I've had pellet stoves for a number of years and thought I'd experienced most if not all issues related with using them. That's until yesterday!
The family was leaving for a family dinner (story for another thread!!) and since we have been very warm up here (around 50°) I decided to turn the stoves off while we were gone. When we returned the house was full of smoke, the smoke and CO alarms were going off. I have two stoves and the one on my lower level was seeping smoke from the airwash on the stove door. Once I got to the stove I could see that there was a few "clumps" of partially burned pellets smoldering in the ash pan. These clumps were pretty hot, but not hot enough to keep the fans on so when the fans turned off the smoke found it's way out of the stove. Surprising how much had accumulated after 4 hours. The entire ash pan was a smoldering mess.
My theory is that the stoves burned on the lowest setting (due to the warm weather) for the last couple of days and with my Bosca's that's not the best setting. The ash I cleaned out of the pot must not have been complete dead and kept smoldering for a day or so.
My wife compounded things by trying to cover up the smoke smell with a variety pine scented air-fresheners.....now the house smells like summer camp in the Rockies!!
The family was leaving for a family dinner (story for another thread!!) and since we have been very warm up here (around 50°) I decided to turn the stoves off while we were gone. When we returned the house was full of smoke, the smoke and CO alarms were going off. I have two stoves and the one on my lower level was seeping smoke from the airwash on the stove door. Once I got to the stove I could see that there was a few "clumps" of partially burned pellets smoldering in the ash pan. These clumps were pretty hot, but not hot enough to keep the fans on so when the fans turned off the smoke found it's way out of the stove. Surprising how much had accumulated after 4 hours. The entire ash pan was a smoldering mess.
My theory is that the stoves burned on the lowest setting (due to the warm weather) for the last couple of days and with my Bosca's that's not the best setting. The ash I cleaned out of the pot must not have been complete dead and kept smoldering for a day or so.
My wife compounded things by trying to cover up the smoke smell with a variety pine scented air-fresheners.....now the house smells like summer camp in the Rockies!!
