What do you guys think about the eco fans that are put on stoves . Is there a certain brand that you would recommend and do they really work , thanks guys
I like them. I have a Caframo, am thinking about adding one of the newer cheaper brands to supplement. Here is one of the previous threads about them. You will see the thoughts range from "uselss toy" to "I like them." Stove top fans?
I think they are one of the worst gimmicks on the market. We tried one (after being hounded by my wife). Used it 2 days and returned it for money back. Certainly not worth the dollars. For one thing, look at the blades on the toy. Small. How can that move much air? Also, it needs lots of heat just to get started. That may or may not work out at the start of the burn cycle but as the stove cools just a little, so does the fan until it actually stops. In addition, we know that is is very difficult to move warm air into cool air and that is why in the house to warm one of the far rooms, you set a fan by that room and aim it toward the stove room. Therefore you then move the cool air. Of course, as that cool air moves into the stove room, some must move out. Bingo. The warm air moves out and goes back to that far room. This also takes very, very little electric because you only need a small fan and that running on the lowest speed (higher speeds create that draft that you do not want). I will say that perhaps in a tent that might be of some value.
In our off-grid cabin, we find the eco fan a worthy product, really helps when a rack of wet/cold/snowy gloves/toques/coats is put by the stove to dry. Cuts down dry time in half or better. If you’re hoping to move serious air, like feel it across the room, not so much. Maybe feel it 3-5 feet away. The eco fans do blow, just depends on your need or goal if it’s enough or if you might as well plug in a “real” fan. Oh but I agree seeing stove temp from afar is definitely nice too.
My eco fan was a staple fixture on our Hearthstone Mansfield. When I sadly sold the house, it went missing and didn't have one on my new Progress. Last week my girlfriend said "I got an early Christmas present but sadly it is already broken" as she bought an Eco fan at a tag sale. Loose wire in the motor connection and it's up and running. Oh, and this has nothing to do with pushing air, it's just a visual to see the stove temp from a distance.
Kind of with Backwoods Savage on this one. I have one, a 3 blade caframo for not much more than novelty. I thought they were kind of neat and then saw the buy new prices . I ended up watching fleabay for a bit and picked up a used one for $20. Still fun addition but I wouldn’t rely on it for any real air movement.
I have two eco fans on my stove. As others have written, one nice thing about them is being able to get a sense of how hot the stove is running from a distance - if mine are cruising along, I know the stove is at a decent temp, if they are puttering along, the stove temp is low (okay, I'm not getting an exact temp, but in the morning rush to get out of the house, it's a bit of a help as I can see them from the stairs a decent distance away from the stove). One thing others have not mentioned, that I've noticed is they help keep my mantel temp down. I have a close wooden mantel and while I meet clearances it sometimes gets a bit on the hot side. They move a bit of air, not a ton, and for moving heat around the house a small fan moving cold air from colder parts of the house towards the stove is the way to go, but they definitely get some heat away from the mantel in my case.
I bought a cheap one off amazing for my parents last year. It doesn't take much heat to get it started and I think it moves a reasonable amount of air for what it is. Being a cheap one though, it makes a rattling noise now after a year of use. Somebody else gave them a nicer one for their other stive and it works great.
I bought one for more $$ a couple decades ago, it worked great til we accidentally knocked it off the stove a couple times and the blades were off balance. Long story short, we bought a new one when we moved here in 2013, less $$ this time, but still moves air around on yet another old stove that does not have a blower.
Have used 2 on our cabin's woodstove. They work well. Moves the heated air nicely under the loft area. Your stovetop has to be hot at the rear, and have room for the fan to sit right at the rear edge. This way, the base of the unit gets as hot as possible vs the fins at the top, which need cooler air to produce the power to run the fans. If the air is about the same temp at the fins, as the base... the fans won't work.
They dont do much but look kinda cool and they show me how good my overnight burns are. Or in other words, if I come downstairs in the morning and see it's still spinning, I know my overnight burn was decent.
