I have some problems that I would like some suggestions with this involves my home and my wonderful wood burning stove...I love my stove but I cannot burn wood in it for I am allergic to wood and I am getting over this allergy now for three weeks and I have been diagnosed at the hospital. I am on the mend today...thank goodness...Now what products (those paper kind of logs that I could burn without the by products of bad ingredients) that you wood burners could suggest that would not hurt my wood burning stove...Someone mentioned something awhile back and I forget the name of these logs...help...Second problem is a more expensive one and I am trying to make my home into emf free home and will fill you in as I buy stuff in order to do this and right now I have bought a canopy for my bed that i think would help me sleep better at night time also it has a floor mat that is grounded with a cord that plugs in and knowing nothing about grounding kind of scares me and what does this mean? I hope I have this thread in the right place on here for not wishing to disrupt the flow of the forum here so if its in the wrong place or not allowed please let me know for these discussions are very important for me. old mrs clancey
House and wood burning problems
- Thread starter clancey
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
I would ask them specifically what wood you are allergic to. It is highly unlikely you are allergic to more than one or two types of wood so just get species that you are not allergic to
I have not heard of someone being allergic to wood. I have heard about being allergic to some chemicals in wood. Wood itself is rather inert. (Though wood dust is not healthy for mucus membranes and lungs etc. - as any dust.)
In fact, having a stud-framed home would suck if one is allergic to wood...?
Sawdust logs are also just wood. Only ground up. So it would not make a difference otherwise. And you can't control what wood goes in there, so if you are allergic to some compound in some trees, those sawdust logs could contain that tree - or not. You won't know. Hence I second bholler's suggestion above.
Grounding is simply to make sure there is no voltage on the metal with respect to the "zero" as defined by the common electrode, which is the earth. Hence "grounding".
In fact, having a stud-framed home would suck if one is allergic to wood...?
Sawdust logs are also just wood. Only ground up. So it would not make a difference otherwise. And you can't control what wood goes in there, so if you are allergic to some compound in some trees, those sawdust logs could contain that tree - or not. You won't know. Hence I second bholler's suggestion above.
Grounding is simply to make sure there is no voltage on the metal with respect to the "zero" as defined by the common electrode, which is the earth. Hence "grounding".
I did not want to get into it too much and I made it in a general tone but I am allergic to sumac that I think came from my last order of mixed wood and i have asked my wood supplier to take the wood back and get it off my property. I got it pretty bad and it could have "blinded me" been on steriods and lotion and pills for three weeks now.. The kiln dried oak wood was wonderful and came from another state shipped in and that was just wonderful burning as well with a moisture content of 10-12 percent and i did just fine with that wood..So a person even needs to think about these things when you buy wood from strangers....Thank goodness most of you do your own wood--your fortunate there for you know what you got but my problem is improving each day and my eyes are cleared up but its been a real struggle....Now here is another question for you all for I do need this type of "help" right now...I washed everything down where I might have touch and now I am looking at my beautiful stove that I love to burn and could I ----have it taken outside and maybe sprayed down in real hot weather or would it hurt the stove?... clancey
There are several forms of sumac one gives many people a similar reaction as poison ivy. Most have latex in them. People have also had lots of problems with wood that had poison ivy vines growing on it.
You don't need to spray your stove down just clean the outside with a normal household cleaner.
Boy that's nice to know and I will have someone else clean up the stove really good..The doctor wrote down urishol--sp. maybe--something like that and I just spoke to the mixed wood supplier who I thought I would have a problem with and they will get me a date and pick up all the wood in my wood shed and dispose of it. They were very nice and he suggested them to get the kiln dried wood from GA too because it could have some of the sumac plant oil on it and might have got in the mixed wood . I burned both...So away it will go--cry cry...Thanks for your help...This has been a terrible experience but getting well now after about three weeks and it was scary.. I am so glad that I had the experience of burning wood for I really enjoyed it...Thanks for the help...clancey
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Urishol is the active compound in Poison Ivy, Rhus Toxicondendron, that makes your skin blister and break out. Your firewood had poison ivy growing on or near it.
Last edited:
Ok so that is the oil in poison sumac and poison ivy. Any degreaser or grease cutting soap like dawn does a good job of removing it.
Poison Sumac is is like poison ivy. I've never been exposed to it but have had very bad cases of poison ivy. Sumac is a terrible firewood. I think and hope you will be fine after you recover from poison ivy or poison sumac. I would bet you will still be able to burn wood in your stove. You just need some help making sure you get oak and some other woods as well. I'm surprised the guy sold sumac as firewood. It's a junk weed tree here in NJ.
My doctor sent me to a dermatologist who was very nice and he had pictures of my rash and told me that if I developed any breathing problems to come in immediately--I guess because of the smoke that I breathe in and he checked out my lungs really well. I notice now I walk far away from my beautiful little wood stack and after I spray it down and clean it real well maybe I can make it into a little green house or something or a tool shed--I am figuring...At first I thought that I had shingles or something and that was not the case. He told me that shingles follows up the nerve paths or something and this was completely scattered throughout my body mostly on my arms and face, eyes and mouth and also there is a vaccine for shingles that works...Life is a trip...Can anyone suggest a real good air cleaner that you all have experience with that might be good for my home. This stove was not a complete loss because it increased the value of my home especially with me adding on the extra porch area and its gets so sunny I might experiment with some plants or something for it will take awhile to get over this experience and I need to wait for my carpenter to come and help me with this possible new project...Thanks..clancey
Bigealta I asked him if there was sumac in the mixed wood and he said no just pine and oak and some other ones but not sumac...whatever it was it is terrible but I am getting well now--thank goodness but had a lot of medicine too to take--ugh...The doctor got real concerned with my eyes and my mouth outside and mostly concentrated on my lungs and asked if I was coughing any? I said no and my breathing seems just fine...By the way I took a bubble bath in dawn as well as oatmeal baths and they were fun and oatmeal cooked and strained and rub on as you bath is so nice and makes your skin feel slippery and good as well as relaxing just to soak in the tub--yes to oatmeal but strain it first so as not to stop up the tub...I love dawn too...clancey
It probably had poison ivy growing on the wood then.
Now I have a brand new problem and it is this--maybe a electrician or someone could help with this because it is beyond my pay grade..I hear a hum in my house that no one else hears and I am trying to solve that problem because I am staying in my home and not moving for at my age it is just too stressful to move and to get used to another place is unsettling to my mind-lol...Now my new problem is this my house has so much static energy that whenever I touch light switches or metal I get a pretty heavy shock no matter what shoes I wear rubber soles or otherwise and it mostly happens at night time when the "hum sound" changes and gets lower in sound but I never know until I touch something--wow--its like static electricity or something--any ideas here and all my blankets and clothing at night give off sparks and they scare me...the air is dry here maybe some humidity would help or make it worse? thanks...clancey
yes, standard winter issue: dry air. Sliding clothing or blankets will induce static charges that don't get dissipated easily by humidity in the air.
So a humidifier would be useful.
Cold mist (ultrasonic) humidifiers use less energy than ones that evaporate the water, but I've seen reports that any minerals in the water will also get airborne, creating dust and lower air quality indoors. So there's a trade-off.
So a humidifier would be useful.
Cold mist (ultrasonic) humidifiers use less energy than ones that evaporate the water, but I've seen reports that any minerals in the water will also get airborne, creating dust and lower air quality indoors. So there's a trade-off.
I always hear hums as well. Some are the router, cable box and tv. I can hear electrical sounds as well that other can't really hear, but they mostly are coming from something plugged in. Also i have some tinnitus so that comes and goes with the high pitched sound in the ears. I'm used to it so no big deal really.
Don't worry about all this stuff, it's all part of living.
Don't worry about all this stuff, it's all part of living.
Your funny bigealta you should see the towers around my house and someday I will take a picture of all of them and put on here..Its funny my environment seems warmer as well..But like you say its part of living--but a real negative right now but like you I am kind of getting used to it..There is 1800 or more satellites up there so who knows whats beaming down on us--scary for me. The airports are closing and cancelling flights because of snow but I have a feeling that those altimeters have something to do with it as well.. Even today there was something about a satellite going out of orbit or something because of a storm up there --where is that going to drop if it drops--brand new world this is and us oldsters I guess will have to learn to live with it...The idea about the humidity I think really worked because I dragged out a small (vick one manufacturer) that puts out white steam you can see but cold water and placed one of those packets that came with it for smell a slight odor of pine or something and its nice and "it really seems to be working" surprise surprise--no shocks so far....What is ultrasonic ones about sounds "modern and scary"to me...thanks everyone..clancey
Clancy -you sure do run into some good ones, There are people that have allergies to smoke,but you ran into the posion osk,sumac,ivy tainted wood. last thing in the world any should due is burn those plants as the oil vaporizes but does not burn per say. people miles away can by affected by it and not have a clue. Ginko tree also has that oil although not as fierce. There are others. somepeople have a real bad reaction to oils in Walnut. For me Hazel nuts are the same as Cyanide and most other human edibles nuts are also extremely bad for me
Cold mist is fine if you use distilled water or water filtered thru a RO filter.
Thanks kborndale for the tip...nice to know...Blades its a real problem for me and it got me scared. I am having all my wood hauled out of here because I do not want no one using it just in case they had a reaction like me---terrible ...I called up my stove installer and he is coming friday to clean the stove out for me. I asked the receptionist a few questions and she said they deal with pine wood and gave me a supplier to buy wood from next time saying they had success with this wood supplier but they only use pine...She was not happy with the paper products or logs that people burn and so she suggested pine...I told her that when its all cleaned out maybe I will try again but right now not so much--my enthusiasm is gone. We laughed if this could be laughed at but the installer and his son will be here on Friday..I never ever had any allergy to the woods or wood and I have made my travels in all kinds of country and river banks and no time did I get something like this..But I am getting well now but its been a struggle..And Blades it might very well be the smoke because on my third or fourth burn I could not get the fire started and it was out of the mixed batch and a whole bunch of smoke came out the door and I thought maybe the stove leaked water or something because it just would not catch that well--the wood was ugly looking too and 18% moisture too..The doctor was more concerned with my lungs then the rash and I kept telling him that I was fine and do not cough...but its funny you mentioned that for I do remember the smoke coming out the door when I was trying to light it...I am just so glad to be on the mend...so time will tell and we will see what happens--threw my nice gloves away too-ugh...thanks clancey
DuaeGuttae
Minister of Fire
Mrs. Clancey, I’m glad you are recovering. I, too, am very allergic to urushiol as is my mother and at least one of my four children. (The others probably are, too, but they’ve not gotten into it. Thankfully we don’t have it on our land in Texas.) That same child also has a problem with eating fresh mangoes, and it turns out that the peels contain urushiol. I didn’t know that until she got sick once after eating some peel on a mango.
I used to get bad cases of poison ivy often as a child. I used to get it from playing in the woods or from farm animals who would get into it and then rub on me. I once had a bad case that was suspected to be from neighbors burning brush as I was covered head to foot. When that case was developing I came home from school one day absolutely miserable with blisters all over. My mother called the dermatologist, but it was too late in the day for me to get to the office. He knew my history of reactions, though, so when she told him that I had poison ivy all over, he got my weight, filled a prescription of steroids at the pharmacy, and brought them to my house along with the standard creams. He knew how severe it could be.
It sounds like you had a strong exposure and a strong reaction. If your firewood really was the source, it’s good that you’re having it removed. I understand completely how such a bad experience has made you lose some excitement with your wood stove. Nevertheless, an allergy to urushiol definitely does not mean an allergy to firewood. I don’t want you to be confused about that and therefore be afraid to use your stove in the future. Pine is a fine wood to burn as long as it’s dry. You could also safely burn something like compressed wood blocks. Tractor Supply has a variety of them. I’m putting links that I hope will give you an idea of some options. (I personally prefer wood, but I did use a different kind of block for a period of time when I had torn rotator cuffs, and it was too hard for me to carry wood into the house. The blocks also have the advantage of definitely being dry whereas purchased wood does not.)
(broken link removed)
(broken link removed)
(broken link removed)
I’m not saying you need to jump right back into wood burning, but I just wanted to reiterate that though you’ve had a bad experience, it doesn’t mean that you will be unable to enjoy your woodstove in the future.
I used to get bad cases of poison ivy often as a child. I used to get it from playing in the woods or from farm animals who would get into it and then rub on me. I once had a bad case that was suspected to be from neighbors burning brush as I was covered head to foot. When that case was developing I came home from school one day absolutely miserable with blisters all over. My mother called the dermatologist, but it was too late in the day for me to get to the office. He knew my history of reactions, though, so when she told him that I had poison ivy all over, he got my weight, filled a prescription of steroids at the pharmacy, and brought them to my house along with the standard creams. He knew how severe it could be.
It sounds like you had a strong exposure and a strong reaction. If your firewood really was the source, it’s good that you’re having it removed. I understand completely how such a bad experience has made you lose some excitement with your wood stove. Nevertheless, an allergy to urushiol definitely does not mean an allergy to firewood. I don’t want you to be confused about that and therefore be afraid to use your stove in the future. Pine is a fine wood to burn as long as it’s dry. You could also safely burn something like compressed wood blocks. Tractor Supply has a variety of them. I’m putting links that I hope will give you an idea of some options. (I personally prefer wood, but I did use a different kind of block for a period of time when I had torn rotator cuffs, and it was too hard for me to carry wood into the house. The blocks also have the advantage of definitely being dry whereas purchased wood does not.)
(broken link removed)
(broken link removed)
(broken link removed)
I’m not saying you need to jump right back into wood burning, but I just wanted to reiterate that though you’ve had a bad experience, it doesn’t mean that you will be unable to enjoy your woodstove in the future.
I'll second the RedStone wood blocks from tractor supply, I keep a stack in my garage in case of power outages (I have electric heat). The poison ivy that hurt you was probably attached to or grown into the bark of another tree. I think the wood brick people minimize the amount of bark in the sawdust, to minimize the amount of ash, and to help the bricks bind together. The bricks are pure sawdust, no additives, held together by the natural glue (lignin) in the wood itself, after being compressed.
As for the satellites...well they are launching so many, they want to do that as cheaply as possible, so they launch them 50 at a time to a very low orbit (just above the atmosphere) and then the satellites use there own little thrusters to slowly climb up to their higher working orbit (which takes them a month or two). They do that in case some of the satellites are non-functional duds, they won't turn into space junk (in addition to being the cheapest way). The satellites are quite small and designed to burn up completely in the atmosphere.
Turns out the day after the last launch there was a big solar flare that emitted a lot of X-rays and other radiation (also called a space storm). The earths atmosphere blocks the X-rays (which is good for us), but the uppermost part of the atmosphere absorbed the X_rays and stuff, heated up, and swelled a few miles higher than normal. But then the orbit of those satellites was too low, and they were getting dragged down by the air faster than their little thrusters could lift them. And so Elon is out about $50 million. He can afford it, and launch the next batch a little higher.
As for the satellites...well they are launching so many, they want to do that as cheaply as possible, so they launch them 50 at a time to a very low orbit (just above the atmosphere) and then the satellites use there own little thrusters to slowly climb up to their higher working orbit (which takes them a month or two). They do that in case some of the satellites are non-functional duds, they won't turn into space junk (in addition to being the cheapest way). The satellites are quite small and designed to burn up completely in the atmosphere.
Turns out the day after the last launch there was a big solar flare that emitted a lot of X-rays and other radiation (also called a space storm). The earths atmosphere blocks the X-rays (which is good for us), but the uppermost part of the atmosphere absorbed the X_rays and stuff, heated up, and swelled a few miles higher than normal. But then the orbit of those satellites was too low, and they were getting dragged down by the air faster than their little thrusters could lift them. And so Elon is out about $50 million. He can afford it, and launch the next batch a little higher.
Thanks and the information is real good. When I get over this I will try out those logs but it will take awhile maybe if everything goes well--next winter.. lol My girlfriend came over a few weeks back and I scared her with all the pink stuff on my face and the antibiotics and steroids and she thought I was dying...especially my mouth and nose and eye areas----very lucky here for it did not get into my ears or nose but talk about "itch" my goodness terrible and my arm and back and other places were just covered with it and had no idea what it was so my doctor took one look and immediately sent me to the skin doctor at the hospital and I never got faster service--lol...It was terrible..I right now just have two spots left and they are drying up--relief--at least...Those oatmeal baths really work and strain the oatmeal before you use it like soap in your tub--feels good and does give you relief..I really appreciate all the good information and in time I will be burning again and the stove will be cleaned up tomorrow. I keep looking for new spots on my skin but so far so good and I am not coughing...So things are good. Thanks and by the way I might get my bed canopy too and when it is set up I will take a picture of it for you for I think it will look real pretty..They said it was being shipped from where ??? appreciate...clancey
That's what I would use but now there is a man here taking out all my beautiful wood from the wood shed because I am allergic to sumac or poison ivory or whatever--got a real bad case and since I have two kinds of wood out there all mixed together cannot take the chance so the man is taking the wood away at this moment--cry cry...Next winter since I love burning the wood stove will think about the paper products that are log like even if they burn up quickly because of the warm heat and ambiance..Just cannot take the chance it almost went into my eyes and the doctor was really worried about my lungs and I thumbs down a xray but he asked me if I cough and I said "No" but did give me a warning that if I had any problem breathing to come in right away..pronto....Thanks for the suggestion festerw and appreciate it...clancey
Similar threads
