Ecofan
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- margo - newbie
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Ecofan
Has anyone got an using a Ecofan for there wood burner, I've read all the info and sound really good , but wanted to here some reveiws.. A little worried about opperating temp!
Re: Ecofan
Is that one of those little fans that sits on the top of the woodburner,and works thru the heat thrown up and spreads it round the room?If it is,they've got one in the local,and it works well.
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- margo - newbie
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Re: Ecofan
Yep that's the one, it's £100 so didn't want to get one only to find out it's all hype!
Re: Ecofan
Hell,I didn't realise it was that much,Ithink if your WB is in the middle of the room like ours I wouldn't bother for that much dough,at the pub it's in one corner of the lounge,so the fan helps throw the heat around the lounge bar.' pends on how much you've got to spend I spose.
Re: Ecofan
Hedgerow hoarder wrote:Yep that's the one, it's £100 so didn't want to get one only to find out it's all hype!
For £100 I'd be more inclined to buy a few jumpers or 2-3 tonne of wood.....
Member of the Ishloss weight group 2013. starting weight 296.00 pounds on 01.01.2013. Now minus 0.20 pounds total THIS WEEK - 0.20 pounds Now over 320 pounds and couldn't give a fig...
Secret Asparagus binger
Secret Asparagus binger
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- margo - newbie
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Re: Ecofan
That's what I'm trying to work out, 2 jumpers and some wood sound good ha ha
Re: Ecofan
Well after raving about it ,I didn't like to say it ,buut I'm sure Big Al is right. (I only paid £150 fora 4yr old Morso Dove in brill nick,and the back boiler 2nd hand was £25.so yep thats not worth it.........no wonder the bloody beer's so expensive in my local.
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- A selfsufficientish Regular
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Re: Ecofan
If you or someone you know is handy at building things, those fans are just sterling engines with fan blades, you can google "sterling engine" and find directions for building one from scratch. They're not all that complicated as engines go.
- battybird
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Re: Ecofan
Ellendra wrote:If you or someone you know is handy at building things, those fans are just sterling engines with fan blades, you can google "sterling engine" and find directions for building one from scratch. They're not all that complicated as engines go.





The cockerel makes the noise, the hen produces the goods!! anon
- SaveSomeGreen
- Jerry - Bit higher than newbie
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Re: Ecofan
morso Dove for £150, good work.. Anybody else got one?? V jealous!!
Frugal is it's own reward
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- margo - newbie
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Re: Ecofan
We have an Ecofan. Bought it from America as they were too expensive here. I think we paid £70. I think it does help warm the room up more quickly and more evenly - you aren't just warm sitting directly in front of the woodburner anymore!
My daughter is chief fire-lighter in our house. I asked her what she thinks, she said, "None of the hot air gets wasted hitting the bricks, it radiates out into the the room. Definitely worth it."
So they're really good but really expensive. Might be worth setting a saved search on Ebay to get an alert if one is listed.
Michelle
My daughter is chief fire-lighter in our house. I asked her what she thinks, she said, "None of the hot air gets wasted hitting the bricks, it radiates out into the the room. Definitely worth it."
So they're really good but really expensive. Might be worth setting a saved search on Ebay to get an alert if one is listed.
Michelle
- gregorach
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Re: Ecofan
A Stirling engine is quite simple in principle, but they're really quite tricky to build so that they work well enough to actually do anything. I've tried a couple of times... Seals, bearings and timing are all rather difficult to get right. You can build a classroom demonstrator without too much trouble, but it almost certainly won't run with even the lightest load.Ellendra wrote:If you or someone you know is handy at building things, those fans are just sterling engines with fan blades, you can google "sterling engine" and find directions for building one from scratch. They're not all that complicated as engines go.
Cheers
Dunc
Dunc
- Zech
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Re: Ecofan
After humming and hahing over the cost, we've just bought one - it arrived this morning and is now being tested.
I did look into making one myself. It turns out that there are two types, the Stirling engine that has already been mentioned (appealing, but well beyond my manufacturing abilities) and thermoelectric devices. These use a small block of a material that responds to heat differences by producing an electric current. I did wonder about getting hold of some of this stuff and rigging up the rest of the fan myself, but I'm not sure where I'd pick up a block of bismuth telluride!
I'll report back when we've used the fan for a while, but two comments so far: 1. Check the dimensions of your stove-top space carefully. The instructions say that the fan should go at the back of the stove, but if we put ours there, the blades would clonk the flue pipe and/or the lip of the canopy (decorative trim thing on top of the stove), so our fan is further forward than it should be. 2. Buy a thermometer before investing in the fan (we bought both together). The optimum operating temperature is between 150 and 350 deg C, and our stove top just isn't getting that hot (we have an integrated back boiler that includes pipes going through the top of the fire box).
I did look into making one myself. It turns out that there are two types, the Stirling engine that has already been mentioned (appealing, but well beyond my manufacturing abilities) and thermoelectric devices. These use a small block of a material that responds to heat differences by producing an electric current. I did wonder about getting hold of some of this stuff and rigging up the rest of the fan myself, but I'm not sure where I'd pick up a block of bismuth telluride!

I'll report back when we've used the fan for a while, but two comments so far: 1. Check the dimensions of your stove-top space carefully. The instructions say that the fan should go at the back of the stove, but if we put ours there, the blades would clonk the flue pipe and/or the lip of the canopy (decorative trim thing on top of the stove), so our fan is further forward than it should be. 2. Buy a thermometer before investing in the fan (we bought both together). The optimum operating temperature is between 150 and 350 deg C, and our stove top just isn't getting that hot (we have an integrated back boiler that includes pipes going through the top of the fire box).
Where can you get wood at that price??Big Al wrote:For £100 I'd be more inclined to buy a few jumpers or 2-3 tonne of wood.....
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Rachel
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Rachel
Take nobody's word for it, especially not mine! If I offer you an ID of something based on a photo, please treat it as a guess, and a starting point for further investigations.
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- gregorach
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Re: Ecofan
You can pick up TECs remarkably cheaply on eBay - I've got one kicking around for a project I haven't quite managed to get around to, been meaning to see how much juice it can produce just out of curiosity....Zech wrote:I did look into making one myself. It turns out that there are two types, the Stirling engine that has already been mentioned (appealing, but well beyond my manufacturing abilities) and thermoelectric devices. These use a small block of a material that responds to heat differences by producing an electric current. I did wonder about getting hold of some of this stuff and rigging up the rest of the fan myself, but I'm not sure where I'd pick up a block of bismuth telluride!![]()
Cheers
Dunc
Dunc
- Zech
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Re: Ecofan
Don't tell me that now I've spent the money!gregorach wrote:You can pick up TECs remarkably cheaply on eBay - I've got one kicking around for a project I haven't quite managed to get around to, been meaning to see how much juice it can produce just out of curiosity....Zech wrote:I did look into making one myself. It turns out that there are two types, the Stirling engine that has already been mentioned (appealing, but well beyond my manufacturing abilities) and thermoelectric devices. These use a small block of a material that responds to heat differences by producing an electric current. I did wonder about getting hold of some of this stuff and rigging up the rest of the fan myself, but I'm not sure where I'd pick up a block of bismuth telluride!![]()
No, I mean do - I'd love to hear how you get on with it. It doesn't take much power to run a small electric motor, as I'm sure you know. The fan structure mainly consists of a base to transmit heat from stove top to TEC and fins to disperse heat at the top, to keep the other side of the TEC cool enough for a temp. differential.
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Rachel
Take nobody's word for it, especially not mine! If I offer you an ID of something based on a photo, please treat it as a guess, and a starting point for further investigations.
My blog: http://growingthingsandmakingthings.blogspot.com/
Rachel
Take nobody's word for it, especially not mine! If I offer you an ID of something based on a photo, please treat it as a guess, and a starting point for further investigations.
My blog: http://growingthingsandmakingthings.blogspot.com/