The Complete Handbook of Wood Stove Fans & Blowers

Chapter 1: Understanding Wood Stove Fans & Blowers

What a Wood Stove Fan Is and What It Actually Does

A wood stove fan or blower is any device that moves air across or away from a wood stove's surface to improve heat distribution throughout a room or structure. The category splits into two functional families: natural-convection fans that sit on top of the stove and use the stove's own heat to power a thermoelectric motor, and electric blowers that are attached to the stove's side or mounted inside a shroud that surrounds the stove. Both do the same fundamental job—increase the rate at which the stove transfers heat to the living space—but they do it in entirely different ways, with different components, different installation requirements, and different failure modes. If you install, service, or sell these devices, the distinction is the first thing you need to understand.

The physics is straightforward. A wood stove radiates heat directly to objects in line of sight, and it also warms the air immediately around it. That warm air becomes less dense than the cooler air farther away, so it rises. This is called natural convection. The problem with relying on natural convection alone in a typical room is that it is slow, and it creates strong temperature stratification. The air near the ceiling can be ten or more degrees warmer than the floor. If you have a wood stove in a two-story house, the upstairs may be sweltering while the downstairs is drafty