Film on inside of house windows and dust on cabinet doors and other vertical objects

[Light my fire!]

Greetings!

New to this forum, found someone who had a similar issue posted here years ago, but did not see that the solution was ever resolved.

I have a Pacific Energy stove- burning for several seasons now. This is the first year I've had an issue with a film on the windows in the house almost as if a smoker lived here-no one smokes! Also noticing an increased level of dust-or maybe it's the same film from the windows-on the kitchen cabinet doors, the wood baseboard trim and 6-12 inches up the wood chair legs at the table.

When I installed the flue from the stove to the ceiling, a double insulated elbow did get dented on a seam, but I do not smell any smoke in the house-ever. And it has not been an issue until this year.

Last year I burned compressed logs primarily, this year it's been elm and blue spruce. Both have been seasoned for 18 months minimum and are covered.

Love my woodstove, but my lovely wife is not happy about the side effects!

Any ideas?

Thanks!
Come on baby, light my fire!

 

[begreen]

Welcome. That is an odd one. Can we assume this has just started this winter? Is there a humidifier running?

If it is the stove, the question is why? Is there a blower on the stove? If yes, is it turned off when the stove door is open for loading and ash cleanout? Is the ash pan being used for ash collection?

 

[Light my fire!]

Yes, it did just start this winter.
My wife does have a small room humidifier running for her house plants.
No blower on the stove and the ash pan doesn’t have anything in it despite ash in the stove.

 

[begreen]

If the humidifier is new this year, that is the likely culprit. The symptoms described are typical with ultrasonic humifiers in hard water areas.

Why Does My Humidifier Leave a White Film on Everything?

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[Dieselhead]

I’d notice a visible haze when the sun came through the windows while running an ultrasonic, I switched to a wick type.

 

[Light my fire!]

I did have to replace my door gasket. The seal on latch side is tight, other 4 sides are not. That’s probably the issue?

 

[Light my fire!]

Thanks for the tips on the humidifier. So the issue would have nothing to do with heating with wood or are they correlated?

 

[begreen]

Thanks for the tips on the humidifier. So the issue would have nothing to do with heating with wood or are they correlated?

Given that this has not been an issue in the past, the humidifier is the prime suspect. Try turning off the humidifier for a month and see. If that is the culprit, switching to a different style humidifier should help.

The stove door gasket is not likely to be related. As long as there is decent draft, the firebox is under negative pressure, a slight vacuum.