Insert radiant output vs fan output.

[cityevader]

If you had a rather smallish fireplace insert with a blower, which do you think gives better heat.......

Fast and hot flame and no blower to heat up the masonry and give good radiant heat after a couple hours...

Or blower on with moderate flame (kinda reverse forced air furnace effect, lower airflow to allow more time to heat blower "duct")....

Too complicate it, what if you were using a fan to move warm air down a few steps into the main room?

Both ways take so long to heat the house after getting home from work in the evening that i'm in bed by the time any results to experimenting can be seen.

 

[cityevader]

oops...forgot to mention that if blower is on, the fire really seems to lose it's blaze. As if too much heat is removed to keep the wood going, yet not enough heat is then produced to be blown.

 

[Blowncrewcab]

The fan on my insert won't come on till it gets 350*,the fan heats the house 5 times faster than just the radiant heat would, the stove fan blows the heat out into the room then the ceiling fan moves it around. I have 14' ceilings in my living room. it's an "A" Frame house, upstairs stays Very Toasty in the winter.....

 

[redprospector]

oops...forgot to mention that if blower is on, the fire really seems to lose it's blaze. As if too much heat is removed to keep the wood going, yet not enough heat is then produced to be blown.

Something ain't right then. I just put in an insert last month. I build a good hot fire, let her warm up good, turn on the fan and it'll run you out before too long.

Andy

 

[cityevader]

hmmm...I checked the outside air inlet tube=OK.
Checked spark arrestor=not clogged.
Chimney liner tubing is approx16 feet tall, enough for good draft.
"Snap-stat" prevents blower before it gets hot.

But it noticeably reduces the burn with the blower on, unless a really blazing fire with really 2 year dry wood has been going for at least two hours.

"Seasoned" one year old wood will not burn well at all with blower on...turn it off and flames back up in a short while.

 

[DonB]

What red said. Something's wrong with this picture. All the blower does is scavenge heat from the firebox and push it out into the room. This shouldn't effect the quality of your fire at all.

The radiant heat output from our insert is very small compared to the heat distributed by the blower. Unless we start with a really cold house, I have to leave the cfm set way low or it will run us out of the room. Leave it that way for a few hours and it will run us out of the house.