Kraig,,, Heat exchanger came w/ house,,, we were still getting settled in last winter and never used it,,, been burning "a lot" of wood so far this winter and figured what the heck give it a try,,,
The Blower type fan REALLY moves a good amount of air into the living room,,, It is kinda noisy on max setting so there is a trade off between air flow and noise level,,,
I would have no idea at all how to calculate the amount of electricity Blower uses compared to the btu's produced and then factoring that into how much it actually helps our home thermostat from kicking on at a particular setting,,,
OMG LoL
Anyway it's almost silent between the 1/2-3/4 setting,, it has like an infinite style dial,,, And so far the Doberman loves it,,,