# Breathing problems from pellet stove blowing dust



## scooter24

Just want to know if anyone has breathing problems from using a pellet stove.These stoves blow a lot of dust into the air,and create a lot particles in the air.had to stop using my stove because my wife developed a lung breathing disorder from our stove.stove is perfectly set up right,even put in a air purifying system but didnt really help.Anyone else  had this problem with breathing disorder,sneezing,coughing.


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## krooser

I don't seem to have any problems with mine... a good cleaning including blowing out the room blower and such should give you a good, clean unit. the room air blower WILL kick up any dust bunnies, etc. from the room that it's in but it certainly won't create any dust...


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## rona

if you are dumping pellets directly into your stove hopper from the bag try having the suck end of your vacum in the hopper as you are pouring the pellets in. The vacum will suck most of the dust from the hopper.


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## jtakeman

If the dust is from the pellets themselves, I would be changing pellet brands or vacuuming the pellets someplace outside the house! Vheck this thread for a vacuum setup info!

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/23999/


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## SmokeyTheBear

If it is general house dust that is being picked up and blown throughout the house you need to do a really good house cleaning using a decent vacuum with hepa filters.

If it is the ash from the pellets, you need to make certain that the vacuum you use has the proper filters on it and that you have it running whenever you are scrapping ash inside the stove or brushing out the stove pipes.

If you are living in a city or close to a high traffic road it is possible that a lot of the dust is getting into your house from that and then being picked up and blown around.   You might want to check into sealing your house up a bit better.


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## skidozer

I just installed a pellet stove in the past month.
I am allergic to just about everything,and have some asthma slight.

I have not had any problems so far. I did notice I burned one bag of junky pellets and did sneeze a couple times  but with my good pellets I did not.

I really dont think it is any worse than my forced air furnace.

I do know a couple people who have gotten very ill burning coal in the house though.


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## LIpelletpig

This is an interesting thread.  I've often thought in some cases Pellet Stoves could cause an allergic/asthma situation.  I've been in the medical field for 20+ years and many people are allergic to trees and specific wood species.  Dust is a given allergen, there is no doubt if you have a rug within the stove room you could have allergies/asthma.  Recently my 3 1/2 year old son has developed Asthma and was rushed to the emergency room a few weeks ago and was admitted for Pneumonia.  The fact that the stove wasn't running 24/7 and we have had it for a few years kinda ruled out the fact that it might not be the stove.  I've come to the conclusion that my son gets asthma every time he gets a sniffle or a cold.I do have a rug within the room the stove is in and I am constantly vacuuming the room since we are cautious of the fact of dust being pulled through the stove and in to the air.  Don't get me wrong, we're not making ourselves crazy over it but I am cautious.  I am an allergy sufferer myself and I was in fact allergic to a pellet my first year with the stove.  It was a Pure OAK pellet.  Country Boy was the brand.  They are a decent pellet but I found that I was allergic to them and was forced to never fill the hopper.  My wife was pretty much the full time pellet hopper filler that year and I took on the rest of the chores of the house....My question to the original poster is do you have animals?  A cat or dog? Specifically an animal that releases dander.  With a pellet stove you can basically say that what ever you have as a pet, the dander will be pulled and circulated throughout the room.  Dander in a home without an animal could last 20 years before fully gone.  So if you might have bought the house within the last few years and prior owners had animals this could be a factor.  Just throwing that idea out to you.  Good luck and I hope you find a resolution.  We'd hate to lose a fellow pellet burner in the forum.


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## soupy1957

Reason number 3, 259 pertaining to "why I'm glad I didn't buy a Pellet Stove."

-Soupy1957


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## Stevekng

soupy1957 said:
			
		

> Reason number 3, 259 pertaining to "why I'm glad I didn't buy a Pellet Stove."
> 
> -Soupy1957



If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem


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## Pellet-King

What make stove you have and are interested in selling it?


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## jtakeman

soupy1957 said:
			
		

> Reason number 3, 259 pertaining to "why I'm glad I didn't buy a Pellet Stove."
> 
> -Soupy1957



Soupy,

Did a split fall from your wood pile and hit you in the head or something?

Are you the guy down the road from me belching smoke out the chimney stinking up the neighborhood? Don't make us start listing reasons not to burn a wood stove! You know the ones that burn down way more house's than pellet stoves. The stink from that stove down the road is bothering my son's asthma. Were working an that issue, Something in the new burn laws should fix it!


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## Pellet-King

Wow Jay your "fired" up!


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## SmokeyTheBear

Oh and if you are anywhere near Soupy it is possible that his Dragon is providing the particulate matter that is causing your problem.

Hey Soupy who yanked your chain today?

I too have allergies, fortunately wood dust, ash, or smoke doesn't set me off.  My wife has mild asthma and the small amount of smoke that sometimes gets out when the stove is off for cleaning can cause her trouble.  Since she has classes to teach and guild chapter meetings to attend, I always clean the stove when she is gone. 

But basically you need to find the actual cause of the problem and it may not be what you are thinking is the actual cause.


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## Lousyweather

j-takeman said:
			
		

> soupy1957 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Reason number 3, 259 pertaining to "why I'm glad I didn't buy a Pellet Stove."
> 
> -Soupy1957
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Soupy,
> 
> Did a split fall from your wood pile and hit you in the head or something?
> 
> Are you the guy down the road from me belching smoke out the chimney stinking up the neighborhood? Don't make us start listing reasons not to burn a wood stove! You know the ones that burn down way more house's than pellet stoves. The stink from that stove down the road is bothering my son's asthma. Were working an that issue, Something in the new burn laws should fix it!
Click to expand...


you know, its funny.....when searching for alternative means of heating my house, we couldnt use wood, as my daughters' asthma doc told us that one of the worst things to have in the home for asthmatics is FIREWOOD! Lots of mold and mildew there, as well as dust, tends to play havoc with them, as well as the increased dust, since you are basically removing ash from the wood unit every day or so.....oh, lol,  I know, I know, YOUR wood stove only gets its ash taken out ever COUPLE or FEW days?! Well, my p61 has its ash taken out every 3 weeks whether it needs it or not......


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## mark d fellows

I have asthma and allergies, and it's funny my sinuses bother me less when it is running.  Your stove really shouldn't CREATE dust, but it will certainly blow around what is in a dusty room.

You must make sure you run a humidifier in the house while you are running it, or it gets really dry in the house, and that can exacerbate asthma an allergies.  Within two days of running the stove without my humidifier, it was 16% humidity and I started to get a sore throat from the drying effect.

The lungs had to be the same.


Mark


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## Snowy Rivers

The other half has asthma and the pellet stoves have not caused any issue.

The fact is, any device that blows air will stir up the house dust.

Dust mites, cat dander and other crud thats in the house if stired up will agrivate these breathing issues.

We installed a remote central vacuum system years ago.

This eliminates the possibility of dust being recirculated back into the house.

Also the addition of an electrostatic filter element into your regular furnace /AC system helps a bunch to pull that stuff from the air.

We run our blower on the HVAC system every week or so for a half hour to an hour to pull the dust from the air.

Electric heat is the worst of the NON burning appliances (wood stoves etc)  as the heating elements literally FRY the dust in the air and turn it into very small ash particles that can really bother asthma and other breathing issues.

The pellet dust could be a cause but, I am more inclined to believe that the stove is simply moving dust thats already there.

Now the little portable air filters will not do much on a total household basis. These are best used in the bedroom to help keep that area cleared during sleep time.

Dust is just a problem fopr some people.

What is your other heating type/system.


Snowy


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## smilejamaica

well i had a lung disease years before i had my pellet stove . since owning my stove my disease has only got better . not from the stove but through activity running and going to the gym. i have a disease that attacks my organs . so i would not say my stove is very dusty at all just when i dump my pellets in the hopper. you sure it was from the stove ??


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## smilejamaica

soupy1957 said:
			
		

> Reason number 3, 259 pertaining to "why I'm glad I didn't buy a Pellet Stove."
> 
> -Soupy1957


wood is way more dirty. way more not even close. the ash alone is only 1 reason i would not burn would out of 100


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## MCPO

soupy1957 said:
			
		

> Reason number 3, 259 pertaining to "why I'm glad I didn't buy a Pellet Stove."
> 
> -Soupy1957



This post reminds me of that old addage " Sometimes it`s best not to say anything and let people wonder if you have any brains at all , than to open your mouth and let em know for sure."


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## tjnamtiw

There was an answer above (very looooong) talking about wood allergies.  Being a wood worker, I discovered that cedar dust is very, very nasty stuff.  I itched for weeks after making some deer calls with it.  Also woodworkers know that old spalted (rotted) wood will cause very bad allergies.  If the pellet maker is cutting old fallen timber, this is a real possibility if you let the dust get into the house.  Once it's in the hopper, it makes no difference, IMHO.


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