Howdy fellow cheapies. I have an in wall fireplace with a little lip. I'm wondering whether you think putting one of those little heat powered fans would be beneficial?
I see the prices range from $15 on AliExpress to more than $150. Is it worth spending the money ?
I have experience in the fire/home heating field (manufacturer side).
Cheap vs expensive fans you won't see much of a difference. You will however need to ensure that the ash lip gets hot enough for the fan to work (which I'd doubt). A good way to test is a cheap thermal laser (or just buy the fan, but at least if you know with the laser that it won't work, you'll still have a use for the laser).
Do you know what model the fire is? Or is it just an open cavity fire (no door/glass)?
There's a difference between radiant and convection fires. Either way though, I'd invest in a heat transfer system, as they work way better and warms the whole house.
I thought you were asking any fans of fireplaces out there whether you should be getting a cheap one or not 🤣. Sorry, can't help with fireplace fans.
Can't say I'm a fan of them either. But our house came with something dumb like 40 cubic metres!
Does the lip get hot enough to move to fan with much power. Probably not hot enough to work well. Better on a pot belly.
It’s warm but not too warm to touch. There’s a little shelf above it where I normally set my bread
I've just bought one of these from Bunnings for a freestanding fireplace. As @sickman has said the base of the fan needs to get hot enough to drive the motor of the fan itself. I've positioned mine so the air circulates infront of the flue. It makes sense that it pushes air around the room and does feel like the room heats up quicker.
There's no way you'll be getting $150 worth of energy/use out of these fans so don't buy those expensive ones. They all use the same heat expansion principle to power the fan so there's not much variation in efficiency after a certain price point. For it to be efficient the surface must be at a minimum of 50c degrees, ideally >80-250c degrees so you might want to check it first if it can semi-boil water.
We just have a small desk fan on a stand behind the fire pointing at the flue/firebox. Makes a massive difference at getting the heat into the room. While it is powered and we are lucky enough to have a power point by the fire it is well worth it.
No. An inbuilt fire won't get hot enough to run it. I use one of those handheld rechargeable fans (with a stand) They were 50c each or something silly at warehouse end of summer clearance. The battery goes for a good few hours on low speed. Otherwise you can also get a ceiling fan installed. Worthwhile to push hot air that gathers at the ceiling down and around the rest of house.
https://www.thewarehouse.co.nz/p/handheld-mini-fan/M16485666…
40cm pedestal fan here. Moves warm air around in winter, keeps me cool in summer
I would love to see someone film a timelapse with a thermal camera to see if it's actually better.. Odd that no one has bothered to do it and prove these things actually work as claimed.