propane smell?

[iron]

this morning, after loading up the fireplace/stove and then rocking our baby back to sleep, when i came out of the room i noticed a smell like you'd have with a mr. heater propane tank attachment in the house. this is a first.

should i be concerned? i think i had a piece of birch in the mix (or something that looks like it - white papery skin, but more like a cedar color/grain on the inside), so that might have been different. but, i know i've burned a few pieces like this before and haven't smelled it.

 

[JA600L]

Is it possible the stove back puffed?

 

[begreen]

Did the fireplace get a bit hotter than usual?

 

[rwhite]

Do you use propane?

 

[iron]

no propane. fireplace wasn't any hotter than normal.

i think it was actually a staining/polyurethane project i was doing in my garage. even though i had the window in the garage open, it must've penetrated through the garage ceiling into the house. crazy.

is there danger with this? i'd hate to supercharge the inside of my house with explosive gases only to have the fireplace light it off...

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The fireplace could have pulled air from the garage.

 

[iron]

maybe. garage window is opposite side of the house from the OAK, so probably 50-60ft.

 

[jetsam]

You need hydrogen sulfide and ethylene and an appropriate catalyst to make propane smell- not likely in a woodstove, and even if it was produced, it'd burn off.

Propane is odorless. The same stuff that is added to it so you can smell it is also added to butane.

Do you possibly have a leaky propane or butane torch/cylinder near the stove?

That stuff does not smell like polyurethane.