Some things that I think I think... or, "Smoke in the Attic" (edit - pix added)

[granpajohn]

OK I think I just fell asleep for 2 hours on the couch here. ... Goin' sleepies nowsknxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............

Is this normal for you? If not; it sounds a bit like what happens to those exposed to CO.
No pressure, just something to keep in mind.

And, to show that I'm not a humorless nag...a true story about the engineer and rocket science:
A guy at one of our local DOD funded (rocket) companies said his boss spit out the "this aint rocket science" line in a meeting. Brief silent pause. "Well OK, it is, but I mean it's not hard."

I R a PE too.

 

[edthedawg]

Ha! I don't know if it's self-induced insomnia or what, but I run on about 4 hrs sleep per night. and i was sitting on the couch literally 2 feet away from a new, operating CO detector. So yeah, falling asleep on the couch isn't what I'd call an odd phenomenon... but I certainly appreciate the concern

And I have a friend who used to work at JPL - they apparently love throwing out the "it ain't rocket science! ... oh right, it is." lines...

 

[karri0n]

I don't know how effective CO detectors actually are. I've heard reports from fire dept officials who say they don't do a damn thing. Personally, I would test any one that I bought by running my car in the garage and plugging the thing in. See how long it takes to get a result out of it. Probably not a great idea to stay in the room during the test, either.

 

[edthedawg]

OK I spent the afternoon, evening, and night tinkering, trying, loading, etc... Highlights of the day:

- Bought 8 cases of Eco-Firelogs
- Got to 400 on 3 Smartlogs followed by 2 Eco-Firelogs.
- Switched to cordwood, was able to maintain about 375 pretty much all day.
- Overall I left the primary open a bit more than usual.
- I was outside a LOT and never observed a heavy presence of smoke (had to carry $400+ worth of lumber from in front of the barn, up the back stairs, and into the construction rooms - easily 20+ trips up and down)
- Just been feeding it all night to keep it warm in here. It's 20 out. the house is 123 yrs old and poorly insulated PLUS ripped nearly open in several spots for construction. I half wonder if I'm just plain being too stingy with reloading.
- I took lots of phone-cam timestamped pix to share - link forthcoming...
- Still a hint of smokiness in the attic, but I've got other thoughts on that, specifically:

Smoke in the attic is a bit of an annoyance, provided it's not in any strong concentration. CO on the other hand, is deadly and not to be f'd with.

If CO is a product of combustion, and smoke is an indicator of *incomplete* combustion, then shouldn't i be just as worried - if not moreso - about the possibility of the "clean burning" solid fuels (i.e. the Eco-Firelogs) presenting a *higher* CO content to get sucked into the attic?

This is the stuff that rattles thru my head while carrying lumber up stairways in subfreezing weather.

 

[cgarmor]

"I did notice last night that the 3rd or 4th time I loaded (around midnight - probably the first filled-box wood-packing after the SmartLog burns), despite the stovetop still insisting it was only 360, I was "feeling" the heat a bit more by then..."


Why are you fiddling around with the fire so much? Loading the stove 4 times in 7 hours = very small burns that will do nothing to raise the temps of the stove, let alone try to get a good secondary burn. You really should put enough wood in the stove to average 4 hours worth of heat requirement for your house. When it's warmer out, maybe that's 4 pieces...when it's colder, that may be 6 (qty may need to be adjusted for the size of your firebox) or more pieces of wood.

My stove has a rather large firebox, but you can use this as a guide. I find that if I only put only put a couple pieces, the firebox doesn't get hot enough to do anything but maintain the surface temps and the secondary combustion is poor. Instead, I put in enough wood to satisfy my heat requirements to the next burn cycle...If I want to make my overnight fire @ 11, then I put in enough wood to get me there @ 6PM. When it's warm it may be 1/3 of the capacity...if it's cold, then I may "stuff the sucker full". The final tip...stop opening the door to adjust the fire or throw one more log on. Every time you open that door, you cool the firebox down enough to quench the secondary burn (or at least set it back some).

Chris

PS: Experience will teach you how much wood you need for the weather conditions and your home's heat load. You may end up baking and opening windows a couple times before you get it down!

 

[bokehman]

I don't know how effective CO detectors actually are. I've heard reports from fire dept officials who say they don't do a damn thing. Personally, I would test any one that I bought by running my car in the garage and plugging the thing in. See how long it takes to get a result out of it. Probably not a great idea to stay in the room during the test, either.

Very scientific! So how long would the test last? At 35 PPM it takes 30 minutes before the device sounds; at high concentrations it is a matter of seconds. Any proper test would take into account various concentrations and the time to alert. Also, most modern cars with cats produce less than 100PPM straight out of the tailpipe so unless you held the detector directly in the exhaust stream for a good 15 minutes it is unlikely it would every sound.

 

[edthedawg]

Just a quick update - Woodstove Wife ran the stove most of the weekend & it hasn't been above freezing out in days. We saw >450 stovetop many times. Life is good.

I absolutely admit PEBCAK. She (and others here, as well...) was right - it just takes patience...

I think I just added a couple new words to my sig line....

 

[karri0n]

I don't know how effective CO detectors actually are. I've heard reports from fire dept officials who say they don't do a damn thing. Personally, I would test any one that I bought by running my car in the garage and plugging the thing in. See how long it takes to get a result out of it. Probably not a great idea to stay in the room during the test, either.

Very scientific! So how long would the test last? At 35 PPM it takes 30 minutes before the device sounds; at high concentrations it is a matter of seconds. Any proper test would take into account various concentrations and the time to alert. Also, most modern cars with cats produce less than 100PPM straight out of the tailpipe so unless you held the detector directly in the exhaust stream for a good 15 minutes it is unlikely it would every sound.

And people have used this method for suicide for quite some time, and often it only takes a few hours. So you're just saying to me that the device isn't going to sound in a decent time frame to warn me of any danger. This was the exact point of my post; I don't trust CO detectors. You can trust them just fine, and you very well may be alerted if you are in CO danger. I would certainly hope that no one has any CO related illness/injury/deaths and that the devices do indeed operate correctly when they should. However, until someone offers me something solid, I'm going to trust the expert advice I've already received.