Wood stove fans

[johnnyb]

Just a warning if you've got a particularly efficient stove it will knacker the plate if it gets to hot. Some have a bi metal plate to lift it if it overheats. I just stick a bit of tile underneath....

 

[HappyHacker]

I have two on top of my stove. set into an alcove. One cost over £30 a few years ago and the second was from Aldi about £16. They do create a small draught and help move air around the room. The Aldi one is the better of the two. I am happy with mine and would replace them if/when they die.

The dust with a stove/fire is inevitable although i have not experienced a room sealed one.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

Just a warning if you've got a particularly efficient stove it will knacker the plate if it gets to hot. Some have a bi metal plate to lift it if it overheats. I just stick a bit of tile underneath....

It's not so much the plate as the peltier device that generates the lecticity to power the fan: it's very fragile especially with regard to over temperature.

 

[johnnyb]

Just substitute plate for device in your sentence.

 

[Stevekane]

Reading this thread and seeing the wildly differing experiences/ opinions I wonder if there could be differences in the efficiencies of the various fans, sure they will all spin round, probably at similer speeds, but I wonder if say the pitch of the blades would make a diffence?

 

[Hypnotic Chimera]

Reading this thread and seeing the wildly differing experiences/ opinions I wonder if there could be differences in the efficiencies of the various fans, sure they will all spin round, probably at similer speeds, but I wonder if say the pitch of the blades would make a diffence?

Yep - everything makes a difference (disc rotation speed, blade disc diameter, blade area and area shape, number of blades, cross-sectional profile of blades, average pitch of blades, etc...) - and each of those features are interdependent. It just means that you just have to "trust" that the design of your chosen product is functional enough. Each of them will have gone through prototyping, testing and development - to varying degrees. So will at least work to a varying degree or other...

For me (even though I know very much about aerodynamics and thermodynamics) I don't really place much worry or stress into choosing one of these. They work fine. Some will work "better" than others. But equally, for me at least, the design element is also a valid purchase consideration. For me, there's no point investing in the "most efficient" aerodynamic/engineering solution if it is an ugly contraption.

 

[trvlr]

If you install, use, a room air purifier/filter you'll find the dust levels (if an issue) will resolve much of that. I have a Levoit 300s in my lounge - 15x25 ft...; works a treat. Can't say dust is much of an issue now - if at all. Check it out on the big river company site... I have similar in my bedroom and it work equally well at keeping down airborne particles of whatever type; and in sleep/auto modes is well nigh silent. A 400S serves the main house - it's in the hall, though I may mover it to top of the stairs to see what effect that has. Again it's sleep/auto modes darn near silent. They all up the anti to hgher settings if/when they detect anything inappropriate; some. dust, and smells and so on and gradually drop down the setting you lefet them on when all is clear.

This the stove fan I have (2 of)

COMBIUBIU 4 Blade Mini Stove Fan​

 

[Chris152]

That should sort it, no need for a fan (from my fb feed).

 

[trvlr]

That should sort it, no need for a fan (from my fb feed).

View attachment 194110

Great idea... But do really you drink that much tea/coffee in a day...?

 

[Nail]

I had an electric fan blowing across the front of the stove in along room, and a 4" fan just below the coving at the other end of the room blowing out into the stair well. In the winter when both fans had been on for while the difference upstairs was noticeable, had I stayed in the house I'd have changed the 4" fan for a 6" one. It doesn't really apply now as I have an insulated 6" duct running from the ceiling above the stove to an inline fan and a Y piece taking the excess heat down into the other side of the bedroom and kitchen
View attachment 193571.

This is very interesting to me!

The biggest frustration I have with using my wood burner is that I’m not utilising the heat out to the rest of the house (extended bungalow so quite spread)

When it was installed I did have a bit of a chat about getting a boiler stove, thinking that if I could at least have a few extra radiators added that it would benefit everywhere else. The installer wasn’t keen so we carried on as standard.

I’ve wondered a few times about ducting. Also about a central mvhr.

Can I ask for more details on your ducting system please?

Did you install it yourself?

Do you think the fan is essential or could it work passively?

Are there any issues with it such as noise from room to room?

How about compartmentation / fire risk? Is it building control approved (not that it would necessarily stop me)

Thanks!

 

[Robbo3]

I can't comment on those who say they don't work because I don't know their circumstances but for the sceptics, in our bungalow the passage from the living room with the wood burner (5 kw) is appoximately 6 metres long.
At 2m there is a branch at 90° leading to the kitchen.
Leading off the passage the far end are a bathroom, a separate loo opposite, & 2 bedrooms. If we open the living room door & close the bedroom doors, the passage & the 3 rooms will get to 20° C. How long this would take without a stove fan I haven't tested but with a stove fan it takes about 2 hours.
Tonight I was given another stove fan so the circulation was slightly quicker.

 

[Stevekane]

This is very interesting to me!

The biggest frustration I have with using my wood burner is that I’m not utilising the heat out to the rest of the house (extended bungalow so quite spread)

When it was installed I did have a bit of a chat about getting a boiler stove, thinking that if I could at least have a few extra radiators added that it would benefit everywhere else. The installer wasn’t keen so we carried on as standard.

I’ve wondered a few times about ducting. Also about a central mvhr.

Can I ask for more details on your ducting system please?

Did you install it yourself?

Do you think the fan is essential or could it work passively?

Are there any issues with it such as noise from room to room?

How about compartmentation / fire risk? Is it building control approved (not that it would necessarily stop me)

Thanks!

My Son bought an old cottage with a Villager wood stove which had a back boiler fitted and with a pump activated by a heat sensitive switch it ran about 4 rads. However what we found was that fired with wood there was very little heat output from the stove, and very little radiated heat either, the heat was sucked out of it by the back boiler, I was really surprised by its poor performance, and it went a way to explaining why the cast iron grate had been burnt out by successive roaring coal fires, maybe better designed stoves would be better??
Steve

 

[Jacob]

Above the scale of just heating one or two rooms things get difficult with wood-burners and you have to look at biomass boiler systems https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/biomass/
Big installations with automatic feed, unless you can afford to employ a full time stoker! Also needs massive water tank heat storage as buffer.

 

[Nail]

My Son bought an old cottage with a Villager wood stove which had a back boiler fitted and with a pump activated by a heat sensitive switch it ran about 4 rads. However what we found was that fired with wood there was very little heat output from the stove, and very little radiated heat either, the heat was sucked out of it by the back boiler, I was really surprised by its poor performance, and it went a way to explaining why the cast iron grate had been burnt out by successive roaring coal fires, maybe better designed stoves would be better??
Steve

That’s kinda good to hear from my side - I’m not going to be changing the stove now and it makes me glad I didn’t go for one in the first place!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

This is very interesting to me!

The biggest frustration I have with using my wood burner is that I’m not utilising the heat out to the rest of the house (extended bungalow so quite spread)

When it was installed I did have a bit of a chat about getting a boiler stove, thinking that if I could at least have a few extra radiators added that it would benefit everywhere else. The installer wasn’t keen so we carried on as standard.

I’ve wondered a few times about ducting. Also about a central mvhr.

Can I ask for more details on your ducting system please?

Did you install it yourself?

Do you think the fan is essential or could it work passively?

Are there any issues with it such as noise from room to room?

How about compartmentation / fire risk? Is it building control approved (not that it would necessarily stop me)

Thanks!

I never thought about building control, I must admit. I can't see why it would cause any fire risk - the stove itself isn't a fire risk (I have two different fire alarms and a CO detector near it as well). I doubt it would work well passively - it needs the throughput to be effective. There is a slight noise, but nothing to worry about - mine's probably noisier that it needs be atm as the fan blades are probably getting dirty. Insulated ducting is available from a multitude of sites as are the fittings. My duct is insulated over and underneath as well, and runs about six feet from the vent over the stove to a "Y" piece, then on fifteen feet or so to both the kitchen and the bedroom. I took the insect grids out of the inlets/outlets as being unnecessary, and turned wooden "halos" to tidy the ends up. The fan is one of these - https://www.airconcentre.co.uk/prod...CAZwCiFenbZ6GSnx5YBGsWjMKDgNz3qYU2InFnI&gQT=1
42w, so not expensive to run for hours. My wife and son installed it - not difficult, both of them being practically inept - and it cost at the time about £150. About £200 last I looked, possibly a little more now. The unforeseen but welcome consequence is that it makes the room the stove is in more comfortable when it's really pumping out the heat, it puts the excess elsewhere.

 

[Nail]

I never thought about building control, I must admit. I can't see why it would cause any fire risk - the stove itself isn't a fire risk (I have two different fire alarms and a CO detector near it as well). I doubt it would work well passively - it needs the throughput to be effective. There is a slight noise, but nothing to worry about - mine's probably noisier that it needs be atm as the fan blades are probably getting dirty. Insulated ducting is available from a multitude of sites as are the fittings. My duct is insulated over and underneath as well, and runs about six feet from the vent over the stove to a "Y" piece, then on fifteen feet or so to both the kitchen and the bedroom. I took the insect grids out of the inlets/outlets as being unnecessary, and turned wooden "halos" to tidy the ends up. The fan is one of these - https://www.airconcentre.co.uk/prod...CAZwCiFenbZ6GSnx5YBGsWjMKDgNz3qYU2InFnI&gQT=1
42w, so not expensive to run for hours. My wife and son installed it - not difficult, both of them being practically inept - and it cost at the time about £150. About £200 last I looked, possibly a little more now. The unforeseen but welcome consequence is that it makes the room the stove is in more comfortable when it's really pumping out the heat, it puts the excess elsewhere.

Thanks. I’ll have a look in more detail later.

For the building control / fire risk I wasn’t wondering about the stove specifically just more general compartmentation. I expect it’s different for houses as there’s not rules about fire rated doors but I’m sure in a work premises it wouldn’t be allowed without an auto shut off of some sort to stop flames and smoke going from room to room.

 

[Spectric]

A mixed bag on these stove fans but what about the actual fuel, softwood logs, hardwood logs mixed, hardwood ash, hardwood birch, heat logs with a without central holes , Hardwood Briquettes and the list grows. So who is using what, what gives out the best heat and what burns for longer and are man made options all they are claimed to be ?

I never thought about building control, I must admit. I can't see why it would cause any fire risk

It would cause a massive fire risk from the point of the fire spreading, just like we now have fire rated downlighters that help slow the spread of a fire into cavities and voids a ducting system has the same potential. In the event of a fire the ducting could supply oxygen to keep it burning even with all doors and windows closed and a fire could escape through the ducting into another area so spreading faster. In commercial ducting systems there are fire dampers that have fusable links that a fire melts and the damper closes, there are also fire dampers linked into the fire detection system that will have actuators that close the damper when the fire system is activated all to prevent the spread and supply of oxygen to a fire.

 

[RobinBHM]

This is very interesting to me!

The biggest frustration I have with using my wood burner is that I’m not utilising the heat out to the rest of the house (extended bungalow so quite spread)

my mother in laws house has warm air heating -a gas gas boiler which uses air ducting nit water to spread the heat, I have to say its amazing how effective it is, the amount of air that seems to come out of the vents is very small -you certainly cant feel any air movement in the room generally

I would imagine a vent taking hot air from a wood stove to other parts of the house would be very effective, although you would need a way for the air to circulate back ideally

 

[Jacob]

my mother in laws house has warm air heating -a gas gas boiler which uses air ducting nit water to spread the heat, I have to say its amazing how effective it is, the amount of air that seems to come out of the vents is very small -you certainly cant feel any air movement in the room generally

I would imagine a vent taking hot air from a wood stove to other parts of the house would be very effective, although you would need a way for the air to circulate back ideally

Gas can be turned up and down in seconds to adjust for demand. Wood stoves cannot. Hence the need for heat storage as a buffer for whole house heating, typically a very big water tank.

 

[Nail]

my mother in laws house has warm air heating -a gas gas boiler which uses air ducting nit water to spread the heat, I have to say its amazing how effective it is, the amount of air that seems to come out of the vents is very small -you certainly cant feel any air movement in the room generally

I would imagine a vent taking hot air from a wood stove to other parts of the house would be very effective, although you would need a way for the air to circulate back ideally

I would think that as long as the rooms are not air tight, the make up air wouldn’t be a problem. Certainly none of mine have doors to the floor and not often fully closed either.