CO questions

[KindredSpiritzz]

2 questions on carbon monoxide. Sometimes i like to leave the door on the stove open while im sitting there watching TV and/or trying to burn coals down. Do i have to worry about carbon monoxide coming out when the doors open in amounts enough to be dangerous?

Also i was looking at the ash pan on my Austral and i see its not flush with the bottom of the stove, there's a 1 inch gap all the way around between pan and stove bottom. So if i person scraped hot coals/ashes into that pan and left them there to cool would that cause a carbon monoxide problem? I never use the ash pan but seeing how its constructed it makes me wonder .

 

[gzecc]

CO not CO2 (carbon dioxide).
Should be ok but I would leave a CO monitor nearby to monitor the situation.

 

[CenterTree]

I don't make a habit out of leaving the stove door open for any long period of time. Just at start up, for a short time.

CO shouldn't be an issue while the coals are burning because your draft SHOULD continue to remove fumes.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

I think so, make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector in the same room as the stove and make sure you don't go to bed with the door open. I believe as long as the stove is drafting, all will be ok, but if it stops drafting, that's when co can get you....this is only my opinion.....of course.....
I did hear that someone left a bucket of warm ashes in their house and it set off the detector..... I'd love to hear more answers.....

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

I did hear that someone left a bucket of warm ashes in their house and it set off the detector..

yeah, thats what made me wonder when i looked at how the ash pan attaches to the stove.

 

[xman23]

I've never had the detector go off. I may be wrong here, but my theory is the wood stove exhaust is not odorless, so any high concentration in the house would be noticeable. With all my years of burning there is no odor of wood burning in the house.

 

[CenterTree]

yeah, thats what made me wonder when i looked at how the ash pan attaches to the stove.

It wouldn't be the ASHES that are the problem,,,it is any hot coals.

Ashes would be completely "Spent". Coals, still have something to give off though.

Get a CO detector up for sure

 

[BrotherBart]

I had it happen in 2012. But not with the door open.

"I have long been a proponent of banking coals under ash when it is too warm to put on more wood but you know in the next few hours you are going to want to start a fire. And it also keeps a stove and flue warm for a long time. Well, not anymore.

Today has been in the forties and raining all day and the house was at a comfortable temp so I banked the coals from the morning fire after noon for a late afternoon restart. Later I did a good bit of cooking in the microwave oven that is across the house in the kitchen which for all intents and purposes is one room with the family/stove room. A little before I was ready to uncover the coals and restart the fire I walked past the Kidde Nighthawk CO detector over the kitchen counter top and, as I do often, hit the button for the highest stored reading since the unit had been reset. I have never seen anything other than "0" displayed. This time it showed a reading of 20 parts per million. Not a dangerous level or one that would set off the alarm but I wasn't happy to see anything but zero. I went over to the stove and uncovered the coals and put some small pieces on to get the fire going in the warm stove. And had a heck of a time getting a draft going.

I am convinced that I know what happened. The coals were sitting there under the ashes giving off CO which was supposed to be going up the chimney. But between the high pressure right over us with the rain and that microwave oven, which happens also to be the range hood, running there was a flue reversal and the hood was sucking CO out of the stove inlets.

The draft is back up to speed and no new CO has been detected but I just wanted to tell you folks that I no longer recommend something I have done for years. Banking coals in a wood stove.

And shiver a little when I think about how many times I have done it and then gone to bed for the night."

 

[CenterTree]

I've never had the detector go off. I may be wrong here, but my theory is the wood stove exhaust is not odorless, so any high concentration in the house would be noticeable. With all my years of burning there is no odor of wood burning in the house.

CO can be present without visible or "smellable" smoke. It can come from embers or coals.

Embers can exhibit very little odor at times. Be careful.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

It wouldn't be the ASHES that are the problem,,,it is any hot coals.

Ashes would be completely "Spent". Coals, still have something to give off though.

Get a CO detector up for sure

Warm ashes have coals lurking underneath....

 

[CenterTree]

I think so, make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector in the same room as the stove and make sure you don't go to bed with the door open. I believe as long as the stove is drafting, all will be ok, but if it stops drafting, that's when co can get you....this is only my opinion.....of course.....
I did hear that someone left a bucket of warm ashes in their house and it set off the detector..... I'd love to hear more answers.....

Well, that would be ME.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/had-4-co-detectors-going-off-last-night.136655/

OP: embers and coals can be dangerous IMHO.

Can't you just leave the door closed and open the air intake fully to burn down your coals at the end of the cycle?

 

[CenterTree]

Warm ashes have coals lurking underneath....

LOL, ya don't have to tell me....


See above post.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

an't you just leave the door closed and open the air intake fully to burn down your coals at the end of the cycle?

usually i just leave the door cracked and that gets them glowing hot and burns em down faster, but sometimes when they are glowing hot i like to open the door and let heat kick out into the room. It really throws the heat out nicely, but then that made me wonder if CO was coming out along with radiating heat. Once in awhile i just like the ambiance of having the door open while im sitting there.

 

[begreen]

I would not leave the door open without a screen in front. You never know when there is going to be a sap or moisture pocket that pops and shoots embers out beyond the hearth. And there is always the chance of one falling asleep with the stove door open.

 

[mfetcho]

I've never had the detector go off. I may be wrong here, but my theory is the wood stove exhaust is not odorless, so any high concentration in the house would be noticeable. With all my years of burning there is no odor of wood burning in the house.

Wood stove exhaust can definitly be order less I came home from work once with my carbon monoxide detectors going off. The stove was cool to the touch as I hadn't burned in it since the morning. The fire department couldn't find the source, but the natural gas company did. The Woodstove! We lit a fire to move the draft the other way and the detectors went to zero. No smoke smell of any kind in the house.

 

[mopar440_6]

I woke up a week ago to the CO detectors going off. I was running overnight with the primary control at about 1/2. I think the rain that rolled in combined with the oversized chimney caused what little draft I had to fall off. Needless to say, I have not run the stove since and am trying to be patient while waiting for my stove shop to come install the insulated liner. Get some detectors for sure. That said, CO is produced when the fuel does not have enough combustion air (oxygen) to completely oxidize to CO2. So, with the door cracked you should have plenty of oxygen going to the coals to minimize any CO and keep enough heat to create a good draft. However, I would still recommend keeping the door shut and using a couple soft wood splits to burn down the coals as others have recommended. I would not be afraid to use the ash tray, but I would immediately dump the ashes into a closed metal container that was kept outside and away from the house.

 

[NinjaTech]

I NEVER run the stove with the door open unless its first starting/reloading and then I NEVER leave the room. In the mornings I actually clip my car keys with a carabiner around the bypass lever on the stove just to make sure that I can't leave the house without remembering to shut the door/bypass. Not just for CO reasons, but for general safe burning practices.