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groingo
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2015 13:19 - Edited by: groingo
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Five years ago I bought an Ecofan that runs off of heat, it seemed to do ok till the motor seized up, so being that it was cheaper to buy a new one than fix it, I replaced it....thing was this new one that was identical just didn't seem to be moving the air, (or maybe it was just me) it spun fine but as far as actually affecting air flow in my 195 square foot cabin, with or without it I could find no benefit, so rather than retire it I bought a nine dollar USB fan from Walfart, and wired it up to the motorless Ecofan.
The end result, it works much better and now really blows the air with its 6 inch three bladed fan and really does provide a real noticable benefit.
If you don't have the Ecofan to use it will also just plug into any USB port and run as well
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2015 13:47
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Keep in mind that you don't want to feel the air blow when heating (draft = chill), so you'll want to direct air flow accordingly. HVAC systems use fan's low speed with heat, high speed when cooling (think breeze). Low speed/airlfow philosophy might be part of the Ecofan design?
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groingo
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# Posted: 6 Apr 2015 17:57
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Actually the fan is in the corner of the ceiling to move the accumilated heat and move it more into the living space, basically to keep the air circulating and not stagnating.
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FishHog
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# Posted: 7 Apr 2015 09:55
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so you wired the fan to the old eco fan for power? How are you keeping the wiring from melting (assuming the old eco fan base is sitting on the wood stove).
Interesting idea.
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groingo
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# Posted: 7 Apr 2015 10:31 - Edited by: groingo
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The Ecofan wiring is solid core and normally well above the heat source, in fact I just run the wires straight up, attach to my ceiling and run to fan.
Another non Ecofan idea uses the 110 volt version of the similar fan for the same price that draws only 8 watts, just plug in and go and you can also add a thermostatic control as well.
The key to both is to keep the hot air at the ceiling moving which can be done simply by placing a fan on the floor pointed straight up or you can channel air up a tube or mount it on the wall, but the key is to keep the hot air moving which will mix it which will make for more even heat closer to the floor.
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FishHog
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# Posted: 7 Apr 2015 11:03
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cool, thanks.
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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 7 Apr 2015 17:03 - Edited by: groingo
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I just picked up another USB fan, ($6.89) 5 inch plus it has a USB 110 power supply and runs on both USB and 110 and on Ecofan power but the best is via the 110 power supply that moves air very well, is relatively quiet and draws 1.5 watts at around 0.22 amps.....THAT is the winner!
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1300_stainless
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2015 11:13
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These fans are great if you have a 12 volt DC solar setup. All you need is the same type of 12v to usb automotive adapter you'd use to charge a cell phone. I have a very simple solar panel/deep cell 12 volt system and have been using one of these little USB fans for heat circulation. It works really well. I can charge a few phones and run the fan from mid evening to morning with no problems.
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groingo
Member
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# Posted: 10 Apr 2015 12:41 - Edited by: groingo
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This is the one I picked up, runs great right from the USB port on the inverter, is actually now using 1 watt...must be broken in.
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