New to wood burning. Wood smell a bad thing?

[dirk]

We had a Lopi Endeavor installed this past fall and have been burning Red Oak, seasoned about 1.5 years. This is the first stove we've had and I was questioning whether or not there should be ANY odor. It's certainly not a smoke odor that's offensive but there is a pleasant odor. Is this bad? Should there be zero odor?

Thanks

 

[gyrfalcon]

We had a Lopi Endeavor installed this past fall and have been burning Red Oak, seasoned about 1.5 years. This is the first stove we've had and I was questioning whether or not there should be ANY odor. It's certainly not a smoke odor that's offensive but there is a pleasant odor. Is this bad? Should there be zero odor?

Thanks

Depends. Some stoves let more smoke out when you open the door than others, and I think the bigger the door, the more likely opening it suddenly is likely to suck a little smoke out. Until I got my Heritage, I was using the tiny little Hearthstone Tribute, and I never had the least whiff of smoke smell from it. But with the Heritage, I quickly learned I have to open the door just a crack for a couple of seconds before opening it completely or it gives off quite a little puff, and sucks some ashes out as a "bonus."

Also, it probably depends on how sensitive your nose is to the smell. Some people notice the slightest bit right away, others not at all.

I don't know your stove, but maybe somebody who owns one will come along and weigh in. But in the meantime, try just cracking the door a fraction of an inch for a moment before opening it fully and see if that makes a difference. I don't think the oak per se or the length of seasoning should make that much of a difference, though different woods have different smells for sure.

 

[dmmoss51]

You said it was installed this fall... could you be smelling the paint curing? Did you follow the instructions for break in fires?

 

[Woody Stover]

try just cracking the door a fraction of an inch for a moment before opening it fully and see if that makes a difference.

The Buck 91 has a very wide door. I have to slowly open it an inch or so for several seconds, then slowly open it the rest of the way, or it will pull smoke into the room.

 

[Charles1981]

1. First few fires will let off a chemical paint smell: very offensive (probably not what is going on).
2. A stove belching smoke or even small amounts of smoke: usually a sign of a problem. you state that it is a wood smell but not a smoke odor which is a little confusing. If you smell campfire at all it typically means smoke is entering the house when it really shouldn't.
3. Distinct catalyst smell if present if you experience an over fire. I've over fired twice and each time am pretty sure I have smelled my catalyst. Definitely not proud but the smell of a over fired catalyst is also a chemical offensive smell (and probably not going on).

So I am guessing you have to be having smoke entering your house. I could be leaking from the stove itself it is also possible if you house is very drafty to be coming back into the house as it leaves the stack but that would mean you are burning extremely inefficiently. Do you have two chimney's by any chance? Sometimes smoke can exit/leave once chimney and a down draft can occur especially if the flue is open or it is a little leaky letting smoke into the house as well.

Some may find the smell of campfire pleasant but to me only if its outside and not inside my house.

 

[gyrfalcon]

The Buck 91 has a very wide door. I have to slowly open it an inch or so for several seconds, then slowly open it the rest of the way, or it will pull smoke into the room.

There we go. Took me totally by surprise with the Heritage, and then when I thought about it for a minute, it was kind of "Duh!" The first few times, I didn't even notice any smoke, I just noticed that lovely wood smoke smell and puzzled over it. Then I paid a little closer attention and it was pretty obvious what was going on.

 

[gyrfalcon]

1. First few fires will let off a chemical paint smell: very offensive (probably not what is going on).
2. A stove belching smoke or even small amounts of smoke: usually a sign of a problem. you state that it is a wood smell but not a smoke odor which is a little confusing. If you smell campfire at all it typically means smoke is entering the house when it really shouldn't.
3. Distinct catalyst smell if present if you experience an over fire. I've over fired twice and each time am pretty sure I have smelled my catalyst. Definitely not proud but the smell of a over fired catalyst is also a chemical offensive smell (and probably not going on).

So I am guessing you have to be having smoke entering your house. I could be leaking from the stove itself it is also possible if you house is very drafty to be coming back into the house as it leaves the stack but that would mean you are burning extremely inefficiently. Do you have two chimney's by any chance? Sometimes smoke can exit/leave once chimney and a down draft can occur especially if the flue is open or it is a little leaky letting smoke into the house as well.

Some may find the smell of campfire pleasant but to me only if its outside and not inside my house.

Uh, let's not scare the guy to death until we find out whether he's just opening the door too quickly first.

 

[fossil]

We had a Lopi Endeavor installed this past fall and have been burning Red Oak, seasoned about 1.5 years. This is the first stove we've had and I was questioning whether or not there should be ANY odor. It's certainly not a smoke odor that's offensive but there is a pleasant odor. Is this bad? Should there be zero odor?

Thanks

Are you talking about inside your house, or outside?

 

[Charles1981]

Well my intent was not to scare him. I apologize if my post is coming off that way. It just sounds like he has probably smoke entering his house (just trying to rule out all of the possible causes of a odor from the wood stove).

 

[dirk]

Thanks for the replies.

The installer did say that it should smell foul the first couple of fires due to the finish paint. I guess I should give them a call since it is a faint campfire odor.

I don't have a second chimney nor is the house drafty. I have to say that I've haven't been too careful when I've opened the door. Also the stack runs outside the house, not through an existing chimney.

 

[gyrfalcon]

---------

Well my intent was not to scare him. I apologize if my post is coming off that way. It just sounds like he has probably smoke entering his house (just trying to rule out all of the possible causes of a odor from the wood stove).

That's cool, and it's really thoughtful of you But generally works best to start with the simplest explanation and work from there, especially with people who are new to burning, or new to burning EPA stoves, which I assume this guy is.

 

[dirk]

And the odor is inside, but only noticed when you leave the house then reenter. I don't notice it when I'm in the room with the stove. Just when you walk back into the house.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Thanks for the replies.

The installer did say that it should smell foul the first couple of fires due to the finish paint. I guess I should give them a call since it is a faint campfire odor.

I don't have a second chimney nor is the house drafty. I have to say that I've haven't been too careful when I've opened the door. Also the stack runs outside the house, not through an existing chimney.

Try the door trick for a couple of days before you pester the installer.

It's pretty hard to mistake that paint smell for woodsmoke, but did you do your break-in fires as the manual spells them out? For whatever it's worth, I had almost undetectable paint smell from my Heritage, but since it was shoulder season when I got it, I didn't manage a hot fire until quite some time later, and I guess it must have burned off bit by bit with lower-temp fires along the way.

 

[lopiliberty]

First off do you have the blower for your endeavor? If so and you use it that could be the problem. And here's why. The bypass rod passes through a unsealed hole in the flue collar which is inside the convection chamber. When you turn the fan on it came sometimes suck a little smoke out that hole. It has happened to me but only once when I first got my stove because I was still in the learning curve with a lot of smoke going up the chimney.

 

[dirk]

First off do you have the blower for your endeavor? If so and you use it that could be the problem. And here's why. The bypass rod passes through a unsealed hole in the flue collar which is inside the convection chamber. When you turn the fan on it came sometimes suck a little smoke out that hole. It has happened to me but only once when I first got my stove because I was still in the learning curve with a lot of smoke going up the chimney.

Yes I have the blower. My blower typically doesn;t kick on until well after I get the fire going.

And as far as the break in goes, I ran a series of small fires the first few times. That was at the suggestion of the installer.

I'll admit that for the first couple of fires I had a bit of smoke come back into the house. The flue was cold and I didn't realize the air in the flue needed to heat up. I did notice some smoke come out of the seam where the pipe connects to the stove. But only on that first fire. Could this be my issue?

 

[fossil]

I'm just not sure you have an "issue". You've got a big steel box sitting inside your house in which you quite intentionally build a vigorous wood fire. The whole thing heats up to anywhere between 300°F and 700°F. You say "It's certainly not a smoke odor that's offensive but there is a pleasant odor. Is this bad? Should there be zero odor?" I say I'm not reading anything here that gives me cause for concern. You could be smelling the hot steel, or the hot whatever is surrounding the stove, or a bit of residual odor from reloading, or whatnot. It takes time to become accustomed to burning a wood stove in your home. So long as the installation was done properly and you're operating the appliance in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, then relax and enjoy learning what wood heat's all about. Rick

 

[BrotherBart]

40 years of doing this stuff and I can't break the habit of walking over and opening the stove door too fast. This joint smells like wood smoke all winter.

 

[wolfonahill]

When reloading my Clydesdale insert, I definitely open just a crack for a bit and then slowly open the rest of the way.
Another thing though is the blower can sometimes pull smoke out of the firebox as well. I usually turn it way down or completely off when opening the door.

 

[UncleJoe]

Personally I like a touch of the wood smoke smell. It takes me down memory lane to the first hunting camp I belonged to; my uncle's. He had a wood stove in one room and a wood cook stove in the kitchen. He fired up the cookstove at 4:00AM and a bit of smoke was the first thing you smelled when you woke up. The next thing was a huge cast iron skillet of bacon.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

 

[Charles1981]

I mean I sometimes get the smell of smoke in the house if i open the top loader too quickly after opening the bypass but other than that the only other time i smell smoke is if it is super windy and i get back-puffing and a little wisp of smoke gets shot out the top loader.

I just had 12 family members over for Turkey Day and they were amazed at the fact that the house didn't smell like smoke and they each had expectations and thought for sure any house that burned wood would at least somewhat smell like that.

I wouldn't want to smell smoke in my house still.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Personally I like a touch of the wood smoke smell. It takes me down memory lane to the first hunting camp I belonged to; my uncle's. He had a wood stove in one room and a wood cook stove in the kitchen. He fired up the cookstove at 4:00AM and a bit of smoke was the first thing you smelled when you woke up. The next thing was a huge cast iron skillet of bacon.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I'm with you, Uncle Joe. My family had no hunting camp, but even in the burbs, the smell of woodsmoke in winter was magical, and you knew there was a fire going in the fireplace inside. I've said from day one that the one drawback to our modern stoves is the fact that there's no woodsmoke smell, especially outdoors on a cold, crisp, snow-swept day.

I'm actually rather pleased that my Heritage belches a little now and then. But... it's not sposed to happen with airtight EPA stoves, so if it's not hasty door opening, there's something leaking that has to be tracked down.

Totally down with you on the big skillet of bacon, especially if it's smoky country bacon and not that pallid stuff they sell in the supermarkets.

 

[TvSteve]

Our Lopi Endeavor burning 24X7 has no indoor odor whatsoever. I always open the bypass when opening the door. Our stack runs outside the house also, and I the blower in use 25% of the time. Outside air is provided to the stove.

 

[billb3]

There won't be zero odor.
The hands of the firebox re-filler are going to smell like smoke.
Maybe they won't be quite so bad if you wear gloves every single time, but c'mon, it's a stinky fire in a box, if it was a box full of fudge brownies baking your house and hands would smell like fudge brownies every time you open the door.

 

[firefighterjake]

Only time I smell wood smoke inside the home is if I have a bit of a draft problem . . . typically in early Fall or late Spring when I fail to fix the reversed draft.

I sometimes smell some wood smoke outside the home during the normal course of burning . . . on the initial reload it tends to smell like wood smoke of the olden days, but if I smell anything once the secondaries are going it's more of a "industrial" smell.

If the house smelled like wood smoke or if I smelled like some folks that I meet that reek of wood smoke I can guarantee you that I would not be burning wood . . . if for no other reason than my wife would put the kibosh on that.

 

[rudysmallfry]

I have the aforementioned big door Heritage. The only times I smell wood inside the house are when I light a smoker, (cold start with poor draft, too warm or wet a day, give the smoke detectors fits). Those I can still smell the next day no matter how many windows I open to try and get the house cleared out. The other wood smell is when I put on a clunker piece of wood that just won't burn. White Oak comes to mind. It smolders just fine, but try shutting the door no matter how many other pieces of wood are in there, and it just never lights up. It just slowly smolders away and makes a mess of the air. Other than those two times, you would never know I'm burning wood.

The other smells as others have mentioned are the burn in fires...yuck, and the smell that single wall pipe makes when you have a new load of wood, have the air wide open, forget to turn it down and temp climbs rapidly and produces a lovely warning odor. Any time I smell it, I know I will see a temp of 500 on my pipe and will have to shut the air down to nothing and stand by to make sure it comes back to me.

Don't stress too much about it. Fire burning is an art form. Every set up is different and takes lots of trail and error.