How can I circulate air in my fishouse? Help!

[Jaspernuts]

I have a converted camper for a fishouse. It is 140 degrees by the ceiling and you can see your breath by your feet. I have put in several small fans - they help a little. Any ideas? Bigger fans? What works for you?

[smmurphy]

Coleman makes a battery powered ceiling fan for tents that doesn't work too bad. The only problem I found with mine is that it runs through the d-cell batteries like there's no tomorrow.

[eyehead]

yea those coleman battery's are rediculious on battery's I'd try and find some bigger 12v ceiling fans. The sure helped ours out.

[caughtacase73]

I have a camper conversion too. I use 12 volt computer fans(about 4 inch diameter). I have 1 fan above each hole to pull hot air down and it also helps keep the holes open. I also have 2 fans mounted on a horizontal plane to help the hot air cirulate. Many times you can find used fans for free and they don't draw too much juice. You can also buy them for about $5 (northern tool has them). Its amazing how much they help.

Good luck

[Eric Wettschreck]

You can get the 12v fans that truckers have in their semi tractors. They work awesome.

[love to hunt]

I use a 6" 12V truck fan (like boilerguy was saying) found at any NAPA store. They are 2 speed and move the air nicely.

Just 1 word of caution, pay the extra $ for the HD model and steer away from the oscilating model. The HD is all metal, quite anbd much higher quality then the cheaper plastic ones. The oscilating unit is almost guarenteed not to oscilate after one trip on the ice.

I mounted mine dead center on the ceiling pointed straight down and it works great.

If you want let me know and I will take some pictures and email them to you. [email protected]

[fishinalot]

Those 6" fans are alright but use way too much battery juice and are loud!

Get yourself a good strong Computer fan. Its not only quiet, but it saves on the 12 volt battery.

I don't mean those little 2' fans, get the 4" or larger fans!

[icemac33]

We have been running a coleman tent fan for years with good luck. I use the the one with a magnet that only uses one D battery. I get about two days on each D-cell. Silent also.You can pick one up at fleet farm for around $10.

[fishinalot]

If you have a (1)-12 volt deep cycle battery.... you can run a computer fan all week!

Here is a thread that will explain more.

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/sh...=16#Post1223336

[fishingguy]

I use 3 4" computer fans in my perm. All on individual switches so I can turn on as many as I need. Keeps my floor pretty warm and also helps with holes freezing.

But with a camper conversion being of the ice vs. a perm on wheels which can use the ice and snow packed against it to prevent drafts. Instead of them on or near the ceiling. Move them down, say 3' or 4' off the floor. That may help pull more are. The computer fans at the ceiling may just not move enough volume. Works pretty good for a buddy.

[slipperybob]

I just had a thought that I may have to bring the shower curtain pole to hang my portable fan in my buddy's ice house, so that the fan will be directly above my hole.

[fishermn]

If you have room to do this, install one or two of the fans in a small piece of round duct (as tall as you can make it), then mount this in one of the corners (vertically). This will help force the air all the way to the floor and actually get the warm air down where you want it. I have seen this done in loft style houses to force the warm air back down to the lower levels. Remember, you are working against mother nature here, so you may need a fair bit of energy to force enough circulation to get the temp near the floor warmer.

[federline]

Computer fans, all the way. Camper conversion here, too. Two fans on full orbit mounts on ceiling force air down and into a swirl, and four hole fans force air into holes. These things draw so little power compared to a trucker/rv fan it isn't even a fair comparison. The difference is amazing. But as noted, 4" fans would be best, they move a lot more air than the 3" ers.

Other things that will help:

- Insulation! We rebuilt our floor with 1/5" pink foam, as well as insulated the walls and ceiling.

- Hole sleeves, not banking! Don't let the underside of your house be like an open refrigerator door, make your ice-to-inside surface area the smallest as possible.

And the idea to use flex ducting to get the air where you want it is outstanding! I'm gonna try that one out on our two "Frosty" holes this year.

[Iceboy]

I build my own computers, and Yate Loon 120mm fans are considered to be some of the quietest fans that still move loads of air (check out SilentPCReview dot com for info on quiet computer fans). You can search for them - look for the ones that run at 1350 RPM or slower. Less than $5. Run on 12 V, so you could hook one up the same way you hook up LED's to your Vexilar battery. Thinking about putting one in my Guide, though I'm not sure I really want one. Kinda want the hot air up around my chest and not melting the ice at my feet.