# doorway fans



## wannabegreener (Oct 28, 2011)

Just wondering if anyone uses doorway fans.  Either the 1/4 round version or the square version?  I looked on amazon and they had both, but the reviews didn't look that great.

I'm trying to get air to a second floor from an insert.  The room with the insert is usually 78 and want some of that heat to go up to the bed rooms.

Thanks for any suggestions


----------



## jimbom (Oct 28, 2011)

I use an eight inch in diameter desk fan purchased from Aldi food store.  With that fan placed half way up the stairs resting on a couple of books, I blow the cold air either down the stairs to bring warm air up the stairs or, cold air up the stairs to take warm air down. 

That is right.  Warm air down.  I can raise the temperature in the basement about four degrees by sending cold air up the stairs. 

For what you want, moving heat upstairs, try a fan mid level on the stairs blowing cold air down into the warm level.  Once you set it up, adjust it until the cold air stream is no higher than two or three feet above the steps.

Give things time to start circulating.  After two or three hours, you should see a significant warming upstairs.


----------



## Kenster (Oct 28, 2011)

Place a fan so that it blows right at the stove.  Also, Have a box fan at the top of the stairs aimed so it pulls air up the stairs and toward the bedrooms.


----------



## soupy1957 (Oct 28, 2011)

".....................and want some of that heat to go up to the bed rooms."

There is a foundational premise here...........heat goes "up."  That being the case, unless your upstairs bedrooms are miles away from your heat source, the heat will indeed, go up.

Assisting that process is easily facilitated by fans of many types.  I've got a forced hot air system here, associated with my furnace, that does a TERRIFIC job of balancing out and distributing the ambient air, all around the house, and not just upstairs.  The ceiling fan in the kitchen (switch in the "push the air down" position) is a great aid to things as well.

I've seen the fans that are sold as fans that can be mounted on the upper corners of the door frames........I'm sure they must work, but I didn't want to have wires going up the wall (unsightly, imho).  If they are battery operated, then you have the added hassle of having to change the batteries (although I would suppose the fans I've seen are most likely electric).

Your already somewhat at a disadvantage by having an insert.  The heat produced from one of those is less efficient than a stand alone stove.  Even stand alone stoves don't always do that great a job for the whole house and need some help, depending on the size of the house, and location of the stove.

All in all, try em.........if you don't like em...........get rid of them.

-Soupy1957


----------



## DiscoInferno (Oct 28, 2011)

I use this one to distribute the heat from my secondary stove (the 1100C).  It's mounted in the doorway above and just to the side of the stove, so it's about ideal.  It works quite well to get the heat past the doorway header which otherwise traps a lot of it.  It's a lot bigger than those little muffin fans, and especially on high moves a lot of air.

http://www.amazon.com/Soleus-Air-FT...VM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1319840339&sr=8-11


----------



## wannabegreener (Oct 29, 2011)

I turn the fan on the insert all of the time.  I just need to move the heat out of the room.  With little ones running around, I don't want to leave anything in the stairs.  I like the upper doorway fans cause the are out of the way.  I understand that the cords will be ugly, but can deal with that right now.

I also know that heat rises, but seems to get caught in the room with the insert.  The stairs are just on the other side of the wall opposite the insert so I was thinking of cutting some holes in the Sheetrock and making vents through the wall into the stairway.  I'm afraid that the noise from the tv will travel with the heat... Right through the vent.

I also have forced hot water, so using my non-existent duct work won't work.

Thanks for the suggestions already posted.


----------



## blel (Oct 31, 2011)

I use a small clip on desk fan clipped to the nosing on the top stair tread. I blows down along the top of the stair treads. The stove is near the bottom of the stairs. It works really well. Use low speed on the fan.


----------

