GFK4 GFK4A FK4 Fireplace Blower Kit for Heatilator, Majestic, CFM, Vermont Castings, Monessen, Rotom HB-RB74K R7-RB74K | Ball Bearing, Quiet, High Air Flow

I have an older gas fireplace (an old Mendota DXV 35). The original blower was very loud. I think my fireplace is older than the ones I can find manuals for because the replacement blowers do not match what I had. I bought this along with several others to try to find a solution that would work. This one was by far the highest quality. Most of the others I bought claimed to have ball bearing support, but didn't actually. This one does. The wiring was all pre assembled, which was nice. The pads for reducing vibration were already installed on the bottom of the unit. My personal favorite part is that there are strong magnets on the back for mounting the blower to the back of the unit. This makes installation super easy, and, presumably, any service that's needed in the future. I also appreciate that the thermodisc is magnetic... again, making installation easy. I put the rheostat on an existing control plate. The included nut was a bit odd in that there are no threads on the rheostat base, but I was able to make it work. This unit was about twice the price of others I purchased, but was definitely much higher quality and a better value!Also, for those that might be in my situation with an old Mendota DXV - 35: this isn't as wide as the original blower (original was about 12.5 inches in opening, this one is about 9.5) and is larger in diameter. I'm not certain what the CFM rating of the original blower was, but it was likely either 130 or 160 cfm. So far, I think this one has sufficient flow to circulate air. This does fit without removing the entire firebox, although it takes some finagling.

Tested with hairdryer before installing and to hear noise level. Was able to clear out a good path to reach the back. Fan output area is wider than space behind firebox so had to adjust fan to be slanted- not a big deal since attached with velcro. Noise (a low hum) is less than our HVAC system especially when I turned it down. My objective was to circulate the air not blow the air across the room. Another goal is that our mantle stays cool now- before it would get very hot from the gas stove heat drifting up the wall. Plugged into the Aux outlet in the power strip NOT the fan outlet which does not have full-time power. Very happy with fan, air circulation and noise level.

I have one in our fireplace, I installed this one in a friend's fireplace, and two other friends each have one similar to this also. They are well built units and work well. I also want to mention that the support from "fireplaceblowers" is excellent. They promptly answered questions by email and were available by phone as advertised on their website.My installation is good but my friend's installation had an issue. These work by placing the blower below and at the back of the firebox so it blows air up the back air gap and out the top grill. The issue is my friend's fireplace has a much larger air gap (3" vs 1" in my fireplace) along the sides of the firebox which allowed a lot of the air to go down the sides to the bottom instead of out the top grill and thus recirculate into the blower. This heated up the gap under of the fireplace box which should have been cooled by incoming air. Fireplaceblowers immediately answered my phone call but, unfortuneately, did not have a ready solution. However, being able to discuss it with them helped as I devised a solution. I bought a 3x3 ft sheet of galvanized steel at Lowes, cut two 2.75 inch strips and put one strip in each air gap along the sides of fireplace to restrict the air flow along the sides. I left the 0.25 inch gap to allow side air flow if the fireplace is run without the blower. I also tested this reduced air gap to ensure I did not overheat anything but since the 3" air gap is still there, the only thing is a slight restriction of a thermally driven flow. Without an exact sketch of how I placed these sheet strips, I hope you get the idea. This worked to restrict downward side air flow, recirculating air along the sides is minimal, and good warm air is flowing out the top grill.