Hot Dawg Fan Control

[ranger098]

I just installed a brand new Hot Dawg 60BTU in my in my 25Wx24Dx12T garage, fully insulated (GD,walls and ceiling). it is working great with one issue that i am surely not the first one to have.

The fan that blows the hot air (not the exhaust fan) blows really fast! It blows the curtain on my side door around, and more importantly, blows lots of rather cold air. I would like to slow the fan down, so the air is hotter, and let my ceiling fan get the air down from the ceiling.

The manual says that i can plug a different wire into the board that will tell the fan to run slower, but i do not have different wires. I believe i may have a single speed fan, where my manual is assuming i have a different heater with a different fan? Anyone else run into this, and if so, were they able to slow the fan down? I was thinking of splicing in some kind of resistor or maybe just upgrading the fan to an adjustable one if possible. Any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[frankush]

A model number would help. From what I can tell from the online manuals, the single stage units 60K BTU units are single speed only, whereas the two stage 60k BTU units are multiple speed. I'd call Modine's tech support line and see if the motors are the same size physically and if it is even advisable. The heat rise on the single speed model may require the faster blower speed. Meaning, it may trip the high temp cutout if you decrease the blower speed. My guess is you're stuck with it. How about redirecting the louvers towards the ceiling?

 

[dave67fd]

How far is the heater from the curtain? What temp is the garage at when you comment on its blowing colder air? You first mention its working great so we have to assume the heater is working as expected.

 

[ranger098]

Thanks for the replies. I believe you are both correct, i think i am stuck with what i have. It is working perfectly, I guess i just expected hotter air to come from this thing. I went with a 60k even though it is almost overkill in my space, and expected to be blown outta there in 5 minutes. It was about 30 degrees yesterday when i fired it up (warm for MN), still took about a half hour to get to 65. Not bad, just longer than i expected. I think the 12' ceilings could be to blame. I understand that the colder the air is in the garage, the longer it will take to heat up and all that, I just wish i could slow that fan down, i believe it would heat the garage alot faster. Though i think ill live with it rather than modify and risk frying my beautiful new heater. Ill be excited to see how it does when its real cold out...

 

[frankush]

I've got a 45K in a 24X22. R19 in walls and ceiling. I leave it at 55. Takes about 10 minutes to bring it up to 70. 8' ceilings. One of the best things I ever did. I have seen very little increase in my gas bill, over the 2 years I've had it.

 

[dave67fd]

Thanks for the replies. I believe you are both correct, i think i am stuck with what i have. It is working perfectly, I guess i just expected hotter air to come from this thing. I went with a 60k even though it is almost overkill in my space, and expected to be blown outta there in 5 minutes. It was about 30 degrees yesterday when i fired it up (warm for MN), still took about a half hour to get to 65. Not bad, just longer than i expected. I think the 12' ceilings could be to blame. I understand that the colder the air is in the garage, the longer it will take to heat up and all that, I just wish i could slow that fan down, i believe it would heat the garage alot faster. Though i think ill live with it rather than modify and risk frying my beautiful new heater. Ill be excited to see how it does when its real cold out...

You can also risk damaging the heater. I thought the same thing a couple years ago when I first experienced my set-up. You are feeding 30 deg. air through the heater at a certain rate. It won't come out hot.

I have to wait almost an hour to get my 1000+ sq/ft to 65. Best thing you can do is install a ceiling fan or similar.