Do y’all use them? Do you have a size and brand preference? Any that work amazingly well? I have this Sonyabecca 5 blade. It moves a little air, but I’d like to get another, so I don’t have to use the blower.
I use one that I got at Tractor Supply. It moves a little bit of air, but I think it provides more entertainment value than actual airflow.
Have 2 of them at our cabin. They only will work well if you can place them at the rear of your stove's hottest surface, so cool air can be drawn in from the back and through the "fins". It's the temp difference, between the stove top and that air, that drives em. Ours work well.
I’ve been using one since I first learned of them. They work great IMO. No they do not blow large amounts of air. They do move the environment inside the home. Often there are spots/doorways the warm air just seems to not pass. My master bedroom for one. Like a 10 degree difference on either side of the open door. It solved this. Had one of the original pricey ones. Lasted a year. Bought a cheap knockoff. It’s lasted three and still going.
Like jo191145, I got an expensive VanHaus brand one online, worked 1.5 seasons then quit. They do move warm air and are entertaining.
I've had one that was given to me. I know what the blades are pitched and it turns. So, it must be moving air. I took a few sheets of single ply TP, and let it hang down in front of the fan. The thermals rising from the stove moved the TP more than the fan did. I view it more as a novelty.
Years ago I gave in to my wife who really wanted one. It went back the following day; a useless toy. If you really want to move air in the house, just a small fan on the floor in a hallway or cool room with that cool air aimed at the stove room will work wonders. Use a small fan on low speed and you won't create a bad draft like you would by using a large fan or one run on high speed.
Dennis. How well does that work if you go across the livingroom then hit the kitchen then turn left down the hallway and turn right into the bathroom. That room is always cold.
We had one maybe 20 years ago. Back of the stove to maximize a hot bottom and cool top fins is a +. It didn't move a lot of air, but if it wasn't spinning the stove top was no longer warm. Useful with no clear ceramic glass window in the stove door. It's not like it did nothing moving air, it just didn't do a lot. Sure beats a smelly dried up pot of potpourri.
I had better luck with mine but that’s a good point. I can tell when it’s time to crank up the stove by watching the speed.
Any chance the basement is below the areas you're talking about? A 6" muffin fan, driving air through duct pipe, from a floor vent in the bathroom floor, directly to another floor vent under the wood stove area, could easily pull cool air away from the bathroom, and as Dennis has said... will then draw the warm air from the stove room, around the kitchen corner, down the hall and to the bathroom. A hot air furnace uses the same concept. As for passive fans being useless toys Dennis Backwoods Savage ... some stovetop layouts work much better than others... mine work fine. And, we have no power at the cabin so... there's that too...
They work great. You may have seen Judy's little fan when you were here. We used to have to use it and placed it on the floor in hallway near the bath. That way it warmed both bath and bedroom.
