4 ms·
So, a box fan that looks roughly like the one pictured seems (from a quick poking around) like it uses 80-150 Watts. Intuitively (not measured, not scientific
by dasht 17y ago
So, a box fan that looks roughly like the one pictured seems (from a quick poking around) like it uses 80-150 Watts. Intuitively (not measured, not scientific - just a hypothesis) it seems like a box fan will also move much more air than is really optimal for this application. Also, optimal results are probably obtained by drawing in air close to the ground and forcing it up through the radiator, not grabbing air from all around and pushing it through.
This seems like an area for experimentation, modeling, and maybe even product design. Would a few computer cooling fans produce as much benefit at a fraction of the electricity cost? Even better, maybe, can a very quiet and just-enough air circulation be built that operates solely on the thermal energy generated near the hot input side of the radiator? A probably absurd suggestion but I can think of one past apartment where I would have considered it: duct work (e.g., dryer vent tubes) combined with computer cooling fans drawing air from the coldest part of the apt. and pushing it towards the radiator....
- lutorm 17y agoNatural convection will do what you want. (If he removed the bookshelf,) air will get sucked in from the bottom, heat up, and then rise. The problem is that the warm air will sit under the ceiling. I think circulation would be better used to make sure the air doesn't stratify, ie blow some of the warm air under the ceiling downwards. It's funny you should write this, because I've been meaning to try exactly this: I have a 12V cable lighting system running over the steam heat radiator in the room I'm sitting now, and I was going to put a 200mm computer fan across the cables blowing down. Power is already up there... ;-)