Just looking for people's experiences on the Ecofan...fancy fan thing that sits on top of a stove. The heat from the stove makes the fan work, so no batteries. The idea is that the Ecofan helps to disperse warm air from the stove further than it would otherwise go. They actually look quite cool, in a retro/Time Machine kind of way...but, do they work?

My brother and partner use one and seem to think it works..

Posted By: StuartBDoes not work with a wood burning stove.

Are you sure? A friend of mine with a cottage on an island in the Gatineau hills had a stirling engine-based fan that sat on top of the woodstove. When the stove got hot the fan would eventually start to turn. And it did look like a miniature version of the time machine in the classic film. As for its effectiveness in moving the heat around, I'm not so sure it did that much but it was certainly fun to watch.

Paul in Montreal.

I'm going to order one. Let you know...

Posted By: Dan McNeilPaul...Ecofan does remind me of the Time Machine in the 1960 film; it also reminds me of the dashboard of a Bentley or Bristol...lots of nice detail, chrome/nickel etc. Like you, I'm not convinced of its effectiveness, but it looks lovely. What with that and the dancing flames of our stove, I think I'll bin the TV once and for all.

Good plan - I ditched the TV over 5 years ago and haven't looked back. The fan I saw was indeed fascinating to watch and did serve to cool the viewer down somewhat as it was pretty hot sitting in front of the fire and the breeze it produced was pleasant.

Paul in Montreal.

The eco fan is ok but the 2 models only move 100 or 150 cfm of air around. The Heatwave stirling engine fan shifts 300 cfm and costs the same as the larger ecofan. I have one on the kitchen stove and leave the doors open. I don't use central heating anymore. They do have them on ebay but you have to pay postage etc and it does not work out much cheeper. You can get Ecofans and Heatwave fans from www.gyroscope.com. The Heatwave is a bit agricultural to look at does the job. There is also one that sits flat on top of the stove that was made for the American army, it moves the same cfm as the Heatwave but sends the air down over the stove and out accross the floor. I'm not sure where you would get these. It was to big and heavy for me.

I'm a eco fan , and I actually work 50-60 hours a week.

So in the case of a wood stove what's the general idea? Presumably it works by indirectly cooling the flue? How else can it "win" ?

But it will take up half the hot plate area and chop your hand off while stirring the porage.

had one for 3 yrs made in canada £80 , works great .... I did a letter on it ages ago. try searching ..
Arny

Parents have one, wood burner in living room, beamed ceiling with beams running sideways.. It was always very noticeable that the heat would get 'stuck' close to the fire, quite intense and wouldnt spill down the rest of the room very well.
One of these on top of the fire solved that, the intense 'fire' heat (rather than just general warmth) now travels a lot further into the room and isnt quite as intense, better distribution of the heat.

Gets my vote, and if/when I have a wood burner I will be buying one/two.

Am impressed with mine, seems to shift the hot air around- ours is a long thin room and the ecofan certainly makes the washing further down the room dry faster!

I had one for my wood burner and used it for a number of years before we moved and now I don't have a stove to use it with.

The ecofan just had a semiconductor sandwiched between the metal frame and when it heated up electricity was produced and the fan turns. I paid £100 at the time and not sure if it was worth it but they are much cheaper now and there are more variants. I don't think the brand will matter much as its only purpose is to move the air around. A little electric fan plugged into the wall would do the same thing although you obviously couldn't put it too close to the stove, while the ecofan will sit happily on top of it.

If you are sitting close enough to the stove to get the radiant heat from it then there is probably little point, but they can be good for odd shaped rooms, inglenooks, or any situation where you want to try and circulate the warm air. I've heard they are good on long thin canal houseboats to get the heat to the other end.

I have cathedral ceilings with a large ceiling fan, works great with the stove, so won't be getting one of these, even though the gadgety side of it appeals to me. (100 quid is a year's wood !)

gg

In short, yes these do work. A noticeable increase in heat into the room. We have one (the genuine EcoFan from Canada bought by a relative who lives there..). Dunno about performance of lookalikes but I think Machine Mart do one.