Pellet stove may have caused fire

good point!!

newf lover said:

Came across this article from a local TV station.- http://www.wfsb.com/news/22017364/detail.html
Hope that copies. Looks like embers from the stove came out the vent and leaves underneath caught on fire, then spread to the deck. One more day and those leaves would have been covered by snow here in CT. I think it's something people don't think too much about, but this proves it can happen. Nobody hurt fortunately.

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I'll bet dollars to donuts that it was a direct horizontal vent....just another reason to get some vertical rise on the pipe.

yup
to me Direct venting is like just plumbing your gray water just outside your house and into your yard.

I thought I read somewhere you're to have at least 24" from the exhaust vent to the ground. I agree with macman, good reason to have a vertical rise on the pipe. I have a 3' rise on mine and don't know if I've ever seen sparks coming out of it.

hearthtools said:

yup
to me Direct venting is like just plumbing your gray water just outside your house and into your yard.

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When I first started dating my girlfriend (now my wife) she had a neighbor that just ran her hose from her washing machine out the window. You could always tell when she was doing laundry.

Grey water is actually very good for the enviornment. Bleach takes away from it though.

Medreach said:

Grey water is actually very good for the enviornment. Bleach takes away from it though.

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yes But i dont want to be walking through it or blacking up my yard

My pipe rises a good 3 to 4 ft, then goes outside maybe 5 or 6 ft total horizontal run. I still see an occasional ember fly out.
By the time it hits the air, it usually goes out before it hits the ground.

fataugie said:

....then goes outside maybe 5 or 6 ft total horizontal run........

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That's pretty long for a horiz. run.....most stove companies recommend no more than 3-4' horizontal. I hope you clean that pipe often.

I'm looking at the install instructions for this thing and find no reference to max run on horizontal pipe.
I've actually burned maybe a ton so far this year and already blown it out with a leaf blower twice.
There's a little build up in there, but not as much as you would think. What's funny is the fly ash I get outside with burning corn. I am starting to get some buildup on the nearby ladder and wheelbarrow They have some snow on them and I see the specks from the ash.

newf lover said:

Came across this article from a local TV station.- http://www.wfsb.com/news/22017364/detail.html
Hope that copies. Looks like embers from the stove came out the vent and leaves underneath caught on fire, then spread to the deck. One more day and those leaves would have been covered by snow here in CT. I think it's something people don't think too much about, but this proves it can happen. Nobody hurt fortunately.

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The fact is that the pellet stove did not cause the fire. The installer did.

You know the title is misleading it should be "Poor Maintainence of Pellet Stove causes fire". We all have a responsibility to keep the area around our vent termination clean and clear. For those of you with a vertical run, you wouldn't let a pine tree grow right next to and overhang it would you? I have horizontal termination 6 feet off the ground and that area is kept clear. That is part of maintaining our heating system.

Here's the story from the closest daily.
www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/12/20/news/shoreline/doc4b2e13dfdcc5e998267596.txt

About 2 years ago when going home from work, I noticed smoke coming from a behind someones house about a mile from my home. I stopped to check it out, and found the deck and wall of the house was on fire due to what seemed to be a bad vent set up. No one was home at the residence, and I started spraying it down with the garden hose that was laying outside. If I hadn't stopped, this could have been a major disaster for the homeowner. The fire dept. took about 10 min to get there, and I had it out for the most part, except for what was burning inside the wall. The fire crew did quite a number on the wall ripping it apart to put out the remaing fire.

This guys stove was direct vented with an end cap pointing downward approximatly 1 foot above his deck. I wonder who the wizard was that thought that was a good idea?

newf lover said:

Came across this article from a local TV station.- http://www.wfsb.com/news/22017364/detail.html
Hope that copies. Looks like embers from the stove came out the vent and leaves underneath caught on fire, then spread to the deck. One more day and those leaves would have been covered by snow here in CT. I think it's something people don't think too much about, but this proves it can happen. Nobody hurt fortunately.

Click to expand...

I hope that wasn't slickplant.