Ecofan and Taylors paraffin heater

Poignard

Poignard

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I have a Taylor's paraffin heater and could do with some means of circulating the warm air around the cabin.

I was wondering if one of those Ecofans would do. The attraction is that they need no electrical wiring, as they run off the heat produced by the stove. But I am worried that the top of the heater may get too hot and destroy the fan.

Anyone used one on a Taylors heater ?
 
If you get an Ecofan 800, it has a bimetallic strip in the base which tilts it away from the surface if the stove gets too hot. Don't know how hot your stove gets, but the 800 will cope with 345 degreesC.

However, unless your battery capacity is extremely small, the Ecofan is a very expensive solution.
 
Don't you just love these websites that try to sell you something but are evidently so ashamed of their prices that they simply don't publish them?

I'd be a bit sceptical about this. It would be instructive to know how much breeze it actually produces because I doubt it can be more than a puff.

A computer fan would certainly do better yet uses virtually no power and at a tiny fraction of the cost.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...mm_High_Performance_Fan_100CFM_SST-FN181.html

This 7 inch square monster delivers 100cfm (same as the ecofan claims to, but in reality it will only do that in absolutely ideal conditions) yet costs $20. It uses 170mw at 12v. A moped battery would run that for several days...

One half the size would probably outperform the ecofan in terms of circulating air.

No brainer.
 
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What you two say about cost is true and, at around £80 from eBay sellers, the Ecofan 800 is not cheap. Certainly a lot more expensive than a computer fan but there is also the matter of cabling, trunking, fuse holder, switch and labour; even my time is worth something.
 
We use a 6 inch computer fan on a Taylors heater. It helps a fair bit, at moving the warm air from the ceiling downwards. If I were redoing it I would get a bigger fan again - I suspect that the ecofan would shift even less air under actual conditions. I also recall reading on discussion forums that the ecofan battery life is limited.
 
parsifal said:
I have a Taylor's paraffin heater and could do with some means of circulating the warm air around the cabin.

I was wondering if one of those Ecofans would do. The attraction is that they need no electrical wiring, as they run off the heat produced by the stove. But I am worried that the top of the heater may get too hot and destroy the fan.

Anyone used one on a Taylors heater ?
Click to expand...

I don't know much about taylors heaters but I have had an ecofan for about two years running on a wood stove. They were designed to work at the very high temperatures generated by such stoves and I wonder if your paraffin heater will actually develop enough heat. My ecofan starts turning within minutes of lighting the stove but it doesn't really start buzzing until you get it quite hot. (Just as an experiment I tried it on a central heating radiator and it wouldn't move the prop at all.) The other thing is they are really meant to be used at the back of the stove facing forward so they deflect as much surface heat as possible. The bigger the stove the better.
Pity you can't borrow one to try as I agree they do seem expensive for what they are, but bear in mind that these things have become de rigeur amongst narrowboat owners and folk wouldn't buy them if they didn't work.
One other thing, they are not very stable, quite easy to knock over. No problem on a narrowboat but on a yacht I think you might have more of an issue.
 
Once tried a cheapo 12V fan (the sort they sell to stick on the windscreen of a car) set about 18" above a Taylors, it worked a treat and so I kept it. If I were to do another one I think I would probably use a computer fan set into a nice wooden surround.
 
My Taylors on my ketch was "bodged" by the previous owner, who has installed a fan from a PC power supply (12 volts) and which is wired in parallel to the 12 volt heater circuit. It may be a bodge but it works very well, with an endless source of spare 12 volt fans down at Gosport tip!
 
Computer fans are also useful for pulling cooling air through a fridge matrix, can make big efficiency savings as they are usually tucked away from any circulating air.

Good "tip" on the freebies - hadn't thought of that!
 
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Nealo said:
I don't know much about taylors heaters but I have had an ecofan for about two years running on a wood stove. They were designed to work at the very high temperatures generated by such stoves and I wonder if your paraffin heater will actually develop enough heat. My ecofan starts turning within minutes of lighting the stove but it doesn't really start buzzing until you get it quite hot. (Just as an experiment I tried it on a central heating radiator and it wouldn't move the prop at all.) The other thing is they are really meant to be used at the back of the stove facing forward so they deflect as much surface heat as possible. The bigger the stove the better.
Pity you can't borrow one to try as I agree they do seem expensive for what they are, but bear in mind that these things have become de rigeur amongst narrowboat owners and folk wouldn't buy them if they didn't work.
One other thing, they are not very stable, quite easy to knock over. No problem on a narrowboat but on a yacht I think you might have more of an issue.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that helpful advice. Borrowing one is a good suggestion.

I had thought of screwing it to the top of the Taylor's heater.
 
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