# Box fan = more heat?



## aansorge (Dec 9, 2011)

I have an Enerzone 2.5 ZC and while it is a good unit, I have a 3000 sq. ft home in Minnesota, so I'm always looking for more heat.  The other day I was at a buddies garage and he had his stove running in his garage.  I noticed he was using a box fan and asked him about it.  He claims to get a lot more heat out of his unit if he blows a fan at the stove. This makes sense: virtually all inserts and good fireplaces and now many stoves have built in fans.

This got me thinking: why not try it with my fireplace? True, my fireplace already has a blower, but maybe more airflow would further increase the heat output of the stove.  So I tried it.  I had a good fire going and the living room (cathederal ceilings) was up to 72. I turned on a box fan on and pointed it at the fireplace.  I got the room up to 73 within 20 minutes or less.  I turned the fan off for awhile and the room dropped to 72.  Later I turned the box fan on again and the room got up to 74 in about 1 hour. During this entire time outside temps were steadily falling as night was descending. Also, we weren't cooking. 

Do any of you guys use box fans to increase your heat output?


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## kingquad (Dec 9, 2011)

It's not about heat output of the stove.  It's about moving air.  Blow cold air toward the stove, and warm air will move in to replace it.  This works better than trying to move warm air, and has served many members here well (myself included).


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## branchburner (Dec 9, 2011)

aansorge said:
			
		

> He claims to get a lot more heat out of his unit if he blows a fan at the stove.



Absolutely, with my stove set halfway back into the fireplace I don't think I'd do nearly as well without a fan.


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## project240 (Dec 9, 2011)

I bought a box fan and tried it on low setting.  I found it to be noisy and truthfully couldn't even feel much air movement.  But, fans definitely do help to circulate the warm air.


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## bsj425 (Dec 9, 2011)

celing fan on low works best for me heat rises and it pushes it right back down works better than any fan/ blower


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## Mainely Saws (Dec 9, 2011)

I too have a ceiling fan in the room where the wood stove is & it works great set at a low speed moving the air upwards towards the ceiling . No noise & no feeling of air movement .


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## oldspark (Dec 9, 2011)

bsj425 said:
			
		

> celing fan on low works best for me heat rises and it pushes it right back down works better than any fan/ blower


 I have ceiling fans also and the blower on the wood burner still makes a difference.


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## ryanm527 (Dec 9, 2011)

When I use the ceiling fan it seems to add a few degrees to the thermostat. If I also use a fan pointed directly at the stove, it adds another 5-8 degrees on average, which is critical when it gets below 30ish or so for us.  The fan is not terribly noisy, but we still hate using it because it gets in the way and makes the stove area look cluttered.


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 9, 2011)

I just finished posting this in another thread but it bears repeating here:



We tried for years blowing warm air down our hallway. Then someone on this forum suggested doing the reverse. I scoffedâ€¦.but had to try it. Wow! It was amazing how well the other end of the house warmed up and did so rather rapidly

The key here is to use a small desktop fan and run it on low speed. Too much speed and youâ€™ll not like the draft anyway. We set the fan on the floor right at the entrance to the hallway. It works.

Ceiling fans:  Another education I got. I too thought that heat rises so letâ€™s blow it down. Wrong If you suck the air up you will end up pushing the warm air down and work with the natural convection. The coldest part of the house is along the walls which means the cool air goes down along the walls. That air has to be replaced somehow and from somewhere. In this case, that cool air will rise in the center of the room and then again fall along the cooler wall. So sucking the air up works with the natural flow of the air. Sounds wrong, but it works.


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## iceman (Dec 9, 2011)

How close are you supposed to put the fan? .... A few feet or across the room


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 9, 2011)

Way back in the doorway.


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## oldspark (Dec 10, 2011)

I want to add this fact, YRMV with the direction of the ceiling fans, mine blows down, it's the only way it works other wise the air fights the wood burner fan


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## cuznvin (Dec 10, 2011)

So should the ceiling fan be in winter or summer mode?  Clockwise is for summer and counter clockwise for winter.


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## jeromehdmc (Dec 10, 2011)

Direction all depends on the blade pitch. Right now mine is going clockwise and it's pushing air up to the ceiling like Sav. said.
Putting a small fan set on low in a hallway works great.


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## Chopernator (Dec 10, 2011)

Trying this right now of blowing the fan at the wood stove.  73.8 degrees and 69 in the hallway.  Posting in about 20min to see any difference.  Later


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## PA Fire Bug (Dec 10, 2011)

We use a ceiling fan in our living room (spinning backwards/pushing air up) which helps to even out the temperature.  We don't have any trouble getting cold air to the stove since the room has openings on two sides.  In our downstairs, we don't have a ceiling fan but we sometimes put a small fan blowing directly on the stove if the stove pipe temperatures get into the red zone (500+) on the magnetic thermometer on the pipe.  Last year, we were burning a coal stove downstairs.  We used a fan on it all the time when it was burning hot.  We lost a lot more heat up our stove pipe with our coal stove than we do with our wood stove.


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## Chopernator (Dec 10, 2011)

Nope not much difference.  Maybe by a degree I'll stick with what I have lol


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## cuznvin (Dec 10, 2011)

cuznvin said:
			
		

> So should the ceiling fan be in winter or summer mode?  Clockwise is for summer and counter clockwise for winter.



I may have that backwards..


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## DanCorcoran (Dec 10, 2011)

I think there are two issues here.  OP was asking about using a box fan, blowing directly on the stove, to increase the speed at which heat is transferred from the stove to the room.  This is the same thing done by a factory blower on the back of a freestanding stove.  It drops the stovetop temperature.

Using a box fan in a doorway or hallway (placed on the floor and blowing toward the room with the wood stove) is an efficient way to heat other rooms of a house.  The cold air on the floor, which is moved out of the back of the house, is replaced by warm air moving in at ceiling level.

Box fans work for both issues, but different subjects.

In regard to "box fan = more heat?", the answer is, not really.  It's just more heat in the room and less up the chimney.


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 10, 2011)

Chopernator said:
			
		

> Nope not much difference.  Maybe by a degree I'll stick with what I have lol



Not much patience either....


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## aansorge (Dec 12, 2011)

DanCorcoran said:
			
		

> I think there are two issues here.  OP was asking about using a box fan, blowing directly on the stove, to increase the speed at which heat is transferred from the stove to the room.  This is the same thing done by a factory blower on the back of a freestanding stove.  It drops the stovetop temperature.
> 
> Using a box fan in a doorway or hallway (placed on the floor and blowing toward the room with the wood stove) is an efficient way to heat other rooms of a house.  The cold air on the floor, which is moved out of the back of the house, is replaced by warm air moving in at ceiling level.
> 
> ...



That's what I'm thinking, less up the chimney.  And to the other poster...give it more than 20 minutes


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## Loco Gringo (Dec 12, 2011)

Damn that was funny.


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