Heat Driven - ECO fans are they worth the cost and are some models or makes better than others from users experiences?
I've been looking at an Ecofan brand MaxAir version that starts moving air once the stove top gets to 185 degrees and moves over 175 - 180 cfm.
I have few friends that swear they work great - very quiet, trouble free, and nice gentle heat movement verses actually moving the stove heat too fast.. so the room they state, gets filled up with a nice consistent gentle warmth..
Anyone use or used them - and care to comment or complain?
I know they are sort of a gimmick to a point while being a conversation piece as well, but they do appear to garner fairly favorable responses in on-line sales info, but will they actually work well enough to warrant the cost, uniqueness and bother?
Thanks - Randy
A gimmick Randy and $$$.
Any stove circulates air naturally. Big difference however if you're moving heat horizontally into other rooms. Then a "muffin fan" in a doorway does the job.
Use the $$$ to get some good single malt. ;D
I use the smallest model on my deer blind's wood stove. It's 7'X10' with the stove in a corner and not much insulation ;) ;D. Without it half the space is hot and half is cold. With it the whole space is nice. Works great for my application 8)
What's up with a "deer blind heater " ? Most hunters here dress for the weather and deer easily smell your heat ( and after shave :-\ ).
That's a new one for us, heating a blind. :(
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10027/CIMG0844.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1353633606)
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It works for us.
Quote from: Corley5 on September 13, 2018, 07:45:09 PM
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10027/CIMG0844.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1353633606)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10027/WP_20161116_07_37_29_Pro5B15D.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1479310177)
It works for us.
Corley5, You kill me!
Sincerely,
Bucky
P.s. See you at dinner....
Called a "hunting camp". :D
Well, here in Northern Michigan, we heat our blinds if we can.
Most of the deer around here are not unaccustomed to the smell of wood smoke, or after all the down- staters start on Opening Day- Aftershave.
Corley probably shot this deer as he (the Buck) was avoiding the noise and smell of all the other Hunters", and was seeking the comforts of the smell of Wood smoke and Corley, both of which he was familiar with...
Comments welcome....
My stove has a soapstone top. The fan does spin, but I can't really feel it moving a lot of air. It's possible it does, but it's nothing like holding your hand in front of even the wimpiest electric fan.
I suspect it might work better on top of a stove with a steel or cast iron top?
It's a hunting camp...a building with a stove. Bet it even has a table and chair and frige for beer. :o
A blind is not a camp. Google "blind": a portable tent -like structure to HIDE for hunting deer, birds....a "blind".
You can't carry a hunting camp on your back. Blinds are carried in on your back. I'm shocked. Shocked.
Sooooo.....if it it looks like a duck, smokes like a duck, it's a ______. ;D
Here we call them blinds. Sometimes shacks or shanties. It does have a table and chair and two old over stuffed chairs salvaged roadside. One's a Lazy Boy. No fridge. Beer's not allowed with firearms on my property.
Quote from: Pulphook on September 15, 2018, 07:24:50 AM
It's a hunting camp...a building with a stove. Bet it even has a table and chair and frige for beer. :o
A blind is not a camp. Google "blind": a portable tent -like structure to HIDE for hunting deer, birds....a "blind".
You can't carry a hunting camp on your back. Blinds are carried in on your back. I'm shocked. Shocked.
Sooooo.....if it it looks like a duck, smokes like a duck, it's a ______. ;D
......Does someone need a Hug? Un-wind yourself. When you have one, call it what you want.....
BTW; Long before they made
portable Blinds, or GOOGLE- folks were building (some out of natural materials..) Blinds that were intended to be somewhat permanent and comfortable for staying in all day.
Hug...and a blind. ;D
Real hunters don't need table and chairs....and stove. :snowball:
Okay; You're the authority......
Where did you read the word "Need"? Or anyone claiming to be a "Real" hunter? I use my BLIND to watch the pretty little animals come in to view and drop dead in fear of Real Hunters like you.
Any-who, back to the OP's eco-fan question, I wouldn't mind trying one, but would never pay new price for one, seems like way to much to me.
Quote from: 62oliver on September 15, 2018, 03:24:20 PM
Any-who, back to the OP's eco-fan question, I wouldn't mind trying one, but would never pay new price for one, seems like way to much to me.
I own one, and would agree with that statement. My wife's parents were looking for a Christmas present to give me some years ago. I mentioned the fan to my wife. I was highly embarrassed when I realized how much it cost.
Glad I saw this. I have one in my Amazon Wish List. I thought they were a bit much and probably a little too good to be true.
From replies so far, I never got that the majority of related comments had reported that they were 'a little too good to be true' or in other words didn't work well... just that many thought that while they work - 'as advertised', that were overpriced and just not worth as much as they presently sell new for..
It would be interesting to get a wider cross section of users to actually learn - irrespective of cost, if they work decently in a variety of situations..
But that said, I do agree they aren't cheap and that usually is what it always comes down to in a cost/value/efficiency situation!
A buddy messaged me and asked if I had any old computer heatsinks so he could make a fan thingy for his wood stove.
Yeah I did in my scrap metal recycle box, so I dropped off a selection. Anyway he built this steampunk heat driven fan. As you can see, it spins, but I'm not sure how much use it is. ???
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/Peltier_fan.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1537173975)
There is a little Peltier cell between the 2 heat sinks, and that generates power to spin the little motor on the fan. Fan cools the top part of the unit, which helps keep the heat differential across the cell.
I suspect you would need a BIG (expensive) peltier cell to make enough power to run a "real" fan that would make a noticeable difference.
In a small (14' x20') workshop I had a small (probably 6") desktop fan nailed to the wall behind the stove (very quiet) then after many years that died I put a small bathroom exhaust fan (a bit louder) on the rafter above the stove with the exhaust pointed across the shop slightly down. (both fans were free) The bathroom fan worked much better for redistributing the heat.
I'm not sure of the reason for the bathroom fan working better perhaps being up high and pushing air down helped or the way the air exited the fan through a round opening made it travel farther before loosing velocity or both.
Both are way cheaper than the eco fan.
Quote from: Pulphook on September 15, 2018, 09:20:30 AM
Hug...and a blind. ;D
Real hunters don't need table and chairs....and stove. :snowball:
Okay, who let this wisenheimer on my forum?
Jeff,
Only you can answer that question....
I gave up the battle for two reasons:
1) I didn't want to (further) hijack the thread of a worthwhile topic that even I was learning something in
2) I never argue with someone who knows everything (something akin to that old saying about knowing what you have when you argue with a fool.....), and if that was not the case- then trying to bait these good FF members (me?) into perhaps using strong enough language to endanger your patient indulgence of our spirited debate.....
Steve
I've been informed that one of our hero admins had a little come to Jesus exchange with him. I'd missed out since I've been in the U.P. doing storm damage clean up. Hopefully the message has been heeded and this resource will remain available for him.
Wait till the power goes off and see how much your electric fan moves compared to
the ECO fan. There are different sizes ,largest cost more . I got the medium one
for 500 sq. feet. It realy gets the job done. Whitman
Quote from: Whitman on September 18, 2018, 08:24:37 PM
Wait till the power goes off and see how much your electric fan moves compared to
the ECO fan. There are different sizes ,largest cost more . I got the medium one
for 500 sq. feet. It realy gets the job done. Whitman
Can you actually feel a breeze coming off your ECO fan? I cannot, but I wonder if some of that may be that the top of my stove is soapstone, so may be slowing down the heat transfer that drives the fan.
The impression from some that I have heard stories about these units is.. the heat movement is very subtle - but in that sense they work almost invisibly minus the breeze, or sound of the turning blades verses that of various electrical fans normally used - and that I understand is a big part of the allure - and to a degree the mystique, for those who purchase and use them.
Aside from actually seeing the fan spinning you don't comprehend how they can spread the heat around in a room one is being used in, yet apparently they do it very well.. or so I'm told.
I've often wondered about how much they are moving. The fan certainly spins, and does so at a good rate when once I've got the stove fully warmed up. The blades are so flat - barely any pitch at all - that I wonder how much air they move. I don't doubt they move some air, but the area we've got ours in is the middle of our open floor plan house, so it's hard to tell.
Buy several cheap thermometers, place them around the room and commence testing!
Sorry, late to the table on this one! I've got one, on my 2nd or 3rd now? It's the biggest one they make. My stove is in the basement, big and ugly (like me) stove. I got the first one hoping to help circulate the hot air, and in case (when) the power went out help heat the whole house without any electric fans. I makes almost no noise, you can't really "feel" air moving from it. BUT, as I said I'm on my 2nd or 3rd, I keep buying them because they seem to work. I I did an experiment with my first one (the medium sized one). When my stove got up to temp and the fan was spinning, I grabbed a splint on wood and got it smoldering. I put it behind the fan and watched the "smoke" move around. Seemed to work good, till the smoke alarm went off! (never, ever said I was smart). I'll adjust the direction that the fan blows if I need more heat headed toward the front side of the basement or towards the stairs going up, or toward my wood rack, if my wood needs some further "seasoning".
Long story longer. I'd buy it again. I traded the smaller one to a buddy, for something??? I bought the biggest one. It died after about 5 or maybe 6 years? New one is going onto year 3 or 4. I got mine through my Brother-In-Law, he's a chimney sweep, so I got a bit of a discount but they are still pretty proud of them!
Hardware store I work at sells them.
Almost forgot, pretty sure they sell one that works on pellet stoves too. I think it starts spinning at a lower temp??? Just don't try putting one of those on your wood stove, it won't last long since they get so much hotter
Mine is at least 7 or 8 years old and still spins fine.
The fan needs to be at the back of the Stove top. This is sow the top heat sink cools, the fan
is more efficient . In Alaska off the grid they are used a lot.
i have one sure didn't pay retail price for it, handy when you're on the couch against the wall and you get the cold coming off the wall you point that way and sure can feel the heat blowing your way. no it doesn't move a thousand cfm but certainly a quit and noticeable air movement.
I don't know if I got a bad one but I don't think it helps much. I bought the biggest one that I could find and paid $150 for it which if I would of seen it run before buying it I would not of spent $20 on it. It spins like crazy but does not move much air.
After what I had already heard in the past and from the positive comments on here, I went ahead and purchased one late this past weekend.
As I write - it is merrily spinning away and kicks in at exactly the stove top temp as advertised.
I'm presently typing this from the far end of our 30 foot open room at camp with a small fire on and it feels the same at this end, basically as at the other!
No noise, no fuss - it just came on and started turning away without any ado, and the lack of noise just makes you forget it's even there and working!
Not cheap - but if it works for a few weeks Spring and Fall for a few years - it will have paid for itself (well sort of) at least in comfort and uniqueness..
Thanks for the feedback mostly - at this early point I have to agree with those who liked and commented positively about their usage and efficiency!
Randy
amazon has quite a few different fan models at pretty cheap prices. this double is kool
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