I'm a newbie and need your help. We have a new LOPI Endeavor in the living room with double wall pipe, which was professionally installed, and use it to heat the whole place, 1850 sq ft. We love the glass door and the idea of cutting, splitting, stacking, and burning our own wood. And it sure does put out the heat. However, we've noticed something this far into the heating season that's bothering us. We seem to have a lot of dust. When we wipe down a glass top table in the living room with a damp wipe, the wipe comes up with lots of black sooty looking stuff on it. It's scary. Naturally we're wondering if this could affect our health. I do open up both air controls before I open the door to add wood, and it always appears to be pulling air in as I load it. I'm also very careful when I empty the ashes, about once a week. What else should I be doing.....or not doing?
Dust and grime and soot, Oh My!
- Thread starter ezwryder
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I'm a newbie so I don't have much help to offer you but if you haven't already read it you might want to check this thread out...
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/65947/
It sounds like you probably have a good install so it seems to me like ash is probably getting away from you during wood loading and ash removal.
Whatever the case, here's a bump for your question.
Best wishes,
Ed
edit: Seems a couple of very good tips that I gleaned from that thread is to hold the ash bucket right at the opening of the stove so that the draft will help to suck in any escaping ash and to place the tip of the shovel against the ash that is already in the bucket and then *gently* let the ashes slide off of the shovel into the bucket so that a cloud of ash isn't generated.
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/65947/
It sounds like you probably have a good install so it seems to me like ash is probably getting away from you during wood loading and ash removal.
Whatever the case, here's a bump for your question.
Best wishes,
Ed
edit: Seems a couple of very good tips that I gleaned from that thread is to hold the ash bucket right at the opening of the stove so that the draft will help to suck in any escaping ash and to place the tip of the shovel against the ash that is already in the bucket and then *gently* let the ashes slide off of the shovel into the bucket so that a cloud of ash isn't generated.
Dust, I could easily dismiss as ashes, but words like grime and black sooty looking stuff sure sound like products of incomplete combustion. When you clean out the ashes, are they entirely grey, or is there black in it? Do you remove the ashes hot or after it's cooled?
If you do a lot of cold starts with paper, that may be the source of black in which case you might want to consider not using paper and try a fire starter like Super Cedar. I have a real hate on for paper... it was leaving black crud everywhere, inside and outside the house.
When opening the stove, do like BWS suggests and open it slowly, like there is a dangerous animal in the stove. Also, do a couple of false starts... slowly open the door a crack and close it quick to dislodge crud stuck to the inside of the door and rim.
If you do a lot of cold starts with paper, that may be the source of black in which case you might want to consider not using paper and try a fire starter like Super Cedar. I have a real hate on for paper... it was leaving black crud everywhere, inside and outside the house.
When opening the stove, do like BWS suggests and open it slowly, like there is a dangerous animal in the stove. Also, do a couple of false starts... slowly open the door a crack and close it quick to dislodge crud stuck to the inside of the door and rim.
Thanks LLigetfa. Nice post.
Paper was also what I was thinking. They might also have a really dirty stove from burning not quite dry wood. This will product black creosote for sure.
ezwryder, can you post information about the wood you are burning? What type of wood and how long it has seasoned? How does the inside of the stove look? Is it all covered with black crap that resembles tar? Have you cleaned your chimney yet? Have you checked that chimney?
Paper was also what I was thinking. They might also have a really dirty stove from burning not quite dry wood. This will product black creosote for sure.
ezwryder, can you post information about the wood you are burning? What type of wood and how long it has seasoned? How does the inside of the stove look? Is it all covered with black crap that resembles tar? Have you cleaned your chimney yet? Have you checked that chimney?
Another thing you may want to check for is possible air leaks around the stove top adapter and the slip joints of your double wall pipe . Very easy to do with a lit cigarette or incense when the fire is burning good and your draft is stong . We were having light ash dust on the furniture also but eliminated the problem by shoveing a piece of stove rope gasket material up inside the stove top adapter and putting a bead of high temp silicone around the slip joints of the double wall pipe.
Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. Intheswamp, thanks for the thread, it did have a lot of good information that was new to me. LLigetfa, usually there are still hot ashes in the stove when I empty it, but I try to pull out the cool. They are gray. I do use one sheet of newspaper many mornings to get things started, would that really cause a problem? I do open the door slowly as you suggest. Backwoodsavage, my wood is dry. Standing deadwood, mostly elm and oak, and all checked with my moisture meter. The inside of the stove looks good, gray ashes and the tiles are still light colored. Stove and double wall pipe was new in September and the chimney was clean. Westside, thanks for suggesting checking for leaks. That's next on my agenda. The sooty looking stuff really has us concerned so we'll try everything we can to get it cleared up.
The definition of dust, grime, and soot can be in the eye of the beholder so it is really hard to determine over the internet, the severity and/or source of each.
Dust: The largest single percentage of common house dust is actually dander... flakes of skin from people and pets. Introduce a wood stove and ash competes for top spot. Depending on the other source of heat, if it is a forced air furnace with a decent filtration system, it would have been removing much of it prior to switching to wood heat. If your furnace filters were turning black before the switch, it stands to reason that you would see that now settling on surfaces.
Grime: A common definition of grime is something that smears. It maybe a mixture of dust and cooking grease or the product of incomplete combustion. Consider lifestyle and whether a furnace filter was trapping it prior to the switch to wood heat.
Soot: A dark charcoal grey or black carbon substance that is the product of combustion. In theory, it should stay inside the stove and/or go up the flue. Leaks in the flue exacerbated by poor draft or house pressure imbalances could be the cause and needs to be carefully investigated.
Back to the paper thing... most of the paper these days has so much recycled content and clay fillers that it doesn't burn all that well and mostly turns into a black grime. If it gets airborne due to leaks on startup or later when ashes are removed, you will find it on surfaces.
Dust: The largest single percentage of common house dust is actually dander... flakes of skin from people and pets. Introduce a wood stove and ash competes for top spot. Depending on the other source of heat, if it is a forced air furnace with a decent filtration system, it would have been removing much of it prior to switching to wood heat. If your furnace filters were turning black before the switch, it stands to reason that you would see that now settling on surfaces.
Grime: A common definition of grime is something that smears. It maybe a mixture of dust and cooking grease or the product of incomplete combustion. Consider lifestyle and whether a furnace filter was trapping it prior to the switch to wood heat.
Soot: A dark charcoal grey or black carbon substance that is the product of combustion. In theory, it should stay inside the stove and/or go up the flue. Leaks in the flue exacerbated by poor draft or house pressure imbalances could be the cause and needs to be carefully investigated.
Back to the paper thing... most of the paper these days has so much recycled content and clay fillers that it doesn't burn all that well and mostly turns into a black grime. If it gets airborne due to leaks on startup or later when ashes are removed, you will find it on surfaces.
I believe the newspaper is the culprit. I had the same thing happen with my first burns last year and never knew the exact cause. Switched to SuperCedars and no more black soot when cleaning surfaces. I do open my door VERY SLOWLY when opening with a definite pause on first crack.
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