A Fireplace Blower is a device that can be connected to a hollow tube fireplace grate that helps to circulate the heat produced by a burning fire in your fireplace. The heated air is efficiently circulated into the entire room while drastically improving the efficiency of your fireplace. The fireplace blower unit comes in two parts; the blower and the hollow tube grate. The blower motor connects to the hollow tubes. The basic mechanism of a fireplace blower is very simple and easy to understand, it sucks in cool air low to the ground, then the cool air is moved through the hollow tubes and heated by the fire. The heated air is then forced out into the room, which is then dispersed evenly throughout the room.
A fireplace blower is a very efficient device which has the ability to increase the efficiency of your fireplace many times over. When a burning fire generates heat inside the fireplace the hollow tubing also heated. The heat that is generated inside the tubes, heats the air flowing inside the tubes. The blower fan works by pushing air constantly through the heated tubes. The air in the room is constantly re-circulated and with each circulation the air gets warmer and warmer. Since the blower is only moving the air in the room, the smoke and fumes from the fire will continue to be expelled out through the chimney. Through this circulation mechanism your room remains heated because the majority radiant heat of the fire is not lost through the chimney.
If you are planning on buying a fireplace, remodel your fireplace, or even for your existing fireplace, I would recommend choosing a fireplace blower as an accessory. A traditional fireplace typically does not a have fireplace blower. If you have old fireplace then you may have to buy a fireplace blower as well. Installing a fireplace blower into your existing fireplace is pretty straight forward. There are several kits you can buy at your local home improvement store and online. If you follow the instructions, you should be to complete the installation yourself. One important note to remember is that you will need a power outlet near your fireplace for the fireplace blower motor. I have seen some models that can use batteries, but in the long run that can be very expensive. If there is no electric plug in close proximity to your fireplace then I would recommend hiring a professional electrician to install the electrical outlet.
One interesting advantage of a fireplace blower is that you can have the burning fire in your fireplace in one room, and with the proper hose connection you can have the heated air blown into another room. This way you will be able to stay warm in any room in your house.