smoke in the bedroom (2)

[toadshade]

This is something that has bothered me for a few years. I am in Atlanta GA, so we have a very late start to the year compared to most of the people on this thread (I imagine). At the beginning of every year, I smell smoke in our bedroom when it starts to get the coldest it will for the winter season. Our bedroom is the furthest from the stove, and therefore coldest of the rooms so I thought it might be as simple as a pressure differential. That is, smoke that has come from the stove when opening the stove door and making its way to the coldest part of the house after cooling. It is something that keeps me up at night when I notice and right now, I have a CO monitor in the bedroom (measuring 0 ppm). I would not mind as much in a cabin in the woods, but our house is tightly sealed with spray foam insulation, more for the summer months but I enjoy the wood stove (Jotl Oslo) so I am more concerned than I would be if I could see through the walls of a log cabin. I am not sure if I tend not to notice later in the season, or if there is something I should be worried about. I do not know what else to use to check other than a CO meter. I have checked everything else. Connections, stove seals, draft, everything. I have had a wood stove for over 17 years now, and I do not remember smelling smoke. And I have been vigilant since I have always installed the stoves myself. Just for sake of argument, My stove is externally vented with the properly sized pipe. And I do not smell the smoke in the main room where the stove is. Only the furthest rooms. Any ideas, or does anyone have a recommendation or reference I can contact?

 

[Ashful]

I assume you had some other stove 17 years ago, and the Oslo is a more recent purchase?

Is there any chance that the bedroom may be from where your house is pulling the most outside air (to supply the stove), and that maybe the smoke smell was coming in from outside? I wonder if slightly cracking a window closer to the stove might prove that out, or do you have an outside air kit on your stove?

Very tight houses in less than very cold weather can be tricky, when it comes to supplying draft and make-up air for a stove.

 

[DougA]

My guess is that the smoke is coming from your chimney outside and the bedroom is on the leeward end of the house. It would be very easy for the smell to come through a window that is closed but not tightly sealed.

I often have the window in our bedroom open a crack and I can smell the smoke if the wind is coming from the east.

Easiest way to tell is when you smell the smoke, open the bedroom window a bit and see if that's the same smell outside.

 

[BrotherBart]

It is coming back in the house from somewhere. Bathroom vent, etc. You have done a good job of analyzing it. Now you need to find the way back into the house.

 

[velvetfoot]

Are the bedroom windows closed and locked? If the wind is blowing just right it might come in. We noticed this a couple of times. Do you notice that a breeze inward when you open a window?
Could it be coming through the master bathroom fan vent or dryer vent whose flapper isn't working (this is assuming there is negative pressure in the room.)
We've also had smoke odor from the wood stove come down an unused, and cold, oil boiler chimney because of the negative pressure in the basement.
Is there some way that smoke odor from outside could get sucked into the house?
Sorry for the rambling, it's late.

edit: great minds think alike

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

by chance is your bedroom on a higher level than the stove?

 

[BobUrban]

Happens here too from time to time and these time typically coincide with strange winds, heavy air or both. Similar to you,the bedroom is furthest from the stove and next floor up and I do not smell any in the stove room. Conclusion: it is coming in from the outside ie. stove exhaust from the chimney.

Never done it but you could try slightly cracking a bedroom window the next time you smell it - just a little - and see if this exaggerates the odor. In theory, this test could confirm it is coming from outside air.

 

[Ashful]

Sounds like we're all on the same track. An OAK might reduce the draw from outside into the bedroom. Whereas opening a window in the bedroom might allow you to detect if it's coming from outside, opening a window in the stove room instead will tell you if an OAK can resolve the issue.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

Im thinking its just coming from the door when he opens it to tend the fire. Gets whisked away from the stove room by warm air currents til the current slows down in a colder part of the house and it collects there til it dissipates. Never enough to register on a monitor because the doors never open that long. I notice the same thing in my house a level above the stove from time to time.

 

[velvetfoot]

Yeah, me too.

 

[fire_man]

I had the same problem - smoke smell in the bedroom - which is on the floor above the stove.
I added 2 feet of pipe to the chimney and that helped a lot.