vent free stove and smell

[dan_forbes]

Hello all, I've been reading through the site about vent free fireplaces and came across a few about an odor. I have CO2, CO, and smoke detectors in the room with my fireplace. I turned it on for the first time last night and man does it stink. I wasn't a gas smell, and I know you can't smell CO, but it smelled like something was burning off. Is this true since it was its first operation? Will it ever go away? No detectors went off, and I love the look and heat, but my wife thinks the smell is dangerous. Any thoughts? Thanks! Dan

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Pretty typical to have that smell first few burns. You can open the windows on a warmer day & run the unit, get the smell out of the house. If you still have this smell after say 5 good fires, then I would be calling the manufacturer/installer/store you bought it from.

 

[ernie]

Make sure you are not using any air fresher, glade plugins, scented candles, spray furniture polishes. If you have any new carpet or even furniture it can cause odor issues. New paint or varnish can be a problem.
Ernie

 

[Bioburner]

I have an air tight and the first fire is usually the the summers dust burning off. Vaccum and clean everything before first fire to help eliminate. I have two large long hair dogs that don't help

 

[eclecticcottage]

Vent free stoves and fireplaces all have a smell, and it does NOT go away, ever (at least while it's operating). If you've smelled it before you will recognize it immediately, it is distinctive. Consider what you have-an appliance buring fuel and releasing the resulting exhaust into the room. We've had two vent frees, had friends with them, visited places with them-they all have that smell. Certainly the first few burns will be worse, but it won't be "scent free". Also like a previous poster noted, you have to be aware of chemicals in the air-it's pulling combustion air from the room, so aerosols, etc will be burned and the resulting fumes exhausted back into the room. They have their place...but their place isn't in every home or building, that's for sure! I'd dearly love to replace ours with a thelin DV, but it's not in the budget at the moment. Our last one was eventually replaced with the Heritage Bay DV stove.