Fan or No Fan

Heish1 · Post by **Heish1** » Thu. Dec. 04, 2008 3:28 pm

My Harman Mark II of course has a fan. My question is, does everyone leave their fan running 24/7? Sort of defeats the purpose of saving $$'s in my opinion. But neverless, I leave mine running. This weekend I may unplug it to see what difference it will make for the rest of the house.
Anyone have an opinion on this?

VanBuren · Post by **VanBuren** » Thu. Dec. 04, 2008 4:29 pm

Heish

I leave my Hitzer 503 fan running 24/7 as do others - I haven't got my elec bill for Nov yet so I can't say how much extra it costs. From what I am told though the watts consumed by stove fans is small so as long as it is not excessive it is worth it. If it were excessive I agree it would diminish the benefits of any cost savings.

I find that without the fans running the house will cool off quite a bit. Some people have installed dimmer switches to control fan speed etc.

Van'

LsFarm · Post by **LsFarm** » Thu. Dec. 04, 2008 4:58 pm

A stove that is designed to have a fan has some form of an air jacket to guide and direct the air from the fan.. with the fan turned off, a lot less heat is washed off the stove, and this heat goes up the chimney... you are much more efficient with a fan washing the heat off the stove body into the house...

Look at your fan motor, it will have either a watt rating, or a amperage draw rating.. post those numbers here, along with your cost for electricity per KW.. and we can figure the cost..

I have several circulator pumps running 24/7, they each run only about $5.00 per month, virtually nothing...

You can save a LOT of money on your electric bill just by carefully using lights and unplug items that don't actually 'turn off' when you hit the off button,, like most TV's, and unplug unused chargers in the wall outlets..

Greg L

Freddy · Post by **Freddy** » Thu. Dec. 04, 2008 5:20 pm

I agree that you'd lose more heat up the chimney with the fan off than the cost of the electricity...no matter where you live, but a 007 pump is no longer $5 a month here. I see this months rate has gone up a bit to $.184 per KWH. That makes a .76 amp 007 $12.08 a month. Ouch!

WNY · Post by **WNY** » Thu. Dec. 04, 2008 6:34 pm

Put a plug in thermostat control on it, then when it gets hot, it will only kick on when needed.

grizzly2 · Post by **grizzly2** » Thu. Dec. 04, 2008 8:16 pm

The Hitzer 30-95 with fan has a double top with air space and fins between for the air from the fan to pass through. I just found out that the same model stove without fan has only a single layer top. Had I known that I would have bought the no fan version, because I don't run the fan most of the time. I don't like the noise from the fan, and usually don't care if the air circulates well to other rooms because I spend my evening sitting near the stove in the livingroom. So, I suppose I am loosing some heat up the chimney when the fan is not running. However when I do turn the fan on, the stove body cools and the built in thermostat opens the draft further and the stove consumes even more coal.

tfaath · Post by **tfaath** » Thu. Dec. 04, 2008 9:42 pm

The 503 has 2 fans each rated at 44 watts. Total consumption is just a little less than a 100 watt light bulb.

As Van stated, I run the fans 24/7.

Tom

RedRockHunter · Post by **RedRockHunter** » Fri. Dec. 05, 2008 6:10 am

i run mine 24/7 as well, I get alot more heat out my hitzer 50-93 with it running. if the temps are higher I shut the fan off. yes you do burn more coal, but if you need the heat ya gotta run the fan. i'm heating a 3000 sq ft, well insulated home with only my stove. so far so good with the lowest temps I had here in the low teens overnight.

VanBuren · Post by **VanBuren** » Fri. Dec. 12, 2008 10:29 am

just got my elec bill it is usually $100~ per month and is $134 for the most recent cycle.

Most but not all of this would be the fan and I am in the New york city suberbs and paying a premium for electricity as we do for everything.

all told the additional 25 bucks per month is reasonable for the heat I get.

Van

farok · Post by **farok** » Mon. Dec. 15, 2008 11:20 pm

Compared to a 6-10 amp motor for a furnace (even if they run 50% of the time), even the stoker stoves could be considered a bargain on electricity! Take into consideration the fuel savings over oil or propane, and it's a no-brainer.

Chris

tvb · Post by **tvb** » Mon. Dec. 15, 2008 11:26 pm

So do you burn more coal with the fan on or the fan off? I've been shutting the fan off during times when no one is home for an extended period.

CapeCoaler · Post by **CapeCoaler** » Mon. Dec. 15, 2008 11:41 pm

MarkII fan on 24/7 when it is below 50* outside, fan off above 50* to help with the draft and I can burn till it is 65* outside.
Killawatt p3 http://www.p3international.com/products/p4460.html about $17 tells me 35 watts which makes it about $5.30/month at my electric cost of $.22/kwh.
Stove throws more heat with fan.

grizzly2 · Post by **grizzly2** » Thu. Dec. 18, 2008 5:45 pm

With the fan on I am burning more coal because the fan cools the stove and that opens the thermostaticaly operated draft more. However, my stack temps are down by 50*. Therefore it appears that the stove is operating more efficiently with the fan on. This makes sence because the stove is not retaining as much heat with the fan washing the heat off the surface, so it goes into the room instead of up the stack. My fan is rated at 62 watts.

Related question for electricians: When I turn fan speed down with a rheostat, am I saving electricity

grizzly2 · Post by **grizzly2** » Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 7:05 pm

I gotta believe one of you guys know the answer to my question in the previous post.

CapeCoaler · Post by **CapeCoaler** » Fri. Dec. 19, 2008 10:41 pm

When I get around to wiring the fan control, I'll put the killawatt on and let you know!