# Room to room, doorway fans



## laura bv (Jan 7, 2014)

I am in search of the most quiet, most effective doorway fan to draw air from woodstove into adjoining rooms. Amazon reviews are helpful, but they mostly contradict each other (quiet/noisy, strong/indetectable, etc.). So I thought I might get some convincing responses here....


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## tigger (Jan 7, 2014)

Cold air is more dense than hot air, so moving the cold air into the stove room would work best.  I find that this works best for me. I use a pedestal fan, and point it at the floor.(cold air on the ground)


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## laura bv (Jan 7, 2014)

tigger said:


> Cold air is more dense than hot air, so moving the cold air into the stove room would work best.  I find that this works best for me. I use a pedestal fan, and point it at the floor.(cold air on the ground)


Hmmm thanks for this alternative. I may just try that first, but not looking forward to breezy cold air in the living room. Will give it a try... Still, I do want ot invest in one of those corner door fans if I can just find the most decent one...


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## midwestcoast (Jan 7, 2014)

I got stuck finding poor & mixed reviews for all doorway fans back when I installed my stove.  I found the consensus from folks here was that they just don't move enough air & that blowing cool air toward the stove is much more effective.
I find a box fan blowing cool air into/toward the stove room works.  Large fan on low isn't too loud & moves a lot of air at low velocity.
Yes it feels cool if directed right at where you are sitting.
You'll probably get a lot of responses if you post this in the Hearth Room.
Or do a search, there are many threads coming-up about this each year.


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## laura bv (Jan 7, 2014)

Thank you. OK I will go with the good advice from the both of you and will also save some money. Very helpful.


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## woodgeek (Jan 7, 2014)

low flow rate (cfm) really doesn't move enough heat to be worth it.  I think all the 3-4" doorway fans are a joke for moving heat.  Most folks go with tigger's plan, (which can also be a very wide and slow flow depending on how you set it up).  If you want a 'hidden' solution you can get a well insulated duct and blower to pull air from a far bedroom and dump it in the stove room.  Think big duct and >500 cfm.  In this case your house is the supply duct.

I'd stick with the fan.


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## laura bv (Jan 7, 2014)

Yes, everyone is convincing. I'm not buying a little doorway fan. Again thanks for all the sage advice.


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## jebatty (Jan 8, 2014)

Air movement promotes evaporation on the skin and feels cold. Even moving 75 degree air is cool on the skin. Sweaters and sweatshirts, long underwear, etc. are warm.


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## Dave A. (Jan 8, 2014)

I've been using the small fans on the floor running on low pointed back towards the stove in the far rooms that get the least amount of heat and that's been working okay.  But what I tried and seems to work a little better is placing an additional fan closer to the stove room midway to the far room also directed towards the stove at floor level to coax more heat out of the stove room area.

Original fans were at X1 and X2 but adding X3 and X4 have made the cold master bath a lot warmer.


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## laura bv (Jan 8, 2014)

Dave A. said:


> I've been using the small fans on the floor running on low pointed back towards the stove in the far rooms that get the least amount of heat and that's been working okay.  But what I tried and seems to work a little better is placing an additional fan closer to the stove room midway to the far room also directed towards the stove at floor level to coax more heat out of the stove room area.
> 
> Original fans were at X1 and X2 but adding X3 and X4 have made the cold master bath a lot warmer.
> View attachment 123378


This is interetsing. I have all the back rooms closed off. I am just trying to get 2 adjoining rooms up past 60 degrees. If I succeed with that, I will be more hopeful with your methods. Thx


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## begreen (Jan 8, 2014)

Except that in order for this to work (blowing cool air toward the heat source) the fans should be place low at the bottom of the doorway in the cooler, denser air.


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## Geraldooka (Jan 22, 2014)

Hello!

Newbie to the forum here. First off I thought I would say thanks for sharing all this great information. I have learned a lot and am now the proud owner of an Englander 17-VL 4 days in and I'm quite enjoying the steady performance of this little unit. It happily heats our little 1500sf home.

I previously had a big old Harbercraft unit that was far too powerful for us and non EPA. As our installation is in the basement I have over the years experimented with all sorts of ways to move heat from the basement to the upstairs. Fans in doorways, doors, using the furnace blower, floor to floor fans pushing or pulling etc. etc. Then I decided to purchase a smoke pencil, that little tool helped produce my epiphany moment. That warm air wants to do its thing, so LET it! Our stair way was opened up (riserless steps) and we mounted a little muffin fan at the top of the stairs doorway. This worked better for us than the bottom for a couple of reasons:

1. Putting a fan at the bottom of a doorway to stairs leading down seemed like a really bad idea ;-)
2. Our stair well is built kinda like a chimney narrow and tall the warm air vigorously "hangs" out at the very top, the doorway header space and slope of the ceiling almost captures it there. So while the warm air moves upstairs on its own the fan just gives it that little extra nudge.

My $ .02.

Michael


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## begreen (Jan 22, 2014)

It may seem counterintuitive but give it a try with the fan down low, pushing the cold air down the stairs. Tape a piece of toilet paper to the top of the door to see the convective return.


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## Geraldooka (Jan 22, 2014)

I don't think its counter intuitive at all. I understand the physics behind it (and when I say "understand" I mean I know its mo better ;-)

I don't think having something at the doorway at the top of the stairs is a good idea for safety reasons (trip hazard.)

Beyond the safety issue, I did try it both ways and found it worked better at the top for us. In my case our open treads create a bit of an odd air flow because I also have mucho warm air rising at the underside of the top treads (the reverse is true the lower the tread. So blowing cooler air at that point negatively affected the natural rise. My fan at the top works with that flow better in our situation. If our stair case were solid I would likely find a safe way to push the cooler air down (or maybe do both.)

M


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## DougA (Jan 22, 2014)

Wouldn't it be easier to buy a few different fans at Walmart and see how they perform. You'll be able to tell pretty fast and the ones you don't like can be returned.  The larger the blade, the slower it needs to turn to move the same amount of air. The slower it turns, the quieter it is. You might try a large ceiling fan in the stove room and turn it on high for a few minutes every hour. That's all it would take to eliminate the stratification of air in that room. At start at least.  By the time you get it all figured out, Spring will be here. lol

I would second the opinion that moving air feels cooler and you'll find that the temps have to increase quite a bit to get the same feeling as still air.


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## ironpony (Jan 23, 2014)

box fan on the floor pointing towards stove on low.


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