Judging by the the thermostat this morning, I’d say it’s time to turn on the heat (37 degrees this morning). As we settle in for another fall/winter season that’s sure to see high prices in oil to heat our houses, or take time most of us don’t have to stack firewood and build fires, I present to you my favorite cost cutting item that I was initially super skeptical about: the eco fan. I usually have an issue with buying anything if it’s $100.

The ecofans run about $79-$159 depending on size. Ours was $100 from Gaiam. That model is now $109. But there are a ton of places online you can get one these days. You can use them on either oil burning or wood burning stoves. They work best in houses that are ‘cabin-style,’ split levels — anything that’s really open. Our bottom floorplan is really one giant room of the kitchen, dining and living room with no doors that would block air flow. With an ecofan on the top of our stove we can keep our oil stove turned to 1/2 — not even one — on its dial. Without the ecofan to get the same amount of heat from where the stove is in the kitchen to the living room, I’d have to turn it to 4-6 (floorplan is 1000 sq. ft.). The guy who comes and fills the kerosene tank often has commented that we go through less than most of his customers in our area. We also have dual paned windows which helps keep all that heat inside.

The ecofan works by you placing it on top of the stove while the stove is on. The heat turns the fan. There’s nothing to plug in and no hassle. I dust it a couple of times a year. That’s it. What seemed like an extra added expense a few years ago, now feels like a godsend as we’ve been able to last through our tank of kerosene for a full month longer than we did before. If you tend to like a really hot house, be careful. If you have a bigger space than what I listed below, you’ll probably want one of the bigger sized fans. Either way, you’ll save money on oil and labor on wood.

Oh Ecofan, I love you!

Disclosure: I was not given anything for this review.