OT Anyone think these "stove fans" are any good?

Thermopile or Stirling engine? Either way, they will stir the air. Just a weensy bit. Rather less than the convection from the stove stirs it. More decorative than effective.

I've seen a thermopile one in use on a narrowboat, and it seemed pretty effective on a rather cold night (we were iced in).

Chris

We have been down this ere road to nowhere quite recently here, I'm sure. Rubbish and lossy. Brian

It may depend where the stove is located. Friends have a wood/coal burning stove in in a chimney breast from where the old open fire was removed. Without a fan the area around the stove was extremely hot with the heat being trapped by the walls of the chimney breast. The fan gives a greater air circulation around this area and pushes the heat out to the rest of the room at the 3 foot level.

Lossy? What are they losing?

Okay, they?re not powerful but the do move air to a degree. Quite nice toys, relatively cheap and they do have an effect.

Tim

Brian Gaff \(Sofa 2\) snipped-for-privacy@bluey> We have been down this ere road to nowhere quite recently here, I'm sure.

These are not electric fans that require plugging in to the mains nor do they run from a batteries which you erroneously previously assumed.

I don't think the general consensus was rubbish and lossy.

I for one think that they work quite well and how can they be lossy as it relies on the top surface of the stove getting hot (at temperatures of 120+C)

We have one. It certainly spins well but you can't feel any air movement more than a couple of inches away. It's totally silent which also suggests it's not disturbing the air much.

Looks cool though ...

I just got one. Coming to the same conclusion. I think it's a bit cooler near the stove than it was before. No noticeable difference elsewhere. (Does it "eat the heat?") :-)

Depends a lot on the configuration of the brickwork around the stove. Mine is in an inglenook that would otherwise fill with hot air rising from the stove so the TEC powered electric fan makes quite a difference by pushing out the warm air above the stove into the room. It spins at a fair clip with the stove at full power. I was sceptical myself until I found a neighbour had one and how well it worked to move warm air.

If you had your stove right in the middle of the room I doubt if it would make any difference at all.

I have one which seems effective at moving hot air from above the stove out into the room faster than convection. It was cheap, and costs nothing to run.

Mike

Like any thing there are good and bad versions that vary, We have a valiant 4

We also have a Vulcan Sterling Engine fan which if you find a bit of machinery like a steam engine or a clock interesting to have around is nice.

Trouble is it needs a hotter stove top to be really effective than the valiant. It suited a bigger stove we had somewhere else but not the one we have now.

I doubt Brian knows what is being talked about but as usual has to make a comment just to pass his time.

Harry being a cheapskate probably bought one of the cheap chinese knock offs or a cheapy from Lidl. They do spin around but are not as effective more expensive ones. They need fairly hot stove tops to be effective and certainly for the chinese knockoffs the heat needed gives them short lives.

GH