So after 4 years of burning wood with a jotul Oslo I have decided to go the pellet route. I purchased a used Enviro Winsor pellet stove in great condition. I have a fireplace with a 6" ss liner approx 18' that went to the stove. I purchased the adapters to reduce to 3" and used 2' double wall pellet with t to the stove. For three days I have run the stove on low. During this time I have been getting headaches. When I shut the stove down the headache goes away. My wife and kids r fine and no complaints. The room and entire home are full of CO detectors and none have gone off. Is it me? Is it possible that I am just allergic to these damn pellet stoves? The burning of wood has never bothered me. Or could the stove be bad? Fortunately I have held onto the jotul just in case. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
New to me pellet stove causing headaches?
- Thread starter pbois334
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
xSpecBx
Member
heat seeker
Minister of Fire
Might be the pellets, or the pellet dust. I had some pellets once that stunk bad, had no idea what was in them. The manufacturer blamed the vendor, and vice versa. I was glad to burn the last of them.
Are you breathing the dust from the pellets? It's all too easy to do when filling the hopper.
Are you breathing the dust from the pellets? It's all too easy to do when filling the hopper.
Gotta check the joints in the pipe. And especially at the connection to the combustion blower. If your connection to the six inch chimney is like mine that is a suspect point too.
If you don't have a CO detector that is digital you can have low level CO that won't set off a detector. But the digital ones let you display lower levels detected.
The other angle is that it is the paint and metal in the stove curing with heat. Find it or don't keep burning it.
If you don't have a CO detector that is digital you can have low level CO that won't set off a detector. But the digital ones let you display lower levels detected.
The other angle is that it is the paint and metal in the stove curing with heat. Find it or don't keep burning it.
hossthehermit
Minister of Fire
Being worried about whether the stove is gonna work out for ya is causing a stress headache ..............
Lol I wish I was being paranoid but I believe something is wrong. I have stopped running it at this point . The connection to the liner is up inside the smoke chamber of the chimney so I doubt it is that that's causing the issue. I m going to try and get a measurement of the CO today. Are any levels acceptable? Also I don't believe the fan is causing the headache , though it is annoying.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Alot of high temp paint used on stoves and pipes will not release all their chemicals at low temps,which is why they reccomend several hot fires.Run stove on high 45 min to 1 hour,let cool down,do 2 more times,have doors and windows open.People have different reactions to different chemicals,I am made nausous by certain womens perfumes.One can walk by me 10 feet away and I start gaggging,almost puke,while no one around me has a problem.Just my thoughts.
Polar Bear
Feeling the Heat
I know someone who had to get rid of hers due to an allergy... so it isn't out of the realm of impossible.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Wasn't there a guy on here last year that was alergic to some wood pellets?But didn.t affect his family?
Polar Bear
Feeling the Heat
Possibly... but this person was actually a buddy of mine who picked up the stove from the woman with the allergy.
Like BrotherBart said, get a CO detector with a numeric readout and put it in the room with the stove (or wherever you are when you get the headaches). Lowes carries them, I assume HD also.
I'm not sure what is "acceptable". Mine is about 10 feet from the stove and it always reads '0'. As a test I stuck it behind the car exhaust and it went to around 15. I think it takes a couple of minutes at something like 30 to set off an alarm. Without the readout, you could have a low CO level in the house and never know it.
Also, how old are your CO detectors?
Last edited:
Not to cause a ruckus, but...
Op did state that it is a USED stove..
Unless it was never used by previous owner/lighthly fired???
Don't thing that paint off-gassing would be the issue.
Op did state that it is a USED stove..
Unless it was never used by previous owner/lighthly fired???
Don't thing that paint off-gassing would be the issue.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
Stoves are like tractors,people spray paint on them to help sell them.Just trying to cover all the bases.
This stove is a grey enamel finish and has never been painted. I ran the stove again this afternoon with a carbon monoxide detector in the fireplace ( i know , I will get a digital readout detector soon) And nothing happened. I did notice a fair amount of smoke coming from the warm air tubes and there was a haze in the room. (What could cause the smoke?) I checked all around the exhaust joints with a candle and couldnt get the flame to flicker. I shut the stove down and removed the t from the exhaust and noticed a bit of ash inside the pipe and approx 2-3 tablespoons of ash in the clean out. This was only after approx 40 min of run time. That seems like excessive Ash to me? Anyway I pulled the stove out and removed the burner pot and steel plates and noticed the air tubes were caked in soot. I also removed the warm air motor /fans and they were full of dog hair and dust. The previous owner advised me that he took the entire thing apart and cleaned it, ha ha. So I sent him a message inquiring what he did to clean it and indicated that I was having a problem with it and he won't respond. Starting to think that he knew there was a problem with the stove.
Peterfield
Minister of Fire
Sounds like an opportunity to get to know your stove really well. If it were me, I'd tear it apart since you now know the previous owner is full of sheeite. Get a vacuum and some brushes and have at it and also check any seals or gaskets as it's a good guess the former owner didn't touch those. I would not be surprised if the stove runs like a champ after a thorough cleaning.
Yeah I started a complete tear down tonight and so far I have noticed cracked "flap" in the steel flap ats the top of the firebox wall. It s just a bent piece of steel that sits under the air tubes but still concerning. Would a bad door gasket cause any serious issues?
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
All that dog hair and dirt from convection blower goes onto the outside of heat exchanger,there is your problem.Bad door gasket can cause poor burning.If it was mine I would tale outside and brush and blow with compressed air.
Stove is already in my shop and planning on a cleaning/ overhaul before I try it again.
Wilbur Feral
Minister of Fire
So, I think we might have the reason for the headaches solved... Haze in room??
Agree with others that a tear-down cleaning is a great idea. Why not just change out the blower and door gaskets while you're at it, IF you're sure you don't have a crack that's causing a leak. If that's the problem, you may have an unresolvable issue unless it can be replaced or fixed.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
I agree,replace all gaskets,clean,tape up all openings and through in a hvac smoke bomb to check.
Nick of PA
New Member
I agree, my common sense tells me if there is a haze in the room.... I would shut down, do complete cleaning of all parts.... If it is a used stove I would order new gaskets wherever there are gaskets (combustion blower, ash pan door, etc. all makes/models are different and gaskets are relatively cheap so why not) and I would check my venting pipe connections and anything that is INSIDE the home make sure they are sealed w/ rtv. If there is still haze then there may be a faulty component and you can investigate further, but I would at least rule out the obvious stuff first.
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
You will know your unit very well,which is good,you can make it last longer.I personally think you have a good unit,just needs serviced,and then start saving money!
I agree that I am learning these pellet stoves. But the parts aren't cheap. $113 for a door gasket and exhaust nozzle with gasket. Ouch!!
- Status
Similar threads
