What Heat-Powered Fan Do You Use?

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Thanks! I'm not familiar with them.
 
A little pricy.. I got mine on ebay, refurbished..panama by the Casablanca fan company... home depot also caries them, at ~twice the price
 
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A little pricy.. I got mine on ebay, refurbished..panama by the Casablanca fan company... home depot also caries them, at ~twice the price

It's nice to know what other options are out there, such as your Casablanca.

One nice thing about the heat-opeeated fans is that they'll work if the power goes out. I've tested my stove with and without the ceiling fan running, and the heat output & efficiency is much better with the ceiling fan on. There's no way for a heat-operated fan to do what a ceiling fan does, but I'm sure it's better than nothing.
 
Most of those stovetop fans aren't actually heat powered. There's a TEG module generating electricity to run a little electric fan motor.

The exception would be the ones that have sterling engines, which really are heat powered.
 
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There's a spot in the top middle of my insert, just in front of the flue outlet, where the actual stove top is exposed (convective jacket just goes over the left and right sides of the top)and I've thought about getting one of these and putting it on there...then cutting a decent slit through the sheet metal part of the surround to let the air out. Figured this would help get the heat out that is normally trapped behind the surround.

I know they say not to put these fans right in front of the stove pipe....supposed to have cooler air behind them, but do they still work at all if placed right in front of the pipe?? ( say a couple inches of clearance)
 
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Most of those stovetop fans aren't actually heat powered. There's a TEG module generating electricity to run a little electric fan motor.

The exception would be the ones that have sterling engines, which really are heat powered.

Love mine , not sure about effeciency claim tho.
 

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My ecofan wasn't working well. I replaced the thermal paste on it and it worked better for a little while. I mainly wanted it to put it back by the stove pipe to move air that gets trapped by the block off plate in the fireplace. For whatever reason, it hasn't worked back there regardless of stove temperature. Right now, it's not on the stove.
 
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Running our ceiling fan makes a big difference in heat output and efficiency (burning less wood) compared to not using the ceiling fan. The ceiling fan is in the center of our living room, pushing the air down, and the stove is in the corner of the living room.

We tend to lose power every winter, so I considered a heat powered fan to use during those power outages. Whether or not it will make a difference has yet to be seen.

I had no idea that they had a safe operating range. The label says that damage to the fan/stove can occur if operated outside those temperatures.
Yup, my ceiling fan runs near non-stop all winter long but I run mine in reverse so I don’t feel a draft from it. Up in the winter, down in the summer.
 
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There's a spot in the top middle of my insert, just in front of the flue outlet, where the actual stove top is exposed (convective jacket just goes over the left and right sides of the top)and I've thought about getting one of these and putting it on there...then cutting a decent slit through the sheet metal part of the surround to let the air out. Figured this would help get the heat out that is normally trapped behind the surround.

I know they say not to put these fans right in front of the stove pipe....supposed to have cooler air behind them, but do they still work at all if placed right in front of the pipe?? ( say a couple inches of clearance)

Not sure how well that would work for you. I'm pretty sure I read that the cooler air it pulls from behind the stove is what helps it run. Maybe check out the different manufacturers web sites and compare the different models. I know the air behind my stove isn't exactly "cool". I have a fairly narrow stove, cornered between two windows, so I put the fan on the back corner of the stove. The left edge of the stove top is at the left edge of the picture.
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This is genius.

Funny thing is, he does have a point. If I see that the fan is barely turning, it tells me the stove isn't very warm. But my wife swears it makes a difference for her.
 
Consider a stove say 20,000Btu, or 5800W
A 1/4hp furnace blower, 700W
An ecofan, 5W
I also use it as an analog thermometer. If it slows to a crawl, its time to load.
Thinking a sterling engine fan would be interesting to have.
 
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My attached stove fan uses 30 watts in the medium setting. Not much more at high. The ceiling fan probably takes about that on the middle setting too. I figure between 15-20 cents a day for the two fans a day.
 
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If I put some insence smoke in its path, the fan air stream seems to be obliterated by the convection off the stove. If I didn't have the fan, I would miss it, only because who gave it as a gift would think I didn't appreciate it. It is an interesting novelty, but I think there are better ways to move air, like a stove blower or ceiling fan. And in a power outage, the stove itself is a very large power source capable of moving a lot of air.
 
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Not sure how well that would work for you. I'm pretty sure I read that the cooler air it pulls from behind the stove is what helps it run. Maybe check out the different manufacturers web sites and compare the different models. I know the air behind my stove isn't exactly "cool". I have a fairly narrow stove, cornered between two windows, so I put the fan on the back corner of the stove. The left edge of the stove top is at the left edge of the picture.
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The TEG needs a certain temperature differential between its hot side and its cold side to make power (varies by module). The big metal heat sink that is the fan's body is designed to provide this. The hot side of the TEG module faces down towards the stove, and the cool side is heatsinked behind the fan.

Further reading, if you're interested (more detail is available in individual product datasheets- this module might be used in some stovetop fans, although that particular module would probably do better on the back corner of the stove!)
 
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The TEG needs a certain temperature differential between its hot side and its cold side to make power (varies by module). The big metal heat sink that is the fan's body is designed to provide this. The hot side of the TEG module faces down towards the stove, and the cool side is heatsinked behind the fan.

Further reading, if you're interested (more detail is available in individual product datasheets- this module might be used in some stovetop fans, although that particular module would probably do better on the back corner of the stove!)

Thanks for the links! That is a very informative article about TEGs.
 
I was thinking about these as a "no external power" source of air movement.
Currently running the ceiling fan. The stove is just off the center of one wall, the fan is centered in the room. It's a 70" DC fan. It was expensive, about $100 more than the same fan in standard ac. But, it uses around half the power, plus has 6 speeds instead of 3. It even has a natural breeze setting, that randomly changes speeds like a breeze. You can also set it to run a certain time. I also cut holes above all the bedroom doors, and put vent grates over them, like old houses with wood, or floor furnace heat used to do. I eventually plan to install small cooling fans like electronic enclosures use inside these holes.
 
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