How much stove odor is normal?

[mrmichaeljmoore]

I have had my stove now for about 5+ years. It is a Whitfield Profile 30.
It is located in the basement (finished side) of my ranch-style home.

My question is in regards to the amount of odor the stove will/should emit when burning? By odor, I mean the smell of burning wood.

When I walk down into my basement, even when the stove is not on, I can smell the faint odor of a wood stove.
I really don't mind the smell.....that faint wood stove smell is a nice winter fragrance.
Fresh cut grass in summer; wood burning stove in winter.

But should I be smelling anything at all???
I dont see any fly-ash on the pad around the rear of the stove....the walls are not covered with ash....

Thanks for the help.

 

[rap69ri]

If sealed correctly there should be no smell at all. It may be time to replace the door gasket(s), and if you pull it out to clean it every season reseal the piping.

 

[itworks]

I've had my stove for 5 years, and have never smelled any emissions from it inside the house. Outside I can smell a slight woody smell, like when a fireplace is lit, which I'm sure is normal. I hope you have a co2 detector near the stove.

 

[slls]

I have had my stove now for about 5+ years. It is a Whitfield Profile 30.
It is located in the basement (finished side) of my ranch-style home.

My question is in regards to the amount of odor the stove will/should emit when burning? By odor, I mean the smell of burning wood.

When I walk down into my basement, even when the stove is not on, I can smell the faint odor of a wood stove.
I really don't mind the smell.....that faint wood stove smell is a nice winter fragrance.
Fresh cut grass in summer; wood burning stove in winter.

But should I be smelling anything at all???
I dont see any fly-ash on the pad around the rear of the stove....the walls are not covered with ash....

Thanks for the help.

Yes, you can smell wood odor with stove off, there are lots of opening in the stove when off. The air wash is open, the heat exchanger pull rod holes are open, my dump rod is open.
Mine seems to smell the most when it is damp and raining out and stove is off, I have been wondering if anyone else has noticed it.

 

[mrmichaeljmoore]

itworks:
I do have a CO detector (one with the digital readout).
It has always read 0.

slls:
I think you're right about noticing the smell most when the stove is off......like when I get home from work and walk downstairs to fire it up....that is usually when I notice it.
I will pay closer attention today when I get home to see if the smell is apparent when the stove is running.

mike

 

[slheinlein]

Only time is smell anything is when we have a power outage. I don't have a backup system and no vertical piping so the smoke somehow gets into the home. other than that - no smell at all.

 

[Wet1]

I'd check the door gaskets and closely inspect/sniff every exhaust connection (while the stove is running). My guess is you probably have a very small exhaust leak.

 

[slls]

The smell is with the stove off and cold.

 

[mrmichaeljmoore]

I kept a closer eye (nose) on the stove over the last two nights....
The smell is definitely more prominent when I go down to turn on the stove when I get home from work, than when I go down in the morning to turn it off when I leave for work.

So, then, since the smell shows up when the stove is off and cold, as slls said, I guess that is normal/ok??

Thanks...

 

[donkarlos]

maybe another heating system is creating negative pressure the way a dryer vent does and pulling air in.

 

[alexdrozd]

I have no smell at all with the stove on or off.

 

[kt1i]

The smell is with the stove off and cold.

I also sometime get a stove smell when the stove is off and cold and it's damp or raining out. No smell when the stove is running.

 

[glassman]

I have had my stove a couple of days now, the stove was off (no idea why) when I got home after they installed it. Slight smell of wood in the house, since then I have run the stove only when my g/f or myself are home, no wood smell at all when stove is running.

 

[Drivr]

When I had my basement stove using inside air I could smell fire and I am pretty sure that it was pulled out by my furnace and power vent chimney when ever the furnace kicked on for heat or hot water. once I installed an outside air kit the smell stopped.

 

[Lobstah]

Both my neighbor and I get a very faint wood smell at startup, but only when the temps outside are somewhat warm...say maybe 45?, and then only at startup.
I think in our case it just takes the stove a little time to get the proper draft going up the pipe. I do out, T, then up about 10'.
Now that it's colder out, I don't even get the odor at startup.

Jim

 

[mrmichaeljmoore]

I need to seal the cap for the cleanout tee on the back of
the stove inside the house.
I am getting some smoke leakage from there.

What should I use? I have some black Rutland RTV high heat
silicone sealant. Should I use that? Or some other sort of
silicone sealant?

Also, what do you guys do when you need to clean the pipe?
Just cut away the silicone, then re-silicone after cleaning?

Thanks.
Mm

 

[krooser]

Red RTV is the high temp product you need.

Many of us use a leaf blower to clean out the stove a vent pipes. Do a search for "leaf blower" for lots of good info.

 

[littlesmokey]

Only time is smell anything is when we have a power outage. I don't have a backup system and no vertical piping so the smoke somehow gets into the home. other than that - no smell at all.

And there lies your answer. You are getting outside leaking inside. Check your seal at the thimble and around the exhaust pipe. Without a vertical rise it's creaping back througha crack somewhere. If you were to add about 4'vertical rise you probably wouldn't have any odor. Just my foolish guess after having the same problem in a former location.

 

[mrmichaeljmoore]

Red RTV is the high temp product you need.

Many of us use a leaf blower to clean out the stove a vent pipes. Do a search for "leaf blower" for lots of good info.

yeah.....saw the leafblower trick. I tried to hook up my
blower to it, but i never got a good seal so it really didn't
work for me. I'll probably try it again this year. Maybe I'll
post a pic of my exhaust pipe set-up so you pros could help me get
the blower trick to work.

So I guess I'll have to silicone, clean, then re-silicone until
I get the blower trick to work.....

Mm

 

[eschills]

Ok I missed this topic and just started a new thread. I hope it can be deleted. I have the same issue as far as the room smelling like I was burning in an open fireplace, even hours after the stove has been shut down. I resealed my pipes, except for the T-cap, before burning this fall. I use foil tape on the T cap. I do see a little smoke from the T during start up. Could it be coming from the bottom where there is holes? I know there is a double wall and I guess if it gets past it could come out the bottom of the T cap.

 

[HEMI]

I had the wood smell on start up, come to find out it was the T leaking....wrapped it with foil tape extremely well, no more wood smell. MUCH BETTER

 

[mrmichaeljmoore]

I have some Nashua brand foil tape in my garage.....but
there is nothing on the roll that says if it is for high temp
applications....
All I can tell you is that The lettering on the inside of the roll is maroon in color.
Not sure if that helps......

Since I am not sure about what type of tape it is, Does the cleanout tee get hot enough
to require high-temp tape?

 

[mrmichaeljmoore]

I have some Nashua brand foil tape in my garage.....but
there is nothing on the roll that says if it is for high temp
applications....
All I can tell you is that The lettering on the inside of the roll is maroon in color.
Not sure if that helps......

Since I am not sure about what type of tape it is, Does the cleanout tee get hot enough
to require high-temp tape?

I just checked the Nashua website. It looks like I have nashua 322
tape. Doesn't say anything about temp....seems like just a general use
foil tape. I think I'll tape up my cleanout tee with that and see
if that helps with the leak.

Mm