I was just reading about a type of fan that you sit on top of your wood stove called an Ecofan. It doesn’t plug in or use batteries, but works from the heat of the stove. From what I read it uses the difference in temperature of the bottom of the fan (hot), and the top of the fan (cool) to gerenate a electric current to run the fan. Made by a company named Camframo, Ecofan model 800 blows 100 CFM (cubic feet per minute) and Ecofan model 802 blows 150 CFM. I had been looking at buying a backup battery system to run the fan on my stove in the case of a power outage, but backed off from that idea when I figured out that it would really on buy me a few hours unless I want to spend a BUNCH of money. But this might be a good idea to keep the hot air blowing from the stove when I can’t run the regular fan. The built in fan is rated for 85 watts, and according to what I read in the specs blows at 125 CFM. But looking at photos of the Ecofan, I find it hard to believe it would push more air than the built in fan. Still, it might be a worthwhile investment in the case of a power outage. They are listed on Home Depot’s website, but note sure if they sell them in the store, or if Lowes sells them. I will have to search for some reviews. One thing I read is that if the stove gets too hot, they can burn out.
I was at K-Mart, and bought some incense today. I read in one of my books, or maybe on a web site somewhere that I can use turn on all of my out blowing fans (range fan, bathroom fan, Jenair fan, etc), and then walk around the perimeter of the inside of my house with a burning stick of incense to detect drafts.
Since I replaced the door from the garage to utility room, I still have not replaced the trim around the door. I bought some Great Stuff designed to go around doors and windows without bowing them. So I am going to spray that around the door, at least in the spots where we couldn’t easily shove the pink fiberglass insulation, and maybe over some of the pink stuff as well. I calked around the door frame on the outside (garage side) of the door to keep out cold air.
I have been looking at replace the trim. The old stuff was mouldings painted white. I am thinking putting up pieces of douglas fir left unpainted/unstained, but maybe sealed with oil or something else. We have a post and beam house with doug fir beams and posts. So I have been looking in the book Timberframe by Tedd Benson, and have found some excellent examples. I was at Lowes and they had some nice pieces of doug fir that were about $7 for a 8 foot piece. I am also looking at whether I can simply cut a 2×4 in half. I don’t think my table saw will cut that deep. I suppose I could cut on one side, then the other. I am also planning on checking out a local place that reclaims wood (from old houses, barns, partially burned trees, etc). I might be able to find some nice pieces of doug fir there. But anyway, when I rip the old trim off, I can probably spray some of the great stuff in those places, and help keep out drafts, and cold. So hopefully in the next few days, I will have a chance to explore my house with the incense.