, in my case, I think down does work best. It's an infinetly variable speed fan so I can run it any speed I need and it does make a big difference in moving air throughout the house.

 

[Hogwildz]

Switch the fan to normal (blowing down) since your couch is along the wall and thats where you sit. It will work well. Start on low and adjust as needed.

 

[Chardler]

I just installed a new ceiling fan this weekend in the room the insert is in, which has 15' cathedral ceilings and also installed an optional remote control for the fan. The nice thing about this particular remote control is that you can opt to have the fan operate thermostatically. You set it to go on at any particular temperature you desire. The remote has a LCD display screen that shows, among other things, the current room temp and the desired "fan on" temp. You mount the remote control cradle/holder on the wall at a height that works for you, about 4' or just above a typical wall light switch. I set mine for 70*, figuring if it's 70* at chest height, it's probably about 5* higher up in the ceileing area and should be circulated. When the stove is not hot, the fan is off. Light up the stove and as the temp in the room increases, so does the fan speed. When it get's to be about 80* in the room the fan is running at high speed, after the fire dies down in the wee hours of the morning, the fan evetually shuts off when the room temp dips below the set temp. You never have to trun it on/off and it really moves the air out of the room and into the rest of the house. This allows me to heat the house using less wood and also lowers the temp of the room that the inset is in, makeing it more bearable to sit in.