Ideas to Measure Indoor Air Quality

[backporch]

I have a Pacific Energy wood stove in my masonry fireplace. I have used it for about 8 years with no problems. Recently, when the weather was warmer, I was going to light the first fire of the season and I probably had more than normal smoke escape through the open door of the unit while getting it to light. It didn't have nearly the draft of a cold winter day.

My wife noticed the smoke smell and it probably did bother a breathing issue she was having at the time. Now she equates the use of the wood stove as dangerous to our health. I agree to a point that being around burning wood smoke is not good for anyone, but this unit, when used correctly, has almost no odor. I might be able to convince her that we can burn the wood I had delivered months ago if I can substantiate my claim with some kind of metering that shows the smoke in the house is negligible.

Any ideas on what kind of device could provide some backing to my thoughts? I guess a smoke detector is a start, but is there anything better... more convincing?

Thanks!!

 

[DAKSY]

Put an OAK on it & you just might solve the issue of smoke & smell in your home.
That & how to build top-down fires...

 

[Poindexter]

One component is total allergen load. If you got 10 year old wall to wall carpet, your house has a background allergen load on both yours and her immune system.

So while the wood stove is one piece of the puzzle that might be identified as putting her over the top, it likely isn't the whole story.

Sink drains is another to look at honestly. If you take the traps apart on all the bath and kitchen sinks, drag them outdoors and scrub them out really well you might be surprised.

You can look on amazon for indoor air quality monitors, retail ready units the run on batts or ac cords. The more parameters they measure, the more expensive they are. If you are kind of handy you can save a few bucks by purchasing an Arduino or Raspberry Pi and some sensors instead.

 

[backporch]

Daksy,

Not familiar with an OAK. Is it an acronym or suggestion to use hardwoods? My recent supply of firewood was purchased hardwoods and pretty dry so I can't blame my wood. The issue is not the smell or the smoke, but the amount of any smoke/gasses and the perception that it is bad.

Poindexter,

Thanks for the advice. I can't consider an arduino type solution. Would not be authoritative enough as the result could be an error with something I cobbled together, but a good idea. I will see what senors are available just out of curiosity.

I checked out some of what was on Amazon. Expensive devices. Knowing that smoke detectors start around $15, I was hoping I could find something that would provide a little more smarts than just a single threshold to set an alarm. Digital readouts seem to be limited to CO detectors.

 

[DAKSY]

Sorry. OAK = Outside Air Kit.

 

[jatoxico]

I wonder if a professional sweep and check of the entire system would ease her mind. And if this was a one time thing there may not any problem but is it possible any one of the connections has loosened or opened up?

 

[backporch]

Ahh... thanks.. I did consider trying to fuel the fire with outdoor air so I wouldn't lose any conditioned air. Problem with my fireplace is that the cleanout is in the basement because the masonry fireplace is not on an outside wall. I very briefly considered running ductwork to the cleanout but luckly convinced myself it didn't make sense. I doublt I have any issues with air in the firebox getting into the house. Even if I left the damper on the unit completely open, I think there would still be a draft on any cool day.

I will look into building a top down fire. I struggle building fires on most days, but once they get going... no issues

 

[backporch]

The unit has a stainless steel liner that I put in myself. I don't think anything has the possiblity of moving. I don't really notice any smells so I don't think I need to track down a leak. Only smells were starting the fire on a "warm" day... probably didn't have much of a draft. . At this point I was hoping a third part...some kind of electronic monitor.. could verify that the wood stove is not adding any smoke into the house

 

[SlyFerret]

Have you made any home improvements in the last year? Insulation, caulking, windows/doors, etc...?

If you are suddenly getting smoke smell it may be related to draft changes from other projects.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

 

[jatoxico]

I might be able to convince her that we can burn the wood I had delivered months ago

I struggle building fires on most days

These two statements make me wonder, how dry is this wood? Dry wood will burn much cleaner not to mention give more heat.

 

[backporch]

The wood I have delivered is pretty dry. Has been sitting on a covered porch and had an nice dry tone to it when it was delivered last fall. In the past I have had difficulty burning fires, especially without kindling, but the wood I have now is as good as any I have used.

The smoke smell is really not my issue. When I start a fire with this unit the only thing that smells like smoke is my hands. All other smells go up the chimney. Since the concern started I burned another fire for several hours. I was in and out of the house and couldn't even tell a fire was burning

I was hoping to find a monitor that would verify that everything is working correctly.

 

[jatoxico]

OK well the major concern with burning wood is small particulate matter. Because they penetrate the airways so deeply particles 2.5 micron or less are considered the most likely to cause an adverse health effect. These are the particles that are measured from effluent of EPA stoves. Burning is also a complex reaction that results in the formation of many VOC's. Burning dry wood (<20%) in a properly installed EPA stove is the best way to limit the formation of these pollutants and minimize your exposure hence the questions about install and wood.

I do see some handheld devices that purportedly can measure PM2.5 (e.g. Dylos DC-1100 PRO). They seem to be oriented towards mold and other particles so not sure if they work for this purpose. I would call them and see. Use PM2.5 in your search for devices. As far as complex VOC's I can't imagine a home device being able to do that.

 

[backporch]

jatoxico,
Thank you for that information. I can clearly see that this is not something that can be inexpensively monitored. If I was planning on being at the same address for the next five years I might invest in something like this, but I will more likely let the stove sit idle for this winter and try and figure out what to do with the firewood. The cost to clean and recalibrate these things is also a factor.

Appreciate all the responses from everyone on the forum.