GFK-160 Easy-to-Use Fireplace Blower Fan Kit

We have two Heat-N-Glo fireplaces. One in our living room that has this same blower and one in our bedroom that did not have any blower (although there was an electrical outlet and a dedicated wall switch already installed). I placed this unit in a Heat-N-Glo direct vent gas fireplace located in our bedroom. The blower kit was fully wired when it arrived and installation was very simple. Instructions were very clear and after looking at how the blower in our living room was installed, it probably took me no more than 20 minutes total. It's an easy DIY. If needed there's also a good YouTube video showing how to install it here: youtu.be/Des8v6dyf1A The unit appears to be very good quality and I'd expect it to last for many years. Although it has rubber feet, there was a bit of vibration when it ran which was a little annoying at night. I ended up placing it on top of a mousepad and that helped quite a bit. It's not silent, but after a few nights it no longer wakes us up when it comes on. One of the greatest benefits was the reduction in the cooling off noises the fireplace would make after it shut down. This was a primary reason that we bought it. The "ting, ting, ting" was fairly loud, often enough to wake us. Since the blower stays on until the fireplace fully cools (below 120 degrees at the pan), the cooling off period takes quite a bit longer and subsequently the metal contraction noise is not as loud and it's spread out over a longer period of time. Exactly what we were hoping for. Another benefit is a reduction in the time the fireplace stays on. Our fireplace's thermostat is on the other side of our bedroom. Before installing the blower the fireplace had to heat the entire room by simple convection. Now that the blower is distributing the heated air throughout the room, even after the flames have gone out, the room heats up quicker and it stays warm longer. This type of system also benefits from having a ceiling fan. If your ceiling fan is set to low in the clockwise direction as you look up at it (or "winter"), it helps to distribute heat (which rises) throughout the room.

No assembly required - all wiring is complete out of the box - meaning the fan control switch, AC power cord and thermal sensor are all hooked together and pre-wired. The only thing I had to do was mount it in place at the bottom back of fireplace and plug it in to existing outlet that came w/ the fireplace. It was a challenge logistically fitting it in my Heat-n-glo fireplace due to space constraints but after removing some brackets on the right side of the fireplace I was able to wiggle it in. The kit included a 2 to 3 prong adapter (which I needed) for the outlet and velcro strips which mount on the back of the blower and back fireplace wall to help secure it and prevent any movement, although it's heavy enough I probably didn't need to use them but nice touches to include them in the kit. Let me say... this blower does pump out a good volume of air - so much that at highest fan speed one might consider it a bit loud and overkill. I found myself turning it down to less than half speed which is very reasonably quiet and still forces plenty of hot air down and out through top vents of fireplace. Without the fan the heat would just roll straight up the wall. Now it's forced down and out into the room which greatly affects the fireplace's efficiency. I'm sure it will save on my overall gas bill since most of our time is spent in the living room and won't have to use the central heat system as much. While I was at it, I took off the front glass of the fireplace (held on by 4 spring mounting brackets) and cleaned both inside and outside of glass. This also allowed me to replace the "glowing ember" wool which is used to create the hot ember effect and adds to the aesthetics of simulating a real fire burning. The included thermal sensor is mounted by a magnet attached to bottom well of fireplace. It is heat sensitive and turns on the fan automatically when it reaches a certain temperature and shuts the fan off after a short time once you turn off the fireplace. I timed it and it was exactly 10 minutes after turning on the flame that the fan turned on and the fan runs about 10 minutes after shutting off the flame to help dissipate the last bit of heat into the room. In summary - it's all prewired and assuming you already have a live junction box in your fireplace then all you need to do is slide the fan in, attach the magnet/thermal control switch, mount the fan control knob in prexisting housing (which came with my fireplace) and plug in the AC cord. The unit seems very well built, solid and I hope it outlasts my time in this starter house. Buy it if you are on the fence! No reservations here...

The blower works as I had hoped. The new house I bought had all of the plugs and switches for a fireplace blower but didn't have the blower. After purchasing a generic blower from my local hardware store (which turned out to be a fail), I decided to purchase this one since its was made for my Heat N Glo gas log fireplace. I'm glad I went this route. This blower effectively moves air over the back and out of the top front vents of the fireplace in my living room and does a good job of heating the area. It is made of heavy steel and is large and rugged so I didn't worry about damaging it while squeezing it under my fireplace. It was a very tight fit to get it under my fireplace and into the proper position and it ended up with some cosmetic scratches but i'll never see it anyway so I wasn't too worried about that. My spouse wanted a blower that he could hear working and that would remind him of the older ones that made some noise. I wanted a blower that wasn't loud but worked effectively. This one was a good fit for both of us. If I turn it on high, I can really hear it moving air, if I turn it on medium or low the sound is not really noticeable but it still moves the air quite well. Pros: -The blower is heavy duty so I didn't have to worry about breaking it while trying to cram it under the fireplace. -Its thermostat works pretty well. The blower won't turn on until it registers about 120 degrees F so it won't blow cold air into an already cold house. It only takes about 3-5 minutes for my fireplace to reach that temperature. After I turn off the fireplace the blower still blows until the temperature drops below 120. Thats great because I still get warm air without wasting gas. Of course when I want the blower to cut off immediately, I have a wall switch that cuts it off right away. -Installation is easy. My fireplace already has an electrical plug underneath and a wall switch so getting power to it was easy as plugging it in. All of the wires for the thermostat and electrical plugs were already connected out of the box so I didn't have to try to decipher a diagram. There was no drilling or screwing needed. -Comes with a speed switch - You have options regarding how much air and noise you want. I leave mines on high and can still have a casual conversation or watch tv without it being an issue. Cons: -Tight fit to get it under the fireplace. A lot of other people experienced the same thing according to their reviews. The unit did end up with a few scratches during installation since I had to wiggle it to get it under there, but that is expected with the metal to metal and metal to concrete contact. Its tucked way in the back, underneath the fireplace, never to be seen again so Im not concerned about that but some people may be. -The speed switch was tricky to install into the precut switch hole in my fireplace. It looks like my fireplace as the standard slot for adding a new switch but I could not get this one to install tightly due to the funny washer that the instructions says to install. Now, if I adjust the speed setting, there is a little movement in the switch box. That was really my biggest issue with this blower but I won't need to change the speed settings very often anyway. -Loose and defective converter. It comes with a three prong plug - to - two prong plug converter piece for fireplaces that don't have a ground. The converter on mines did not work and also did not have a tight fit on the three pronged end. The three pronged plug could easily out. Luckily I had a spare one on hand. I do applaud the seller for including a converter because most people wouldn't have one sitting around. I just wished mines worked.

Came exactly as described in the listing. I actually called the company before I ordered (they have a store in Wisconsin) because I found conflicting information online as to whether this blower would work with my fireplace, which is a Heat N Glo SL-750TR. The guy I talked to was friendly and helpful - he patiently answered my 2 questions about installation and told me to call again if I had any issues putting in the blower. After that phone call I felt confident that this was the right blower, so I ordered it on Amazon. Order experience was typical Amazon - quick, efficient, arrived right on time. As another reviewer noted, the blower was packed exceptionally well from the supplier - double-boxed with foam tightly securing the blower and included accessories. Installation was very straightforward - it's literally as simple as sliding the blower unit under the firebox of your fireplace. As is mentioned in several places online with blowers like this, your fireplace may have a very tight opening clearance - this was the only slightly difficult part of my install. First, I removed the rubber feet that dampen the vibrations on the blower bracket/stand, but even so, the blower would only go about halfway through the opening rotated at about 45 degrees. After unsuccessfully trying a few different angles, I realized that it was going to need some 'encouragement' to get all the way through the opening, so I grabbed a spare scrap of 2x4 wood and used that to gently 'expand' the opening under my fireplace. It couldn't have needed any more than a 1/4" of extra clearance before the blower slid through the opening, and I removed the 2x4. Once under the firebox, the rest was a snap. I had room to re-install the rubber feet on the bracket, and move it into position under the rear side of the firebox with the air-ports of the fans pointing upward. I plugged the blower into the outlet that was installed under my fireplace, attached the magnetic heat sensor to the underside of the firebox, and flipped on the fireplace, eager to see how it worked. It didn't - and to make an extremely long story of cussing and troubleshooting short, the original fireplace installers (my homebuilder, 19 years ago) never actually hooked up the under-fireplace outlet to an actual electric supply - the wires were wrapped up inside the outlet box and didn't go anywhere! Grrr. So, in the short term I plugged the blower into a heavy duty appliance extension cord for safety (probably overkill, this blower doesn't use a lot of electricity) and ran the cord to a nearby outlet. Once the blower actually had power available (grrrr to my homebuilder, again) it worked like a charm. I don't have any way to precisely measure airflow or anything like that, but my back-of-the-envelope heat output impressions are as follows: when blower is not on, the heat projects about 2-3" out from the top of the fireplace and goes straight to the ceiling. When the blower is on medium, the heat projects about 10" out from the top of the fireplace and spreads out more widely before going up. When the blower is on high, you can feel the heat about 18" away from the fireplace...so for us, this has been a fantastic improvement! As a related aside, our fireplace has a small angled "hood" that clips in front of where the hot air comes out (the top of the firebox) - it's angled downward, so I imagine the intent is to drive the air from the blower down. It does seem to lower the airflow a little, but it also seems to block some airflow, as opposed to when I remove the hood completely - the air doesn't go quite as low, but the flow feels a little stronger. We're going to go back and forth with the hood for a little while longer before we decide if we want to leave it on or off. At the end of the day, this is a great blower for our fireplace. Fits great, came pre-wired, everything I needed was included, and the blower is very quiet when operating. Happy!

Excellent DIY fan/blower. Easy to install and works efficiently. Some issues I ran into but was able to figure it out, the rubber base plugs to cushion the fan and keep from rattling had to be removed in order to get into my system. Two would stay on getting in but come off when scooting the fan to the back of the wall. I finally was able to keep them on as I lifted it slightly to place it in the back, this was the hardest part for me. My instructions specifically said to plug into REM/AUX but I plugged into FAN marked outlet, didn’t work but I thought it was my sensor placement. The next day I decided to plug into the AUX plug in, came on within 5 minutes🤦‍♀️ I am very happy with this product. Fan is quiet on medium.

I think it's a great fan for my Heat & Glo Fireplace and it is made like gangbusters with a ball bearing motor. It does throw heat into the our great room, and keeps are thermostat from cycling on and off while we have the fireplace with fan in operation. Very cozy. And it is easy to install. One thing to note, is that the better placement for the magnetic thermostat is under the firebed rather than on the firebox wall as shown in the instructions I verified this with the very knowledgeable folks at fireplaceblowersonline.com. As others may have mentioned, just make sure you plug into aux outlet in your Heat & Glo fireplace, not the one marked fan, which is a low voltage outlet meant for a different fan. The thermostat turns the fan on when the internal temperature reached 120 degrees and shuts it off when it falls below 90 degrees. So it will still blow heat into the room for a while even after you turn your fireplace off. I installed my control switch by drilling a hole in the lower right side of the fireplace box (see pic). The control has an inverse dial to control the fan speed. From the off position which is at at about the the 7 o'clock position, it decreases the fan speed as you turn the dial clockwise. I find the 12 o'clock position to be good compromise between the fan noise (all fans some sort of noise) and the heat output. Obviously the higher you run the speed the louder the fan noise. If you hear any rattling sounds, check both below and above the firebox for any loose or unsecured parts of your Heat & Glo fireplace that maybe causing the issue. By the way there is no difference between the GFK-160 and the GFK 160A. All in all, a great product made in the good old USA.

I bought this to install in my Heat & Glo SL-750TR fireplace. It took me about 30 minutes to install it going at a slow pace - I probably could have easily done it in half the time. I didn't have any issues fitting it in the opening under the firebox once I removed the glass front for an extra 1/2 inch of clearance. A couple of the rubber feet would slip off as I slid the unit to the back, and it was a tight fit to get my hands in there to put them back on. The unit ships with two Velcro strips to attach the unit to the box, but the instructions make no mention of them and in fact state to slide the blower 1/8 to 1/4 inch away from the back wall - making the Velcro unnecessary. I didn't use them. I attached the speed switch to a bracket already in place - the hardest part was getting the odd metal nut tightened over the plastic post. A pair of pliers finished the job. Lastly I had to attach the thermal switch to the underside of the firebox. The instructions gave no clue where to best position it. I placed it pretty much in the center of where the gas flames would be. After turning on the fireplace I felt with my hand as it got hot to see if it was positioned well - that area did get hot quickly. (Caution - the wires on the thermal switch are live once the blower is plugged in, and you will get a jolt if you touch the connections.). It took about 5 minutes for the blower to come on, and about 20+ for it to turn off. We set the speed at about 75%, which is a nice balance of power and noise. It's relatively quiet (not completely silent) and barely audible over the TV. The blower puts out a gentle flow of warm air that can be felt about a foot in front of the fireplace (after passing through vents that are directed downward about 45 degrees). I'm happy with this very practical addition to my fireplace, and I'm sure it will help to take the winter chill off our family room

Please read! This unit is better quality than other units sold out there. It also comes prewired and ready to install, you simply take out your old blower moter (I have a Heat-n-Glo fireplace) and plug this one in, and it is ready to go. To find the heat sensing unit follow the two wires to the back of the blower and it is magnetized to the metal in back. For the Heat-n-Glo simply plug it into the second outlet under the fireplace, the one previously not used. You do not need to connect any wires. None. This works out of the box. The fan blower is quiet, much quieter than my old one. It works as designed. I did not watch video they made and could not find the heat sensing unit, so I had to call. I received prompt service. Since I could not find the heat sensor I ended up disconnecting wires and tried to use my old heat sensor and that did not work either. I played around with it, connected and disconnected wires, and could not get the blower to work like the old one did, where the blower would engage when the fireplace got hot and it would turn off automatically. I contacted the seller and he sent a new heat sensor. That did not work either. I then contacted him again and he sent a new blower motor control. I hooked that up and it works as designed. If you find the heat sensor, then you will not have to go through all that I did. I did have a bad blower speed controller switch, but the company was extremely responsive and helped me work through my issues.

I bought this for our Heat Glo which unfortunately didn’t come with a blower installed. I decided to pick this up because my TV is mounted above the fireplace which leads to the TV getting far too warm. Regrettably I would have to turn the fireplace off after 10-15 minutes to avoid damaging the TV. This thing helped tremendously. Not only does it save my TV from overheating, it heats the living room much quicker. The instructions were pretty bad, however it was fairly basic to install. Watch a YouTube video if you’re unsure. It makes it fool proof. 10/10 would recommend after one day of use! Hopefully it lasts!!

Arrived on the early side of the delivery time. Installation was very easy on my Vermont Casting SDDVT gas heater, with only two bolts to hold it in place. Came pre-wired, just plug it in. So glad I got the ball bearing motor rather than the sleeve bearing model. Runs very quietly at near the highest speed. Blows lots of hot air and area is much warmer. . Only problem, the rheostat could not fit in the pre-drilled hole due to small gas pipes. I drilled another 3/8" hole in the plate and it fit perfectly. Definitely recommended

I wish we had bought this sooner... we lived here for two years before I decided to splurge and get a blower kit. Our firepalce was old and didn't throw any heat. We have high vaulted ceilings, and the room is 30 x 42 - and ALL the heat went straight up. We spent a fortune on gas. This has cut our gas bill by about 30% (I've checked it year over year). It keeps the blower on after the fireplace has turned off, and keeps the room nice and toasty. It was easy to install, though a little tight when placing it in the right spot. It's also quite reliable- we bought this almost four years ago, and it's still running strong.

Easy install. Fairly quiet. Good output of air.

Super easy install! Tested before set position and installed . Just 10 min all done! Work good . Turn on fireplace and Fan start after 10min . Love warm air came out from fireplace . Fan sound not bother me so i say it quiet . Set up fan speed between max to middle. It very good unit! All my family love it.