Who Uses Top Mounted Stove Fans?

[thephotohound]

You know the kind I'm talking about... the metal fans that sit directly on top of the stove; they facilitate air movement around the stove: http://www.caframo.com/ecofans.htm . The heat of the stove makes the blades move - they claim 150 CFM with completely silent operation.

I'm thinking about buying one but want to hear everyone's take first...

 

[burntime]

Nope, blower on the insert. I have heard both positive and negative on these. Its kinda like the blower argument...either for or against it.

 

[begreen]

I have had one for about 3 years now. I've posted some thoughts on it a couple times. Try an advanced search for ecofan and Begreen.

 

[babalu87]

MEH
We almost bought one and then thought to ourselves, if we were going to spend $150 on something cool for the stove-top it would be one of those Whale steamers or a bad-assed Dragon.

BTW Has anyone come across one of those Steam train stove-top "humidifiers"?

 

[Henz]

dont have one but looked into them for my Outfitter Tent stove..

 

[Bill]

I have had one for about a year, it's a nice conversation piece, the old Tesla design. They are quiet and you can aim them, so if you need a little extra heat in another direction. Best price I found was at Menards. Do they move allot of air, no, but they still work.

 

[Henz]

hows about for a 12'x12' tent?

 

[begreen]

With that stove in the tent you might need an AC fan

 

[Henz]

yeah, well last time we used it we were alittle cold because of the crappy wood we burnt..wet hemlock branches..this year we have cur hardwood.. Have on of the Alaskan Guide Stoves from cabelas.

 

[North of 60]

Yep 3 years now. Power likes to go out here @ our coldest times. They do help circulate the air But not a wind storm by any means. Better than nothin I say. I like to park the cast kettle in front of it for humidifying.

 

[burntime]

Execellent idea. That does make sense.

 

[Bill]

The fan I have only has two blades, they make a bigger one with three blades, might be a better choice.

 

[begreen]

Yes, get the larger unit. They are almost silent. When you can start hearing it, the stove top is getting too hot. They gently circulate heat. During last year's long outage (over a week), our house was remarkably even in temperature with the help of this little fan.

 

[Henz]

man they are expensive though

 

[BrotherBart]

Yes, get the larger unit. They are almost silent. When you can start hearing it, the stove top is getting too hot. They gently circulate heat. During last year's long outage (over a week), our house was remarkably even in temperature with the help of this little fan.

Which brings up something I have discovered during power outages. Every time we have had one that lasted any amount of time I have found that the heat from the stove finds its way around just fine without all of the fans and contraptions I am constantly experimenting with when the power is on.

For twenty years I never fired the old insert without the blower fans running. Partly because I wasn't sure what the heat would do to the fans without air being pulled through them but also for the air circulation. Then at year 21 we were without power for a week with two feet of snow. The whole house stayed warm and the fans didn't melt.

 

[Bill]

yes, they are pricey. Down the road a few years and I can see the price coming way down. Then you can say yup when they first came out I paid ______ $ for that fan. They had them on Ebay, but Menards was still cheaper, so I impulse bought one. You have to put them away in summer when the grand-kids come over, could see them breaking it.

 

[thephotohound]

Well, I bought one of the 3 blade Ecofans. Bought it from Lehman's, but got it on eBay (they have an account) for $135.

 

[begreen]

Sounds good, let us know how it works out for you Coaster.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

We bought one after my wife kept pestering me about getting one. Had it 3 days before returning it for a refund. Doen't move enough air to amount to anything. I told the wife I can move more air than that fan just by eating beans. She agreed. We no longer have it and she won't cook the beans either.

 

[begreen]

We did a test using incense on different days, with and without the fan to see how much air it moved into the kitchen pantry which is furthest from the stove. It does make a difference. Not a gale, but I wouldn't want that anyway. With the fan running we smelt the incense there in a little over a minute, but without it, it took over 5 minutes. Without the fan a lot of the heat convects to upstairs, but with the fan, it is much more even in the lower part of the house. Especially in the pantry, far away from the stove - around the corner of an open floorplan, about 60 ft from the stove. YMMV.

I'll do a temperature differential check in the same location with and without the fan and will post the results this winter.

 

[thephotohound]

BeGreen -

Excellent experiment. I don't doubt your results. However, I see why there are doubters. It doesn't feel like a lot of air is moving, but your evidence is pretty solid!

 

[Drifthopper]

From others that posted that have these, what are your thoughts for one of these in a hunting cabin with no electricity?

 

[begreen]

Depends. Most cabins are small enough that this is not an issue. But it might help a little with stirring up the air. This is not a big fan, only 150 cfm. It won't pull heat down off a cathedral ceiling or out of a high loft.

 

[begreen]

With this layout I don't think the ecofan will help much. The difference is that in our home layout, we have a completely open floorplan. In the cabin layout there are just a couple narrow openings. And in our floorplan layout, the ecofan can point right towards where we want the heat to go. Not so with the location of the stove in the cabin.

I think you might do better to have a battery backup on the door fan (or use a 12 volt fan) and perhaps open up the doorway between the kitchen area and the livingroom.