PE Summit - Blower Question

[Mike.O]

I have my PE summit installed in my existing fireplace. It fits well, but is about 75% recessed in the fireplace. Last year the stove was awesome, but I'm thinking a blower will help me get much more heat out of the fireplace and into the room.

Now my questions...

Will a blower need clearance around it?

Do you think the blower unit would get too hot back there?

My setup will have the blower buried in the back of the fireplace, basically sandwiched between the back of the stove and the back wall of the fireplace.

Any one have a setup like this?

 

[begreen]

I take it that this is a freestanding Summit as opposed to the Summit insert? It will bring the stove more forward. Will the liner connection still work? I would not push it hard up against the back wall of the fireplace, so add another inch there. The blower will get warm, but it will be pulling in room air underneath the stove which will help somewhat. The main issue will be that the controls will be a pain to reach. You'll probably want an on/off switch at the plug outlet or one inline in the cord.

 

[Mike.O]

I take it that this is a freestanding Summit as opposed to the Summit insert? It will bring the stove more forward. Will the liner connection still work? I would not push it hard up against the back wall of the fireplace, so add another inch there. The blower will get warm, but it will be pulling in room air underneath the stove which will help somewhat. The main issue will be that the controls will be a pain to reach. You'll probably want an on/off switch at the plug outlet or one inline in the cord.

Thanks for the reply begreen. Unfortunately, I don't have much room to move the liner forward. I already have the damper and frame removed and a decent chunk of brick chipped out. I think i will have 2" clearance between the blower and back of the fireplace.

I did consider the controls, but I figured I'd just set it on thermostatic control and never touch it. I've never had a blower, so I'm not sure if that would realistically work just leaving it switched on and let the temps run the on/off cycles???

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the reply begreen. Unfortunately, I don't have much room to move the liner forward. I already have the damper and frame removed and a decent chunk of brick chipped out. I think i will have 2" clearance between the blower and back of the fireplace.

2" is generous, an inch would be fine.

I did consider the controls, but I figured I'd just set it on thermostatic control and never touch it. I've never had a blower, so I'm not sure if that would realistically work just leaving it switched on and let the temps run the on/off cycles???

Yes, it's possible but there are times when you don't want the blower running even though the stove may still be hot, like when reloading or cleaning out ash.

 

[Hogwildz]

Install an adjustable switch to both control fan speed, and on/off. If you rely on the thermo and it drops in temp and the fan is turning off & on all the time till it's cool enough to turn off completely, it will drive you nuts. I run mine on the insert full time on, then turn it to low when reloading until new load is up to temp, then back to full throttle. Bottom line, don't just rely on the thermo disc to turn it on and off.

 

[Highbeam]

I installed an aftermarket blower on my stove in a custom manner. I control it with only an adjustable thermostatic snap disk. I can also unplug it if I want it off. It works great and doesn’t short cycle. It might do a couple cycles at the end of a burn only but well spaced out.

In your application I would follow hogs advice and add an in-line on/off variable speed switch instead of a snap disk. Mostly due to the difficult access.

Check out the aftermarket fan selection. They’re cheaper and can have very high flow rates. A high flow fan turned down is much quieter than a low flow fan on full blast! Noise is a big deal.

 

[begreen]

The PE fan is pretty mellow and moves a good amount of air. It has to be on high to be noticeable.

 

[Mike.O]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Install an adjustable switch to both control fan speed, and on/off. If you rely on the thermo and it drops in temp and the fan is turning off & on all the time till it's cool enough to turn off completely, it will drive you nuts. I run mine on the insert full time on, then turn it to low when reloading until new load is up to temp, then back to full throttle. Bottom line, don't just rely on the thermo disc to turn it on and off.

Didn't think of that Hog. That's a good point about the on/off cycling at "Cut off" temp. I like the switch idea and think I will do that.

 

[Mike.O]

2" is generous, an inch would be fine.

Yes, it's possible but there are times when you don't want the blower running even though the stove may still be hot, like when reloading or cleaning out ash.

Thanks for the advice. Again, things I wouldn't consider never having had a blower before. I think the switch idea is how I'll proceed

 

[Mike.O]

This is my setup... .
Do you guys think a blower will drastically improve heat in the room???

PS: I have a good block off plate install, so I'm not losing much up the chimney

 

[Hogwildz]

Yes, you should get much more heated air pushed out to circulate around the home, than with no blower.