Stove fan

I recall a comment on stove fans that sit on top of wood/multifuel stoves but cannot now trace it. Anyone else remember it or who commented please?

I've been looking at some on-line and they appear to fall into two categories - stirling engine and 'electric' but I can't figure out how the electric ones work without mains or batteries.

I'd have thought the simplest format would be a simple heat rise updraught from the stove to turn the fan blades.

What obvious thing am I missing and does anyone have any recommendations for *currently available* ones at reasonable price. The "Aldiddles" both seem to have had some but no longer.

Reply to
Mark Allread
Loading thread data ...

Peltier effect, can't see many under £50 on eBay ...

Reply to
Andy Burns

On Sun, 06 Nov 2016 16:15:18 -0600, Mark Allread wrote:

Over the years I have had a couple , the first was a Caframo imported direct from Canada when suppliers in the UK were rare. That was a peltier coupling type where heat differential makes enough power for the motor to turn the fan. These are often used the other way round in picnic cooler boxes where applying a current can make one side cool the box It worked well and I left on the boat where it was used when I moved on from it. A lot of the fans available on Ebay are Chinese rip offs of the Caframo with varying degrees of quality. The second one I purchased was actually for my mother who no longer able to stoke a solid fired Rayburn got an oil fired boiler in for the main heating but then found she needed a wood burner occasionally. This was the Vulcan stove which is a Stirling engine type. It is a far more interesting device to watch if you are the sort of person who likes mechanical things like an old clock or steam engine. It worked very well on my mothers large wood burner . I got it back when she moved and tried it on my own stove , mine is a lot smaller and the Vulcan doesn't suit it so well on it as the top takes a long time to get hot enough so I got a valiant ventum III which shifts a lot more cubic feet of air from a lower temperature. Both the Vulcan and the ventum are UK manufactured. I still like using the Vulcan when the stove is hot enough because I like seeing it working. This site is one of the best for comparing different models.

formatting link

The Ventum III is about £40 more on there than I paid a year ago elsewhere, the Vulcan not a lot more than I paid for the MK1 version 5 years ago. Whether you consider £60 to £150 pounds reasonable I don't know but the cheaper ones I can't speak for. the operating environment is pretty severe so you need good bearings so the fan doesn't vibrate and drive you barmy and the thing grind to a stop after a couple of months use.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

No, Seebeck effect.

formatting link

Reply to
harry

I bought one from Amazon last winter. See their item number B001AYVXRY. Its a simple peltier effect one which wasn't expensive but works well.

Mike

Reply to
Muddymike

OK, different sides of the same coin ...

Reply to
Andy Burns

Ohh I do like the look of the Vulcan! But I doubt I could persuade herself that its worth the money!

so I got a valiant ventum III which

This is the one I'm most likely to buy - UK manufacturer with a 2 year warranty on it as well as a low heat starting point.

Thanks for this!

Reply to
Mark Allread

Thanks Mike - looks an interesting one but I confess to being swayed towards the Ventum 3 blade which hopefully will be better balanced.

The price is certainly good hmmm....

Reply to
Mark Allread

I have the £24 one that Aldi sell every so often, works OK. I actually point it into the alcove the wood stove sits in.

It has the same TEG that others use ( I suspect its the same as in the 12V beer coolers as it looks the same) and a little bimetal strip to decouple it from the stove if it gets too hot.

AJH

Reply to
news

try;

formatting link

Reply to
polygonum

Thanks AJH - I think it was probably your post that I was trying to find but couldn't. I'll keep trying Aldi and see if/when they get some more in.

Reply to
Mark Allread

It's probably worth a punt at £24 but having used it for a few weeks now I'm not sure of it's benefits. I do see people complaining that they have a short life, lesson is to keep the receipt as they should be covered by Aldi's 3 year warranty.

The thing is in a draughty house a wood stove creates a hotter spot than a radiator so the heat rises quickly. I wanted to force it to floor level to break the stratification and cut the draughts at floor level.

AJH

Reply to
news

Ah, OK

I guess you've visited here then whilst I was out :-) You've described it perfectly.

Recently been in a caravan that had blown air heating at ankle level - really nice! All we need now is some way of trapping the warm/hot air around the stove and then piping it out around the room. A bit like the US system I suppose where they have a hulking great boiler in the basement and warm air via ducting. Having said that an American we were chatting to last winter, coming to the end of his duty tour, said how much he appreciated the UK system of wet rads and it was something he was going to look into for his home in the US.

The grass is always greener...

Reply to
Mark Allread

The cheap one I have helps enough to be worth spending more on a better quality one if this one packs up.

The holiday cottage we owned in Arkengarthdale up to 12 years ago had an open plan 1st floor with lounge Kitchen etc. with a wood burner. In the depths of winter the temperature could be felt dropping with every step down the stairs to bathroom and bedrooms.

I installed a 42 inch soil pipe (boxed in) with two fans inside to draw hot air from the apex of the vaulted lounge ceiling down to floor level in the bathroom. I used two 240 volt shrouded fans with round casings that fitted perfectly inside 4" pipe couplers, later adding controll by a simple Bimetal thermostat.

It worked reasonably well giving us a warm bathroom and helping spread heat around the ground floor.

Three years after we sold the place we had telephone call from the new owners asking where the fans came from as one had packed up. She wasn't impressed when I told her they were from an MOD scrap dealer:-)

Mike

Reply to
Muddymike

When we imported some pellet stoves at the turn of the century I was really surprised that the hot air was blown out at about 1m . I was keen to design my own that would blow the air from a slot at floor level, I had seen some experiments that suggested the Coanda effect kept the warm air hugging the floor surface for a distance and then rose more evenly.

I have a PC power supply fan and a length of hose from an air conditioning unit vent that I have also tried but even this didn't move much heat where I wanted it.

Personally I'm a fan of under floor heating for rooms under constant occupation, hot air for rooms only used occasionally.

AJH

Reply to
news

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.