room transfer fans... any thoughts ?

[Scott M]

I am researching room transfer fans to move some hot air to cooler rooms in the house. Anybody have any thoughts or experience with these. Noise and air movement are concerns. I dont want to spend 50 to 100 bucks if it isnt going to work great. Thanks.

 

[hossthehermit]

Put yer mother-in-law at the other end of the house........

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Just remember there are two parts to a convection loop and both have to be there, the supply (that is the hot air) and the return (cooler than the hot air supply) the return is always down low and towards the stove..

Noise is always an issue, the quieter fans generally cost the most.

Also it will take a lot of airflow to even out the temperature so expect the temperature to still be lower at the far end than near the stove if for no other reason than heat loss from one end of the house to the other.

That is the old fashioned method hoss. He wants a kinder and gentler method.

 

[Scott M]

cold blooded creatures dont care about temperature... Just kidding. LOL.

 

[Scott M]

Thanks, I have to decide if its worth it or not. I hadnt given any thought to cold air return.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The normal first cut is to try a fan on the floor outside the stove room door to see if just that will cause hot air to flow into the next room. It takes less effort to move the denser air towards that stove, and then the lighter warmer stuff fills in. I know it doesn't sound right.

 

[jrsdws]

Thanks, I have to decide if its worth it or not. I hadnt given any thought to cold air return.

The cold air return is a simple as a small fan on the floor in the doorway of the room you're trying to heat....blowing towards the stove as stated.

The Tjernlund AireShare gets good reviews and this is the one I'm considering.

http://www.tjernlund.com/Hearth.htm

 

[dale hallamn]

I have a closet across from my stove with the rest of the house on the other side of it and to the right of the closet is the door way for the stove room I was gonna run round pipe with an inline fan probably 8" or so through the closet right under the ceiling wouldn't the doorway into the stove room be sufficient for a cold air return with out the fan or you think it has to be forced

 

[Scott M]

I am considering the same thing. I have a closet to the master bedroom on the other side of the stove wall. If I leave to bedroom door open I wonder if that is sufficent.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The thing is that you have to get the flow started and normally houses are not setup to allow this to happen without an assist (some are, most aren't). Every house is different and you need to look at each one, you can find out what the natural flows are in your house by using a smoke pencil or candle and watching the way the candle flame leans or the smoke moves. It is even possible that a house has multiple disconnected air flows in it.

Your task is to aid those loops and too get them all into one if possible. People have been chasing this forever, some get it to work easily and some don't. Houses with lots of walls require a lot more than open floor plans. It gets even more complicated if you decide to locate your stove on the level below and still want it warm up a level or two.

There are tons of threads on here and in the tree burners forum on moving air, moving heat, etc.

The first step is to consider this before placing your stove in the house, because everything else is going to make you miffed at your stove, they really aren't furnaces, they don't move large volumes of heated air and there are all kinds of code issues when you start trying to make them work like a hot air furnace by cutting holes in floors, etc ...

Yes I do have my stove in a basement room and yes I do heat the house with it and yes there are temperature differences. I use no fans other than the convection blower on the stove at this moment there is a 7 degree difference between the stove room and the furthest room in the house which is off of an upstairs bedroom above the stove room, there are no floor or wall vents. You'll should note the references to interior storms in my signature. These helped reduce the temperature difference seen in the rooms off of the great room.

 

[P38X2]

I'm using one of these. (broken link removed) You should be able to find them cheaper.

Not sure if it's potent enough for your application but it's VERY quiet. Mine is placed off to the side on the floor at the bottom of the stairs in my foyer blowing cold air back to the stove.

 

[Bioburner]

I spent a good amount of time wandering around with a smoking piece of paper towel watching natural air flows ,then added a fan to enhance.

 

[MountainSean]

I put in a couple of super quiet fans that we get from one of our suppliers to help move the air from the end of the house with the stove to the furthest bedroom. They are 50 CFM fans but they made a world of difference. Raised the temp in the far room by about 7 degrees.

 

[DirtyDave]

I just use cieling fans ... 1 in front room with stove on 3 constant, other in bedroom at far end of house )fan runs at night only( house is basic u shape in design with vaulted cielings in half the house.

 

[DexterDay]

I have the Tjernlund that Jrsdws mentioned above (model AS1) and a Broan 512. Both work. The Broan is cheap ($45) but load and the Tjernlund is pricey (over $100) but whisper quiet and looks like it should be there

I like them both. They move 5 times more air than the corner fans (have those also, no longer use).

The round fan is the Broan. The other 2 pics are of the Aireshare unit. The vented portion houses the squirrel cage, then air travels inside the studs of the wall and comes out the small slot on the other side of the wall. You can pull top warm air and blow in down low, or pull cool air from the cold room, and blow it into warm room, or any variation.

 

[Augie]

So I have a ranch with the farthest room(Master Bedroom) from the Stove(living Room) down a long hallway. Worst stove placement ever, at one end on a outside wall of a ranch. (at least that is what they say. NO fans in the stove room at all. In the Master bedroom I cut the wall out above the doorway to create a vent(hole) at ceiling level. I have a ceiling fan in the master blowing air down to the floor. This arraignment has created a pretty strong convection current. The hot air traveling along the ceiling to the master bedroom being pushed to the floor as it cools moving back to the living room. With this one fan on low the Temp in my house is pretty equal everywhere. In the Living Room right now the temp reads 74 and in the master it reads 71.

 

[mrjohneel]

I use a Vornado 10" fan (about $45) that is very quiet. I have it on the floor of my TV room, which is a small sunroom over my garage, but right off the main room where I have my stove. It can get chilly in there but I blow cold air out low and the warm air up high fills the room like others have said. The Vornado is a good product.

And this is what Vornado writes on its FAQ page about how to use their "circulators" (they don't call them fans) in the winter: "Select a low-speed setting and point the adjustable fan head toward the ceiling. This forces the hot air off the ceiling and mixes it with the cooler air near the floor resulting in an even distribution of heat throughout the entire room. This can save you money."

 

[jrsdws]

I had a Vornado briefly, then I saw this little Honeywell Air Circulator for $16. I bought one and compared and the cheap one did the same thing as the expensive one and was just as quiet. These swivel to 90deg and I point one at the cieling where I lack a ceiling fan. It works pretty good.

http://www.honeywellstore.com/store/products/honeywell-turboforce-air-circulator-fan-ht-900.htm