Heat Powered Stove Fan Showdown - Flue vs Stovetop
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- Опубліковано 15 лют 2022
- Over the winter I tested the two most popular types of heat-powered wood stove fan (stove-top vs flue-mounted) to see which is best for the Cubic Mini Wood Stove I installed in my vintage camper.
I compare the highly regarded Canadian-made EcoFan CB-800 stovetop model I purchased with my Cubic Mini, which I love - fas.st/t/LWw8ACNq - and a cheap generic flue-mounted or chimney fan alternative I wanted to try - amzn.to/3Lh4DT9
My goal was to determine if the advantage of a flue-mounted design (being raised up off the wood stove's firebox) was enough to make me switch.
There was a clear winner in power and efficiency, but ultimately I've decided to keep both fans and use them in combination. Using the semi-permanent flue-mounted fan all the time, and the stovetop fan on the coldest nights or any time I'm not planning to use the stovetop for cooking.
To find a generic flue mounted stove fan, just google "flue mounted stove fan" and take your pick. I haven't been able to find a name brand company making one... I really wish EcoFan would. The one I tested is linked below, if you find a better one, please let me know!
LINKS:
• EcoFan CB-800 stovetop fan: fas.st/t/LWw8ACNq
• For more about the CubicMini Wood Stove visit: fas.st/t/rD5uuUcq
• Pocket Bellows - collapsible blow tube I use in this video: amzn.to/3q23qYD
• Generic flue-mounted fan: amzn.to/3Lh4DT9
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Nice concise description, without annoying irrelevant music. Thanks
Ha! I know exactly the kind of videos you mean! 🤣 Thank you for watching and commenting.
When you're trying to keep cool, a faster-moving fan is always better. For generating the convection so many rely on for warming up a space, a slower-moving fan may actually be superior.
That’s an interesting point. I’m not a thermal dynamics expert, but I assume many who are have been involved in the development of these fans over the hundred+ years, and I would hope they’ve found the sweet spot by now.
One thing I’ll point out is that there is no regulator between the Peltier element and the motor, or gearing between the motor and the fan. It’s all direct current and direct drive. Heat - Air Temp = Voltage = Speed.
So the heat of the stove combines with the temperature of the air in the room and the resulting efficiency of the Peltier element translates directly to the speed of the fan in some kind of beautiful self-regulating ballet.
A roaring fire in a cold room will create more airflow, a low fire in a warmer room will create far less. That sounds about right to me. Either way these fans are amazing and keep my little camper snug and cozy. 😌
Thanks for checking out the video. :)
Thanks for the comparison. Nice camper set up you have.
Stay warm. Ontario Canada .
Great video. We just moved off grid as well, and i was looking for reviews. Thank you!
Oh thank you! I’m glad you found it useful. I was fascinated by the science of these things from the first time I saw one. So cool what they invented way back then. :)
Great video! A pleasure to watch!
Thanks for checking it out. I might try and install a replacement motor from EcoFan in the flue mounted unit to see if that improves things any. I really do like having the whole stovetop unencumbered for cooking and warming things.
Thanks for sharing! We enjoyed your video.
Thank you for watching! It was in interesting experiment. If you ever make a flue-mounted version of any of your fans I’ll be first in line!
@@lumberingshenanigans That would be awesome. Thanks for your support.
Fabulous video thank you for taking time all best letitia
Thank you. I still use both fans, and move the EcoFan when I need to cook or heat something.
Thank so much for answering back so kind of you whud love to do wat you are and love your land all the best letitia
I got one of those flue fans that go on the stove pipe. I haven’t got it to work yet doesn’t matter how hot my wood stove is. I mounted it on the bottom not on the top of the stove pipe.
Is your flue single wall or insulated?
air push it related to the size of the fan. the fact that the flue one stops earlier is better so it doesn't push cold air around.
Yeah for sure the size of the fan, number of blades, speed of rotation all factor into the resulting air flow. But I’m not a fluid dynamics expert. Above my pay grade. And I’m sure the difference is subtle. But one thing is for sure, a stopped fan doesn’t move any. And the air around the flu and stove is always going to be warmer than the rest of the room. So… my choice would be the longest possible spin to get even “warm” air over to the other side of the room. I’m still using both after all this time. Thanks for watching!
You use a magnetic temp gauge on the side of the stove, right? Mount it to the side of the stove instead of setting it on the stove top.The side mounted one would probably last longer at shutdown if it was closer to the stove top instead of all the way up at the top and might even turn on faster too. This technology has been around for a long time. I know because we had 2 similar ones on our stoves back in the 70s. Not exactly like them, but very similar. We had a small 4 burner stove in our living room and a big porcelain one in the kitchen with the water reservoir on the side. The kitchen fan set on the top due to plenty of space(8 burner with overhead warmers) and the small one was mounted on the side toward the upper back near the stovepipe area. I currently have 3 LED camping lanterns that use the same tech using a tealight oil candle. Great for power outages!! I have a 4th lantern rewired with USB ports instead of lights to charge cell phones and small battery banks for electronic gizmos. Each oil candle lasts 8+ hours and I can refill them. 👍
Another tip, if your pipe was cast iron instead of sheet metal it would retain the heat better at shutdown. The side mounted fan would run longer before turning off. Even if it's a cast iron sleeve slid over the stovepipe, heat retention is the key and the hotter the better.
Hey, thanks for the great comment. Your history of different setups sounds amazing. I love it. Thanks for sharing. The candle-powered LED idea is awesome. Definitely something I would consider for a tent stove situation (I have plenty of solar in the camper and it’s all wired for 12v)
The cast iron pipe idea is great too, though I do have concerns about the drafting of the tiny stove using pipes not designed specifically for this tiny stove. I’ll ask the folks at Cubic Mini.
And yeah, heat-generated electricity was discovered in the early 1800s. Electric fans in the early 1900s. I’m sure the idea of combining the two followed shortly after.
As for my fan placement, I’m not exactly sure what you are advising, but I really don’t have a whole lot of options. The camper is really tiny, like… around 80 square feet total living space. So mounting a fan on the side, if I understand your suggestion right, isn’t an option for my setup because it would block my way to the back of the camper and be in the way while standing at the gas range directly across the galley from it.
The flue mounted fan could maybe be a few inches lower, but would quickly interfere with using the stovetop one, (there’s maybe a couple of feet of 3” pipe between the stove and the low ceiling) and since the power elements work by staying cool on one side and hot on the other, I think moving the whole unit closer to the heat source would just cause a trade off in efficiency. But I’ll give it a try and add to the video description if it helps, it’s an easy experiment.
I have since added insulation to the outside of the camper roof. This has made a big difference in the heat retention and stabilization of the temperature inside. And condensation.
Generally these fans work well together to create nice cozy warmth with gentle air flow and I’m quite happy with the combination. The ability to simply lift the EcoFan off when I want to cook works great for me.
Again thanks for the awesome tips, and thanks for watching! :)
@@lumberingshenanigans I was thinking the placement could be on the side where the temp gauge is on the right side, but in the upper back corner behind the temp gauge. I don't know how tall your fan is, nor did I realize there was a doorway just to the right of your stove(until I watched video again). The fan might be too tall for that idea after realizing there's a doorway right there. The blades might extend beyond the door opening, now that I look at it. As for the sleeve for the pipe, it would only need to be as wide as the base of the fan you have mounted on the pipe. It's a shame they don't make these fans with a magnetic base. If they did, all you would have to do is pull it off the top and stick it to the side. Then, when you're done cooking, you could just put it back on top. That way you'd still get circulation while you cook and it would only be temporary on the side.
The lanterns I use are made by a company called Luminiser and they put out 200 lumen each. Available on Amazon.
www.amazon.com/Luminiser-Thermoelectric-Lantern-Converts-Electricity/dp/B07K25ZZZ2/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2SP2RP43PQNOP&keywords=luminiser+thermoelectric+oil+lantern&qid=1674807054&sprefix=luminiser+lantern%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-2
I was thinking the same thing when I read your first comment. Magnetic would be useful even sitting on top, when the camper moves for example. But then you gotta ask a scientist, what’s does 500° heat do to a magnet? Or the glue used to mount the magnet to the aluminum fan, and figure a way for the magnet to not diminish the transmission of heat to the element. Etc etc. But yeah, that would be a convenient feature! :)
Try increasing the pitch on the blade, from box they come with moderate bend a are also off balance. Straighten it out, that will also help a lot.
Oh, that’s an interesting idea I hadn’t thought of. Thanks! Something to play with over winter. :)
The Flue on the cubic mini is double walled replace that inside stretch of stove pipe with single wall and the Flue fan will double in its power.
That would be a good tip if that were the case. Actually the double-wall section of the CubicMini’s flue doesn’t begin until a few inches from the ceiling. You can see the transition from 3” to 5” about a hands breadth above the flue fan in the video. Having lived with this setup for a year or so now, I stand by my assessment that the flue mounted fan is simply not as good as the stovetop model and I’m glad I have both. Thanks for watching, and for the good intentioned suggestion.
Theres a channel called logcabinlooms and he has a simple heat reclaimer built into his stove pipe. Space permitting, could an eco fan sitting in the heat reclaimer work in your setup?
More heat/airflow and an uncluttered stove top, just an idea. Well done video!
Hey, thanks for the idea. I did some googling and think I get the idea of how these reclaimers work (I’d never heard of them until your post, thank you) and they’re definitely something I’ll keep in mind for the future. But I don’t think one would be right for my camper. Mostly because it’s just so tiny, which means limited space, but also that it gets hot fast enough and evenly enough with just the little heat-powered fans I have keeping the air flowing. And it’s off-grid, with only 12v power for lights and a few gadgets, and most of the reclaiming units I saw online plug in to 110v outlets and draw a lot of power. Combining the two devices could work, and that’s a solid idea to experiment with IF you have the room, and the need for more heat efficiency. But yeah, in my case about a cubic foot of waste wood will easily heat by camper for a day in the dead of winter no problem. Thanks for sharing the knowledge! And for watching. :)
@@lumberingshenanigans Thanks for the reply!
I didn't know there was 110v heat reclaimers lol, the one on the logcabinlooms channel is made out of two stove pipe T's and four 90° corners. Shaped like an "O" an ecofan could nest inside the opening.
That's pretty sweet that a small amount of wood can jeep your trailer toasty, it looks like a nice cozy setup!
Oh right, I’ve seen stuff like that I guess. All kinds of attachments for flue pipes that can hold some of the heat. I think in a bigger space, with a bigger stove I would look at some of those options. With the tiny cubic mini stoves I wouldn’t want to mess with the flow of heat too much, they’ve done a really good job balancing the way the flue draws. And yeah, it keeps my little tin can very cozy. :)
Interesting, thank you. How would a 4 blade fan compare to the two bladed fan if both seated on the stove and not the flue?
Hey thanks for watching. I’m not sure, I think the number of blades vs strength of the motor vs the angle of the blades all worth together and affect airflow in a delicate balance only an engineer can figure out. I’ve seen five and six blade fans, bigger and smaller fans, double header fan. I assume fundamentally there’s a limit to how much air can be moved by the energy created by the heat of the stove. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
i am looking to get a flue fan for my ice shanty. I need to keep my stove top open as I am always boiling water on it to dump down my ice holes to keep them free of ice. I am afraid the stove is not ran hot enough. My flue is a home made single wall pipe, but its made out of 1/4" thick steel, 4 inch in diameter. I have thought of using a computer fan too. Can you adjust the angle of the fan so it blows more towards the floor or ceiling?
This particular flue mounted fan isn’t adjustable at all, and I don’t see any that are. But you can mount it at whatever height you like on your flue. Most of them seem to be aimed at 5-6 inch flues, but they might work for your 4 inch. I’d say if your stove can boil water, there should be enough heat to power the fan. And remember it’s about the difference between the front and back temperature that creates the electricity, so a colder exterior will require less heat on the back end to generate the same current. This double headed one looks cool: amzn.to/3SfnLFN Good luck!
Can always mount 2 fans on the flue.
True, indeed! Three fans seems like a lot though, even if cost wasn’t a consideration. Although I’m not sure there’d even be room on my little flue run. But I’ve actually seen units with two fans in one. There are lot of options out there. I’ve been very happy with this combo, being able to move one so cook and keep the other one running has been working well. Thanks for watching. :)
Can the top of the wood stove get too hot for the ecofan?
I don’t think so. This is exactly what it’s designed for. But if you’re really pushing the stove at full blast non-stop I’d be more worried about the flue, my ceiling, my wood cabinets, and the stove itself being damaged first. Also the camper is barely 100 sqft so it would be like an oven in there if the store got that hot.
I would just take all the electronics from the ecoflow mount in on chimney fan so you can have your cake and eat it to
That’s a good idea for something to try as an experiment, but I think the basic idea of a flue mounted fan just isn’t as efficient as stove top. But having both fans has been working well, with the more consistent and reliable EcoFan doing the bulk of the work, having the extra airflow up near the ceiling does seem to make a difference. It’s a setup I intend to repeat if ever get around to building a cabin. Thanks for watching and commenting! :)
Where are you if you don't mind me asking as looks so lovely where you are letitia
The Columbia River Gorge in the Pacific Northwest of the US. Basically the Oregon/Washington border. Thanks for watching!
Take a look at my channel page, the trailer video will give you a better idea of the area and the overall vibe of the place. :)