New wood burning stove and red eyes?

[griz7674]

We have had our stove installed for a month or two now. Periodically (twice to be exact), my wife has complained for days on end of her eyes being red and painful. We had some warm weather when we did not use the stove and it did clear up. I need to try that again to see the cause and effect. If the stove is truly causing her eyes to get irritated, are there any tricks to help eliminate this? I spent far too much money on the stove to not use it.

Bob

 

[Jay H]

Do you have a reliable (relative) humidity meter? The stove tends to dry the air out, which is why some use a hearth kettle with water on the top to add a bit of moisture...

Alternatively, perhaps an air filter. Sometimes cleaning the ash (without a vacuum anyway) can get dusty which could irritate a sensitive eye....

Jay

 

[griz7674]

I had thought that this might be the cause but usually I am the one who is prone to have ill effects when the humidity is low. I've been fine so I chalked this up to non-humidity related.

Bob

 

[bambam]

Like Jay said it might be getting dry in your house, or maybe you were getting higher temps in stove and paint was beginning to cure a little farther. When I installed my insert I didn't really notice the smell of the paint curring but every one else that came in the house complained about the fumes.

 

[Rowski]

Possibly outdoor allergies.

We were concerned for my wife who has allergies dust, pollen, mold, etc. This was our first winter heating with wood. She was really concerned about the dust allergens. Nearing the end of the season now her outdoor type allergies are kicking in. I asked her about the allergies this winter. She said she only had issues when she handled certain kinds of wood not necessarily species of wood but wood that had other stuff, ie mold. We did use "good" "standing" dead wood cut in fall. She also said the house had a lot less dust than it it did last winter.

Derek

 

[Corey]

Does she wear glasses or contacts? Don't know that it means anything, but just something to consider. Also, does she handle any of the wood, ash, stove parts, etc? If so, it may be worth a pair of gloves or hand washing after handling these items. Pretty easy to chuck a log into the stove then get busy doing something else and rub your eyes...then who knows what was on the log...poison ivy, dirt, dust, etc. My wife has it all...allergies to dust, mold, pollen, headaches when the weather changes, knee aches, stomach aches, food allergies, etc. I've never really noticed her to complain about the stove - beyond the dry air, though.

As others have posted, breaking in a new stove can let off a host of chemicals / smoke. Once you get beyond the break-in and a couple of good hot fires, it should have a pretty minimal impact on indoor air - or even help clean it a bit because you are pulling fresh air in to make up for combustion air used in the stove. It is interesting that you mention having the stove for a month, but only two occurrences of outbreaks with your wife. Do these happen to correspond with any 'special' occasions with the stove?

Things that may help would be to pick a fairly warm day when you can open some windows, then fire the stove up to max operating temp. This should release all the chemicals, oil smoke, etc and you can vent them outside. Then there should be no more significant emissions from the stove. Beyond that, just be careful shoveling up ash so you don't create a lot of dust. Maybe use an indoor wood box to help contain dust/dirt from the wood. Also try to note any special occasions which cause the red eyes, then go from there.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I was thinking what bambam was- paint curing. You'll get fumes when the stove gets hotter than ever. This will subside if its the cause

 

[firefighterjake]

Another vote for paint curing and/or humidity (I often know when my pot needs refilling based on how dry my boogers are . . . but no problems with glowing red eyes. )

 

[bambam]

Another vote for paint curing and/or humidity (I often know when my pot needs refilling based on how dry my boogers are . . . but no problems with glowing red eyes. )

Are you related to my wife's family? Her dad and brother like to decide what they ate by looking at their poop, and then describing it in great detail. You state that you analyze the solidity of your boogs to determine the humidity inside your home. I do not mean to offend but I find it intriguing the depths some people go to unravel the earth's mysteries. LOL