WHY HAVE A FAN ON MY FIREPLACE MANTELS?

This is a question that comes up quite often in home stores. Answering this question in depth helps to understand how heat transfers from one object to another.

THREE TYPES OF HEAT TRANSFER

There are three ways to transfer heat from a warmer object to a cooler object:

1. convection

2. radiation

3. conduction

A typically forced air furnace uses convection heat to warm your home. A heat exchanger, usually made of steel or stainless steel, is heated by gas, oil, custom reclaimed wood burner or electrical elements. Once this heat exchanger is warm, the fan cycles to blow air through and distribute the warm air throughout the house via the ventilation ducts.

Radiant heat is how the sun heats. Have you ever driven on the highway with the sun shining on one side of the car and not the other? The person sitting in the sun feels this radiant energy.

The other person sitting next to you doesn't feel it. This heat is transmitted directly from a hot object to a cooler object in the room by infrared radiation. In short, radiant heat heats objects.

Conduction is probably the type of transfer heat most common and occurs when you physically touch a hot object. Have you ever left a metal spoon in a pot of boiling water? It can be boiling!

The temperature flow will always go from the hottest object to the coldest object. Once the temperature is the same between the two objects, the heat transfer stops.

WHAT DOES A FAN HAVE TO DO WITH MY HOME?

Your fireplace mantels or stove, whether wood or gas, can operate with or without a fan. Without a fan, you will get radiant heat through the ceramic glass and the front of your fireplace. Without a fan, you will get radiant heat from the front, both sides, top, and even the back of your stove. But by adding a fan to your device, you will benefit from convection heat in addition to radiant heat.

As the air in the room passes through the heat exchanger of your fireplace mantels or stove, heat transfers from the hot surfaces. The fan then blows the hot air back into the room.

Most fireplace and stove fans use a rheostat to vary the amount of air it moves. Speed up the fan, and a higher volume of air circulates through the device. Less air will touch the fireplace surfaces by lowering the fan, and there will be less heat in the room.

Fan settings can make manually with many gas fireplaces and adjustments using a multi-function remote control. The fans will increase the heat transfer efficiency of your fireplace or stove.

Most fireplace mantels and stove fans move air in a range of 75 to 250 cubic feet per minute. At the lower end of this range, that's roughly the amount of air that bathroom fans will exhaust.

Plus, allowing air to circulate in your home will help maintain consistent temperatures throughout the home, even with a small amount of air. This constant circulation thus reduces colder or warmer areas of the house.

Fans today are relatively quiet, especially at the lowest settings. However, keep in mind that any time a fan operates by moving air, there is noise. A peaceful day is much calmer than a day with the wind blowing at 40 km / h.

Fan noises other than moving air (squealing, vibrating, or hissing) indicate a scenario that a technician would likely want to get involved in and efficiently replace a problematic fan.

The fans will, of course, not run in the event of a power failure, but you will still benefit from the radiant heat in your fireplace. If you are concerned about the reliability of electricity or disconnected from the grid, there are specific models of fireplaces and stoves designed to be strictly radiant heaters.

The question, therefore, arises again: do I need a fan on my fireplace mantels or my stove? It's all about comfort, depending on your situation. But most of the experts are big fans of the fans!