Sunday 1 January 2017

Fire Fan





Have you ever seen one of these fan things before? We glimpsed them in various house buying programmes sitting on top of woodburners in posh country houses and then saw one in a showroom. Did a bit if investigating and found our it was supposed to push the hot air out into the room but we could not quite see how the actual mechanism worked. It is made of heavy metal and has no actual "motor" with no batteries or electric. We were watching the  Rieth Lectures (BBC 4) this Christmas which was about transfer of energy methods and realized how the motor would work effectively.
So we got one this week and are trying it out. Certainly the cold spot to the left of the fire is better. We have to work out if the heat is pushed out to the staircase area. And if it saves any money on the oil fired central
heating.

Hard to say if it helps with heating yesterday as it has suddenly turned milder!  We had been out doing a bit of gardening. Husband created a new bed and put in 18 allium bulbs he got for £1 (big reduction at the garden centre) and he did a winter wash on the fruit trees. I went off to pick sprouts, take the composting bin up to the compost heap and move some branches up to the bonfire. I also popped into the greenhouse and cleaned off some dead leaves off over wintering plants. You have to keep them clean in damp weather to avoid diseases.  Today it is continuous depressing rain.

Hope you are finding things to do when the weather gives you a break.

Happy New Year

7 comments:

  1. I'll be interested to read whether the fan thing works. The house we're moving to (fingers crossed) has open fireplaces and we've always wanted a wood burner so are looking in to having one fitted. Anything that increases its effectiveness will be welcome. Happy New Year, love Helen xx

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    1. We replaced an open fire about 2 years ago, it was horribly expensive especially the lining for the flue. But we love it!

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  2. My daughter has one much smaller than yours and so does my friend. I have examined it from every angle and it fascinates me how the heck it works, obviously by heat as it starts spinning when it gets hot and ceases when it cools. My daughter and friend both agree it does circulate the heat.

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    1. Watching it get going is far more interesting than the current TV fare!

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  3. We bought one a few years ago. It does push the warm air out into the room. I paid nearly £70 for mine then saw them in Aldi last year for a fraction of that. We sit transfixed waiting for it to start spinning when we light the fire.... sad or what :-)

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    1. Us too and when its time to let the fire die down we watch it slow too! I would be annoyed at seeing it cheaper too - I shall satisfy myself by presuming the Aldi one was not so well made (probably was not, but it makes me feel better).

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    2. The correct placement is to the side of the stove pipe and to the back of the stove top if possible. At any rate, don't position it in front of the pipe. The air it draws from behind needs to be cooler than the fan itself to operate correctly. If anyone is doubtful, they really DO help to move warm air around the house :-)

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