Headaches caused by corn stove?

[curtis62]

I had a (major) headache everyday for about a month and a half and could not figure out the source. I went to the doctor's office and got medication which had very little effect. I then had to leave town for a few days and suddenly they went away. Upon return they came right back. I had an "Ah HA!" moment and figured we should test the corn stove. Whenever it was started I would get a headache within a couple of hours. After turning it off it would take about a day for the headache to clear. We would leave it off for a week and I would have no symptoms but as soon as it was turned back on again they came. We enjoy our corn stove but there is no way that I can deal with this kind of pain every day. Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem could be? We have carbon monoxide detectors in our house and they have never gone off. Also, neither my husband nor my two children have had symptoms. Our house is very tightly sealed as it had been completely renovated inside and out within the last year. Could it be the stove or the corn?

 

[stoveguy13]

can you try and run it with pellets and see if it is from the corn or from the stove ?

 

[crausch]

CZARCAR and StoveGuy have some good ideas. Get the digital CO detector so you can see if the levels are rising. You may be more sensitive to any fumes then the others in your family. Also, by trying the pellets as stoveguy mentions, if you still get a headache then you may have a small exhaust leak causing the problem. If you don't, then I guess the corn is the culprit. I hope it clears up so you can enjoy your burning!

 

[Snerk]

It might be that the stove is drying the inside of your house as well. Maybe you are sensitive to that. I am not sure what type of humidity you have where you live. Possibly look into a humidifer.

Good Luck

 

[OU812]

It might be that the stove is drying the inside of your house as well. Maybe you are sensitive to that. I am not sure what type of humidity you have where you live. Possibly look into a humidifer.

Good Luck

Agreed - I definitely think you should look at getting a humidifier. Pellet stoves really dry the air when they are running. I have noticed this in our house. I tried to put a pan of water on the stove to see if it would heat up and humidify the air but after several hours the water just got lukewarm. The only thing I don't like about humidifiers is the fact that they use electricity and pellet stoves are supposed to be about saving energy. I would really like to see pellet stove manufacturers add a humidifier that uses heat from the heat exchanger one day or perhaps see something invented that would humidify the air without having to plug in another appliance. The other thing I would like would be a way to add essential oils as well, either for fragrance or aromatherapy. Eucalyptus oil is great when you are congested.

 

[hoverfly]

Hold it!! What you are most likely halving is carbon monoxide poising at levels not considered dangerous enough to set off the detector. Carbon monoxide is incomplete combustion. Head aches are an early sigh as well feel a little tired. This is what kills people and are found as if they were sleeping when a heating appliance is malfunctioning apishly those with gas furnaces. Something is not right with the stove, Do you have an out side air kit installed? If not, do not continue to run the pellet stove until you do. Crack open a window near the stove and see if your head ache goes away. If you have an out side air kit installed check it for blockages in both the intake a vent pipe, when is the last time you had the stove cleaned? Has the damper been set properly? How does the flame look at diffrent settings? Dose the stove get dirty quicker than expected? if every thing is ok maybe then you should check for other possibilities allergies like maybe food allergies to the corn or to "Particular mater" leaking in to the room in which carbon monoxide is leaking in as well.

 

[OU812]

LMAO @ Czarcar! Or just pop an Advil before you start your stove.

 

[hoverfly]

Hold it!! What you are most likely halving is carbon monoxide poising at levels not considered dangerous enough to set off the detector. Carbon monoxide is incomplete combustion. Head aches are an early sigh as well feel a little tired. This is what kills people and are found as if they were sleeping when a heating appliance is malfunction apishly gas furnaces. Do you have an out side air kit installed? If not, do not continue to run the pellet stove until you do. Crack open a window near the stove and see if your head ache goes away. If you have an out side air kit installed check it for blockages in both the intake a vent pipe, when is the last time you had the stove cleaned? Has the damper been set properly? Something is not right with the stove, if every thing is ok maybe then you should check for other possibilities allergies like maybe food allergies to the corn or to "Particular mater" leaking in to the room in which carbon monoxide is leaking in as well.

relax & have a cigerette

I doubt humidification is an issue since it's a pellet stove and a pan of water was used, this should halved worked even if it's only Luke warm, the water was evaporating. The combustion air should be drawn from the out side. If its drawing combustion air from the inside of the house you have native pressure possibly pulling gases in to house. Pellet stoves do not draw out the moister in the air do to it's only passing through a heat exchanger unlike a regular wood stove where massive amounts of air is passed through and out the flue. You may also have a cracked exchanger. The battery in the CO2 detector my need changing, as they get older the level of detection get higher before triggering off. If you still doubt it's carbon monoxide poising, go to the ER and have a Carboxyhemoglobin blood done, and if it's indicating a high level you only need to have oxygen at 100 percent until the level goes back to normal. I only ask how important is staying alive is to you?

Another early sign is that your face may be flush.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

curtis62,

I agree with possible CO problems.

When was the stove installed?

Was it professionally installed or did you do a self install?

I'd consider this a real reason to be concerned and would recommend that you shut the stove down and check all of the joints in the exhaust system and make certain that the door seal is good.

You also need to check clearances from the outside vent to doors and windows. It must be 4 feet from all windows or doors that can be opened.

 

[hoverfly]

The GF and I were discussing this particular issue and one other possibility is that this person may be having a reaction form the pesticides cooking off that may have been used while the corn was grown. However I would think that the corn would be washed, something to look into.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Hoverfly,

While possible, it isn't likely IIRC as the corn is supposed to be shelled and for feedstock. In any event the cooking off would have to still come from a leak in the system that was getting into the house.

 

[krooser]

I hope your not using seed corn as it's innoculated with chemicals that do not play nice when burned.

 

[orangecrushcj7]

I would be willing to bet it is the lack of moisture in the air. Wood burning appliances drastically dry ou the house. You could be severely drying out your sinuses. Adding humidity to the air will help. You could also try getting some plain old unmedicated saline nasal spray, and spritz it in your nose several times a day. I also agree that you should pick up a $36 Kidde Nighthawk digital CO detector. Realtime readings accurate to 1ppm will reassure you that you are safe.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

a few things to ponder...
first , how old is the CO detector? usually they can only be relied on for approx 5 years.

secondly, do not ever burn corn meant for planting , they are coated with fertilizers and insecticides. not a good combinations , also check closely your pipe fittings , pay very close attention to the TEE if its indoors.

 

[eschills]

I think I am having a similar issue. I originally posted about smoke from the Vent Tee. I have sealed all pipe joints with high temp silicone and foil tape. I have to get right next to the 90° elbow to get any smell of smoke. I am still getting headaches. I have two CO detectors in the room, one high and one low. My sinuses do seem very dry. I have a small humidifier upstairs that I have been running on low. I have turned off my stove to see if the headaches go away. I am also going out to buy a thermometer that also measures humidity, and a CO detector that shows PPM.

 

[pegdot]

I think it's either a lack of humidity, I'm overly sensitive to that and get headaches while hubby is fine, or carbon monoxide. If you don't have an outside air kit installed you could have a negative pressure situation that is pulling carbon monoxide from another appliance in your home so, it may not be the stove that is leaking.

As others have said, get a good detector and check that first. If you decide to try adding moisture to the air I'd recommend a Vick's warm steam vaporizer. They are cheap, quiet, readily available at any drugstore, and there is no nasty filter to keep clean.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

"I have to get right next to the 90° elbow to get any smell of smoke."

Then it is still not sealed.

pegdot has yet another reason to use an OAK, provided your stove has a sealed combustion air path.

 

[dac122]

You want to be 100% certain you have no CO leak as I am sure all will agree that is a bad situation. The CO detectors you can buy are okay, but you really want one that is very sensitive. If you read your literature you will find your CO detector is only sensitive to a minimum PPM. Your fire department and/or an HVAC pro have CO detectors that are not only extremely sensitive but can pinpoint the exact location of any leak. How else do you think they diagnose micro-cracks in heat exchangers.

Once you have verified no CO leak then consider other possibilities as posted.

 

[firelady]

Please call your local fire dept to check for CO leak, most have the proper equipment to check. My volunteer dept is more than happy to come do a safety check rather than being called for emergency poisoning caused by a slow leak.

 

[smoke show]

3 days and no response from op? curtis u ok?

 

[eschills]

Went and purchased a digital CO detector and it is not detecting any CO. That's good!!. Humidity in the house upstairs, with small humidifier running, on a rainy day is 34%. Downstairs where the stove is, with no humidifier it is 26% with the stove off for 24hrs. I imagine with the stove on it is much lower. That is the next test.

 

[mikesj]

My guess is the humidity thing. My wife and I moved into an upstairs apartment a few years ago that was heated with oil forced air. My side of the bed was by the register. The first few days of heating season were horrible. I woke up each day with a hangover headache and couldn't figure out why. Finally we got a humidity gauge and I realized that not only was our humidity too low, but that I was being blasted in the face with extremely dry air all night. We added a room humidifier and the problem was solved.

I burn a Harman P-61 in a 2000 sf farmhouse and our humidity is way low. We run a couple of room humidifies and that helps, but eventually we'll need to bite the bullet and buy a whole house unit.

Good luck!

 

[kenny chaos]

Sounds like organic allergies. Just about everyone has them and of course, some to more of a degree than others.
CO poisoning symptoms I remember getting from my commercial diving days began with an upset tummy, followed by a bit of virtigo and when it was bad enough, the purple fingernails. The bad headache came later. You knew it was coming but couldn't do anything about it. It hurt.

 

[kenny chaos]

My guess is the humidity thing. My wife and I moved into an upstairs apartment a few years ago that was heated with oil forced air. My side of the bed was by the register. The first few days of heating season were horrible. I woke up each day with a hangover headache and couldn't figure out why. Finally we got a humidity gauge and I realized that not only was our humidity too low, but that I was being blasted in the face with extremely dry air all night. We added a room humidifier and the problem was solved.

I burn a Harman P-61 in a 2000 sf farmhouse and our humidity is way low. We run a couple of room humidifies and that helps, but eventually we'll need to bite the bullet and buy a whole house unit.

Good luck!

Sounds like organic allergies here also. The extra humidity was enough to keep it grounded.

 

[curtis62]

Thank you also so much for your ideas! I am going to try a humidifier and will buy a digital co2 detector ASAP. Those seems like the quickest and easiest solutions to test first. Unfortunately I can't try pellets because it is strictly a corn stove. I had a pellet stove in the past and had absolutely no issues with it. I will admit that I am a bit terrified to turn the stove because the headaches are quite nasty, but I'd hate to have to get rid of the stove if it's an easy fix.

FYI, the CO2 detectors that we have now are brand new and batteries should be fine. I'll keep you posted.