Soot in air filter

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gitmo234

Member
Dec 1, 2010
95
Oxford, PA
Just a quick question. I have a wood fireplace which I burn relatively regularly. I've made the mistake once of trying to start the fire with the flue closed (letting some smoke in the house, although not that much. Would that, as well as other smaller incidents be enough to cause my air filter to turn black relatively quickly due to soot?

I know one mistake already.. I vacuumed m harman with a normal shop vac and while I was vacuuming I didnt notice ashes were shooting out.

Is this kinda stuff what would keep my air filters in the HVAC system regularly turning black pretty quickly?
 
Have you had the flue inspected?

If the plain ol' fireplace is letting enough combustion by-products into the house to soot up the HVAC filter, I'd suspect a draft issue.
 
Do you burn candles frequently? They will make filters turn black. Seen it many times over the years.
 
I get some fine soot in the air filter during the burning months. I have a feeling it comes from the dust in the air getting burned as the blower moves it over the hot firebox.
 
gitmo234 said:
Just a quick question. I have a wood fireplace which I burn relatively regularly. I've made the mistake once of trying to start the fire with the flue closed (letting some smoke in the house, although not that much. Would that, as well as other smaller incidents be enough to cause my air filter to turn black relatively quickly due to soot?

I know one mistake already.. I vacuumed m harman with a normal shop vac and while I was vacuuming I didnt notice ashes were shooting out.

Is this kinda stuff what would keep my air filters in the HVAC system regularly turning black pretty quickly?

If your using a Shop Vac, the only way to make sure your not expelling any soot and ash. Is to run Drywall filter bags (fine filtration) and also a HEPA filter instead of the white filter it comes with.

No matter what you vacuum with a Shop Vac. Make sure its Cold and ember free!!

But a standard filter with no bag filter is only asking for a dark dusty mess. That you sometimes cant see.
 
The answer to your question is yes.
 
thanks. I will have the chimney inspected after this season... Last year I ran some really crappy 1980's model fireplace insert and there were a few times when I filled the house with smoke. i think thats to blame for some of it. Then vacuuming up (cold) ashes and not realizing what I was doing until I looked behind me and the whole basement looked like it was on fire (ashes coming out of cracks in the shop vac)... ensures my air filters in the ducts turning black in about a week or so.
 
DexterDay said:
gitmo234 said:
Just a quick question. I have a wood fireplace which I burn relatively regularly. I've made the mistake once of trying to start the fire with the flue closed (letting some smoke in the house, although not that much. Would that, as well as other smaller incidents be enough to cause my air filter to turn black relatively quickly due to soot?

I know one mistake already.. I vacuumed m harman with a normal shop vac and while I was vacuuming I didnt notice ashes were shooting out.

Is this kinda stuff what would keep my air filters in the HVAC system regularly turning black pretty quickly?

If your using a Shop Vac, the only way to make sure your not expelling any soot and ash. Is to run Drywall filter bags (fine filtration) and also a HEPA filter instead of the white filter it comes with.

No matter what you vacuum with a Shop Vac. Make sure its Cold and ember free!!

But a standard filter with no bag filter is only asking for a dark dusty mess. That you sometimes cant see.

What a difference!! I stopped by home depot and picked up a HEPA filter and some drywall bags and there was ZERO noticeable dust (as opposed to being too cloudy to see), and just in general it seemed to work better. Every saturday morning I like to break out my tools and wire brush and scrub my furnace and stove and do the full deep cleaning, taking everything apart. It surprisingly only takes about 30 minutes to an hour to have everything squeaky clean like new. The difference was amazing.

I was able to just leave the vacuum running near where I was scrubbing and working so it sucked up ash and dust.

I was considering an ash vacuum. No way now. $40 and I have something just as good, and it cost about as much as my shop vac did originally.

Thanks again for the recommendation.
 
I want to add I bought a stack of FPR 8 rated filters (was using 4), to suck up whats left. I figure if I catch a lot I may go through a filter a week for awhile, but eventually it will cut down.
 
I bought an Ash Vac and I went back to my Shop Vac. Using a Drywall filter bag and a HEPA filter it has three times the suction and ZERO dust and ash. I leave it run the whole time too.

Glad it worked out for you. I use about a Filter a month (sometimes longer) and still have the HEPA from a couple years ago. Because I use bags and it pre-filters the ash. My HEPA still looks brand new. HEPA filter is pricey, but using filter bags will ensure it has a long life.
 
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