# Fan in the stove room door... WOW!!!



## bluedogz (Dec 24, 2011)

On the suggestions I got here, I took a tower fan we had around, pointed it into the door of the stove room (but set it outside the door), and turned it on super-duper low so you can barely tell it's running.  The Sierra is munching on small BL splits, temp on the stovetop running 500-550.  Not an especially big fire- the box is less than half full.

The heat started pumping out of the stove room like I wouldn't believe!  Inside 30 minutes the adjacent dining room jumped from 70 to 75, and I can even feel a warm draft at the top of the center stairs on the 2d floor.

I shut off the heat pump at 9am... Mrs. Blue hasn't noticed yet.


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## begreen (Dec 24, 2011)

There ya go. It's so much easier to work with mother nature than against her.


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## pen (Dec 24, 2011)

As it should be!

People want to fight this phenomenon, but it does work even if instinct is to try and make the hot air move.

pen


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## katwillny (Dec 24, 2011)

Thats the ticket. I learned that from Dennis (Backwoods Savage) and haven't stopped using the method ever since. If you place a piece of tissue at top of the door leading out of the stove you will see it being pushed out by the warm air rushing out. Enjoy your newly found trick bud.


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## bluedogz (Dec 24, 2011)

pen said:
			
		

> As it should be!
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> People want to fight this phenomenon, but it does work even if instinct is to try and make the hot air move.
> 
> pen



You said it right... my instinct was always to make the hot air move, and i never worked as I'd hoped.  Fortunately, I didn't waste a bunch of money on door fans and whatnot.

Why is this method easier?  Going back to college physics I can't come up with a reason...


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## Hogwildz (Dec 24, 2011)

Wait till you get that 30 in there!


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## DanCorcoran (Dec 24, 2011)

bluedogz said:
			
		

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Because you're moving the heavy, dense cool air and the lighter warm air is flowing in to replace it.  If you try to blow the less dense warm air, you're trying to use it to move heavy, dense cool air.


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## HighHeat22 (Dec 24, 2011)

I am going to try this trick. Sounds great.


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## jared539 (Dec 24, 2011)

its teh convection cycles.  cold air moves lower and towards the wood stove or heat source... when you put a fan on the floor you help move the cold air towards the wood stove which makes the hot air on top move farther away because the cold air on the bottom is moving faster ... its great... the cold air forces the hot air to balloon up and out of the room.  sounds and looks ass backward when you have a fan blowing towards the stove... BUT ITS JUST THE WAY IT WORKS!


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## Oldhippie (Dec 24, 2011)

Great nugget of knowledge!

I need to give this a whirl!


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 24, 2011)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> There ya go. It's so much easier to work with mother nature than against her.



That's it!


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## firefighterjake (Dec 24, 2011)

Yes Young Grasshopper .. . you have mastered the Kung Fu Woodburning Trick of the Fan.


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## HotCoals (Dec 24, 2011)

If you really get bored walk around and hang like 2ft lengths of toilet paper in the middle of your door ways.
I tried it with the fan off on the stove and was surprise how good the air was moving..blowing away  from the stove room pretty good...matter of fact the stove fan didn't really make much diff.
I also walked around with another strip to hold near the bottom of the doorways to see the cold air heading to the stove.


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## Bretonburner (Dec 24, 2011)

Yes, it works !  Tried it this afternoon.


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## clemsonfor (Dec 25, 2011)

I have done this since i got my stove as it helps heat the house. It really works. My house would not really heat well with out the fans as its not an open concept.


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## snowleopard (Dec 25, 2011)

HotCoals said:
			
		

> If you really get bored walk around and hang like 2ft lengths of toilet paper in the middle of your door ways.
> I tried it with the fan off on the stove and was surprise how good the air was moving..blowing right toward the stove room pretty good...matter of fact the stove fan didn't really make much diff.
> I also walked around with another strip to hold near the bottom of the doorways to see the cold air heading to the stove.



Thank you for coming up with yet another way for us to appear strange to our SO's, children, and in-laws.   As if walking around with burning incense and a flashlight, muttering incantations and formulas was not bad enough . . . 

I believe the toilet-paper-strip technique will best be accompanied by a tuneless harmonic purposeful humming.


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## HotCoals (Dec 25, 2011)

snowleopard said:
			
		

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Yeah..and I wrote it wrong..it should have read..the hanging toilet paper was blowing away from the stove room! lol
I had it hanging in about 6 diff places.
One of the kids stopped by and looked around and shook his head and said he didn't want to know!

I corrected it!


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## Chopernator (Dec 25, 2011)

bluedogz said:
			
		

> On the suggestions I got here, I took a tower fan we had around, pointed it into the door of the stove room (but set it outside the door), and turned it on super-duper low so you can barely tell it's running.  The Sierra is munching on small BL splits, temp on the stovetop running 500-550.  Not an especially big fire- the box is less than half full.
> 
> The heat started pumping out of the stove room like I wouldn't believe!  Inside 30 minutes the adjacent dining room jumped from 70 to 75, and I can even feel a warm draft at the top of the center stairs on the 2d floor.
> 
> I shut off the heat pump at 9am... Mrs. Blue hasn't noticed yet.


So if I have a corner installation and mind have a ranche style home stove is on one side of house
and the bedrooms on the other how far away do I put the stand up fan?  And where do I point it at???  Sorry novice here lol...


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## blacktail (Dec 25, 2011)

I've gone around the house with a lighter to see the air currents moving.
I had to go with a smaller fan. The fan I originally used was too much and the cold air blowing on me in the living room kind of defeated the purpose. I still haven't decided if the fan should be at the far end of the hall or closer.


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## GAMMA RAY (Dec 25, 2011)

snowleopard said:
			
		

> Thank you for coming up with yet another way for us to appear strange to our SO's, children, and in-laws.   As if walking around with burning incense and a flashlight, muttering incantations and formulas was not bad enough . . .
> 
> I believe the toilet-paper-strip technique will best be accompanied by a tuneless harmonic purposeful humming.





I showed Mr Gamma the toilet paper thing last night....he said are you effin kiddin me, where did ya hear about that...oh wait, I know...Hearth.... :coolsmile: 

The fan trick is amazing...


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## bluedogz (Dec 25, 2011)

Chopernator said:
			
		

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Chop,  I actually have the fan outside the room, pointing at the door from about 6' away.  My fan is not actually pointing 'at the stove' in any way, just at the door of the room the stove is in.  This works for me, as it's one of those tall skinny tower fans and that distance lets it tuck away in a corner out of the traffic flow.


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## StuckInTheMuck (Dec 25, 2011)

The phenomenon has to do with rotor efficiency in a way.  A fan mounted high in a doorway moving air out of a room moves less air than the same fan moving cold air into the stove room.  It's the same volume of air, but the cold air is more dense and thus has more mass.  It's just like a helicopter can lift more weight on a cold day than it can on a hot day or a jet engine that can get more air into the combustion chamber to produce thrust on cold day than on a hot day.. As the cooler air is pushed into the room, it heats and expands thus increasing the air flow of warm air out of the room.  Depending on the flow of cool air into the room and the output of the heating appliance it can affect comfort in that room.   That's the way I understand it.  YMMV.  You'd be better off with a big round fan in the bottom of the doorway as long as it's not too much of an inconvenience as a trip hazard.


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## macmaine (Dec 25, 2011)

firefighterjake said:
			
		

> Yes Young Grasshopper .. . you have mastered the Kung Fu Woodburning Trick of the Fan.





Lol grasshopper


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## BrotherBart (Dec 25, 2011)

macmaine said:
			
		

> firefighterjake said:
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Your Fan Fu is strong.


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## bluedogz (Dec 25, 2011)

BrotherBart said:
			
		

> Your Fan Fu is strong.



You owe me a keyboard.... I snarfled coffee all over mine.


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## Bretonburner (Dec 25, 2011)

Yes, finding the right place can be problematic, so that you are not  bumping into it all the time. I will try to put ours back further away from the door and see how that works.  It is a great idea.  We bought a small corner doorway fan awhile ago and it did not seem to do much at all. I guess we were  trying to work against this theory.

Merry Christmas to everyone and may you keep your home fires burning bright  and warm !


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## mario veda (Dec 26, 2011)

OK.. let me get his right .I have a desk fan (mounted beside stove)as well as the stove blower fan on a thermostat that when it reaches the pre-set temp goes on and blows the air across the top surface of the stove out to the rest of house ....This other way is to point the desk fan ONLY directly at the  stove door instead?? The reason I use the  theromstat on both the fans  is because the blower fan that is attached on the stove will keep running even when the stove has cooled,with the thermo connected they go on and off at the same time when temp set is reached. So do I point desk fan at the door instead and not use stove bower fan.???BTW the stove fan  will blow across the surface to the front and the desk fan will blow across the top surface  from one side of stove to other side. Thanks Mario in Va


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 26, 2011)

Mario, you are correct in using the desk fan for blowing the cool air into the stove room. You do not have to point it at the stove door is that is what you are referring to. Just sit it in a doorway or hallway and aim it to the stove room. You can still use the other fan.


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## StuckInTheMuck (Dec 26, 2011)

mario veda said:
			
		

> OK.. let me get his right .I have a desk fan (mounted beside stove)as well as the stove blower fan on a thermostat that when it reaches the pre-set temp goes on and blows the air across the top surface of the stove out to the rest of house ....This other way is to point the desk fan ONLY directly at the  stove door instead?? The reason I use the  theromstat on both the fans  is because the blower fan that is attached on the stove will keep running even when the stove has cooled,with the thermo connected they go on and off at the same time when temp set is reached. So do I point desk fan at the door instead and not use stove bower fan.???BTW the stove fan  will blow across the surface to the front and the desk fan will blow across the top surface  from one side of stove to other side. Thanks Mario in Va


Mario, I think we're talking about different things..  What you're talking about is getting the most heat off of your stove.  What the general conversation was about was getting heat from the stove room to the rest of the house.  Your small fan will move more air when it's moving cooler air but if you're able to push the hottest air away from your stove, it may be a wash.  I'm sure the experts who have much more knowledge than I will weigh in shortly.


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## stoveguy2esw (Dec 26, 2011)

simply blow air "AWAY" HIGH and air "TOWARDS" LOW, this is the path that natural convection "wants" to take. so in doing this you are "boosting" this convection current.

a fan blowing heat off the top of the stove assists air in moving up and away from the unit,which is good, hard part is getting the cold air to return as the hot air pushing is lighter, contains less mass per cubic measure thus less momentum. colder air is the opposite once moving it wants to stay moving as it has more mass per cubic measure thus more momentum so a fan set low boosting the cold air's momentum is actually very efficient at pulling hot air over the top into the cooler spaces


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## bluedogz (Dec 26, 2011)

StuckInTheMuck said:
			
		

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I'd add that my fan is pointed at the door of the room the stove is in, but not pointing at the stove itself in any way. The above is correct: I was only talking about moving air around the house, and how much difference it made.


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## eyefish2 (Dec 28, 2011)

Chopernator said:
			
		

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I also have a corner install in a new addition with bedrooms at the far end of the house (3 bedrooms with a 8 foot hallway leading to them).  I place a fan in this hallway blowing the cooler air out of the bedrooms to the kitchen  The 73 degree air from my kitchen warms up the bedrooms.  They do not get toasty warm, but they definitely warm up a few degrees.


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## brogsie (Dec 28, 2011)

Any tips on getting heat up stairs?
Fan at bottom of stairs? At top?


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## pen (Dec 28, 2011)

brogsie said:
			
		

> Any tips on getting heat up stairs?
> Fan at bottom of stairs? At top?



Fan at top, pointed down.  A prayer doesn't hurt either.

pen


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## Lumber-Jack (Dec 28, 2011)

Sorry to buck the tide, but I've tried blowing the cold air into the stove room and it didn't seem to help much at all to heat the upstairs part of my house. My stove room has a 10 ft ceiling that trapped a lot of hot air, the setup below showing a duct fan above the doorway sucking warm air from the tall ceiling and blowing it down towards the stairway was what works best. The fan in the doorway did nothing to remove the hot air traped in the tall ceiling of the stove room. The cold air rushing down the stairs doesn't need any extra push, and no prayer is necessary.





You just got be willing to try different things and see what works for you.


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## pen (Dec 28, 2011)

what cfm blower you using for that CL?

pen


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## Lumber-Jack (Dec 28, 2011)

pen said:
			
		

> what cfm blower you using for that CL?
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> pen


Sorry Pen, I can't remember the specs on that fan anymore, it's been installed for two years, all I know is it's an 8" duct fan.

I do use a small desk type fan for blowing air across the top of my stove, and that seems to work better than the blower fan that came with the stove. The stove blower started making too much noise. I'm pretty sure it's the bearings, I located an online source for the bearings that would probably cost me about $30 for 14 bearings including shipping, but this $14 desktop fan seems to work so much better I don't know if I want to bother with the stove blower anymore.


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## Chopernator (Dec 28, 2011)

Thanks for all the help on the fan business...Now..Im your biggest 'fan'...lol


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