fireplace blowers

[riverfever]

Evidently our fireplace has one of these. I forgot about it until today. The fireplace has vents above and below it and behind the lower vents are 2 fans. When you turn them on it definitely sucks (I've said that before). I really don't feel where any warm air is coming out though. There is a knob on the lower vent but it only pulls out about 2" and there's no change in anything no matter where it's at. What's the deal with these things? Are they designed to simply pull in the cooler air in the bottom part of the room to make room for warmer air to occupy more space than up near the ceiling? We tried using it today but the upstairs filled with a funky smell that reminded me of something electrical. She says the Realtor made a big fuss over it and how great it was going to be this winter b/c it would heat the majority of the house. I should call that bass turd.

[87manche]

something like this?
http://www.northlineexpress.com/detail~product_id~5GS-FHK.asp
I've been looking at something to make the fireplace a viable source of heat.
From what I gather they're just a heat exchanger.

[riverfever]

I don't know man. If you look in the fireplace, I see nothing like your link or anything else I Googled.

[Rev Den]

Well....

Most of them pull cool air in the bottom....and blow it out the top. The little lever controls the combustion air source....IN closes the external air suppy....OUT allow the fireplace to use external air for combustion.

Rev

[RichP]

If it is a heatolator with the fans it probably has external air, handy when you close the glass doors. Ours is a fireplace insert, basically a recessed wood stove with vents on the bottom of the fireplace and another set about 8ft off the floor. Even without the external air and fans in the ducts it gives off some awsome heat. Downside is that 3 hours it takes for the coals to go out so we can close the external damper. With external air thats not an issue..

[Wayne Sihler]

What you have is a metal chamber around the fireplace that when the fire has been burning long enough to heat the masnory(bricks ect) will heat this air space.The blowers will move this hot air to a larger area in the house.
It will stink until the paint/humidity/stale air has been driven out of the system.
My parents house -built in the 70,s has such a system.They have glass fire place doors that can be closed to keep as much heat inside as possible.But it was not built with a dedicated outside air supply as they are now,so it is not the best system.
Wayne

[riverfever]

We do have glass doors. I'm a bit surprised to hear you say that it's not a great setup. This is a house in the mountains and the house was built in the late 90's. Last night I ripped all of the ceramic tile and drywall out that surrounds the fireplace. I was planning on installing slate tile and couldn't salvage the sheetrock. I did happen to see a dryer tube back there but didn't really check it out too much b/c it was getting late. I'll look into exactly what's involved in the system more tonight.

[XJ Dreamin']

CO detectors in all living spaces :thumbup:

[Wayne Sihler]

What I ment by "not the best system" is that there is no dedicated outside air vent to the fireplace.So some of the warm air is used to fuel the fire.Newer systems have an outside air vent built into the hearth so the house can be built tighter.
Wayne

[Fish'nCarz]

We do have glass doors. I'm a bit surprised to hear you say that it's not a great setup. This is a house in the mountains and the house was built in the late 90's. Last night I ripped all of the ceramic tile and drywall out that surrounds the fireplace. I was planning on installing slate tile and couldn't salvage the sheetrock. I did happen to see a dryer tube back there but didn't really check it out too much b/c it was getting late. I'll look into exactly what's involved in the system more tonight.

If it's that new call the builder and ask him what he used and where he got it. There's probably a dealer nearby that would love to talk you into a comma about them. You should be able to find the builder through your realator if it's not the first name on your title.

Best of luck! I've got a wood stove insert in the fireplace that damn near heats the whole house. Course we have better firewood back in the Lake States than you do on the Front Range.