Dog hairs are fouling my fun

[Ill Wind]

I have an Enviro Mini A that is getting choked full of hairs and dust all through the back of the stove. Pets are the cause but I am amazed the stove is so vulnerable to such fouling. I do have an idea though...

I was wondering what you folks think of using some kind of filter media to reduce the amount of hairs etc that get in through the vents on the back? I thought I might try a coarse furnace filter material which is moderately heat resistant. The filter material I am considering would cause little restriction in the movement of air but would cut the ingress of debris considerably. What say ye to this solution?

Cheers!

 

[jackman]

Sounds like a plan. Let us know how it works out.

 

[heat seeker]

There are threads on here about this very topic. I believe that the consensus was to avoid filters, and they can cause more problems than they fix. Try a search on this forum, and you will get various opinions and ideas.

 

[Highbeam]

I'm sitting here imaging what your lungs must look like if the air is so foul that your pellet stove is being choked out! We have been running a stand alone HEPA filter for a few years now, affectionately named "the monster", that attempts to filter funk from the air. We also removed carpets and went to solid surfaces which made a big difference since we were able to clean the floors and less shedding of carpet fibers.

Filtering the intake air for your stove sounds like the wrong way to go.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

I'm sitting here imaging what your lungs must look like if the air is so foul that your pellet stove is being choked out! We have been running a stand alone HEPA filter for a few years now, affectionately named "the monster", that attempts to filter funk from the air. We also removed carpets and went to solid surfaces which made a big difference since we were able to clean the floors and less shedding of carpet fibers.

Filtering the intake air for your stove sounds like the wrong way to go.

Though your concern about one's lungs is valid and genuine, the human body is an amazing thing. It can filter particulate matter very well. It's gases that are my concern. Sitting in traffic for a couple hours a day, or working around parts cleaners and other solvents or paints that are gases the body can not filter.

I'm curious about this stand alone filer however. Is it pretty power efficient? Can it just be turned on and left alone 24/7 until the filters need changed? I too have removed the carpets and have now a painted wood floor. But since I leave the windows open in the summer, with screens of course, the dust in the house is quite heavy at times. Maybe a stand alone filter running on solar power would be something I can benefit from.. I dont have much room, so it would have to be a compact unit.

 

[Highbeam]

Though your concern about one's lungs is valid and genuine, the human body is an amazing thing. It can filter particulate matter very well. It's gases that are my concern. Sitting in traffic for a couple hours a day, or working around parts cleaners and other solvents or paints that are gases the body can not filter.

I'm curious about this stand alone filer however. Is it pretty power efficient? Can it just be turned on and left alone 24/7 until the filters need changed? I too have removed the carpets and have now a painted wood floor. But since I leave the windows open in the summer, with screens of course, the dust in the house is quite heavy at times. Maybe a stand alone filter running on solar power would be something I can benefit from.. I dont have much room, so it would have to be a compact unit.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0067X12EW/?tag=hearthamazon-20

We got this thing and it uses very low wattage (6?) on low which is where it stays until the sensor thinks that there is junk in the air and then it ramps up the flow rate until the sensor thinks it is clean again. I added a prefilter of the black carbon pad that seems to catch most of the visible stuff to preserve the HEPA filter. I can't say we are now dust free but the thing collects a whole bunch of dust between cleanings which I do with a shop vac. It has a pretty small footprint. Every time we sweep the floors, the sensor triggers the unit to fire up higher to clean the air.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0067X12EW/?tag=hearthamazon-20

We got this thing and it uses very low wattage (6?) on low which is where it stays until the sensor thinks that there is junk in the air and then it ramps up the flow rate until the sensor thinks it is clean again. I added a prefilter of the black carbon pad that seems to catch most of the visible stuff to preserve the HEPA filter. I can't say we are now dust free but the thing collects a whole bunch of dust between cleanings which I do with a shop vac. It has a pretty small footprint. Every time we sweep the floors, the sensor triggers the unit to fire up higher to clean the air.

So it shuts off with a sensor. That makes it even more interesting. Thanks for the info. I dust my house the "Homer Simpson" way.

 

[Highbeam]

So it shuts off with a sensor. That makes it even more interesting. Thanks for the info. I dust my house the "Homer Simpson" way.

It runs on low speed 24/7 almost silent but kicks up to higher speeds when it detects particulate.

 

[pete7713]

here's another solution:

http://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/hairless-dog-breeds/

 

[Ill Wind]

Just an update on my experiences with a heat and fire resistant prefilter on the back of my Mini A: It works very well! There is still a lot of fine dust getting through but the majority of larger debris gets stopped at the filter material. Being borderline OCD I will still pull the panels every month for a dusting, which is dead easy anyways using a few attachments I made for an old Filter Queen canister vacuum assigned to stove duties. But the past month of use with the filters in place reveals ~80% or greater reduction which helps me sleep a little better knowing the burden on the motors etc has been substantially reduced. I'll try to upload a pic if I can remember...

Again I am using certified heat and fire resistant furnace filter material that I trim to fit and use the hook side of velcro fasteners which hold the material nicely in place and allows easy removal for cleaning. There is absolutely no reduction in air flow as the filter media is quite loosely woven and any added animal sourced filter material simply makes it work even better. Although I would hardly call the animals fire proof or even heat tolerant. Well, maybe the cats like heat a fair bit but the dog hates it. He likes to burrow into snow drifts during his happy times (winter) and generally lays around like a smelly rug all summer.