# Pellet stove indoor air quality



## bilsea (Aug 17, 2011)

does anyone have any insights into the indoor air quality?  Last year I was a first time pellet stove burner and found it to be fantastic.   The heat output and the money savings over oil was great.  But when we recently cleaned the inside windows there was a very fine coating of soot. After spraying with windex and wiping, the paper towel was black.  Any thoughts and feedback would be appreciated.


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## Delta-T (Aug 17, 2011)

if the stove is installed correctly it should be a sealed system. this should prevent most anything combustion related from entering your room. The biggest culprit I see for dispersing the very fine ash is the vacuum you may use to do the cleaning stuff. If you're using a shop vac you may want to invest in a nice filter for drywall/fine dust. ANytime you open the front door to clean something you'll have some very fine dust scatter off into the area, but its usually minimal..the vac has great ability to waft things around for you.


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## bilsea (Aug 17, 2011)

thanks delta-t.  i do use a shop vac with a hepa filter.  i direct vent thru the wall and was wondering whether the air intake was pulling back in some exhaust.  that's all i can come up with.  still have a couple of windows to do and will post some pics.  again, love the stove but concerned about the air.  maybe some other reader's can wash a window or two and see if there is a fine layer of soot/film on their windows and post back.  i am curious. btw, using the harman advance.  thanks again for the post


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## Delta-T (Aug 17, 2011)

the air intake goes directly to the combustion chamber, so I wouldn't think thats where you're getting the fine dust from. Any ash that spills on the hearth area has a chance of being sucked into the distribution/convection blower and blown around that way though.


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## GrahamInVa (Aug 17, 2011)

Do you smell smoke in the house when your burning? Are you sure it is soot? May just be general dust/dirt.. I would think it would take a lot of smoke to leave a residue on the windows.


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## bilsea (Aug 17, 2011)

no smell of smoke.  never have we cleaned the windows and have had such a black sooty result so i think it is more than traditional dirt.  there is some ash that doesn't collect in the ash pan but rather falls behind it.  not a huge amount but some nonetheless.


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## DexterDay (Aug 18, 2011)

Delta-T said:
			
		

> if the stove is installed correctly it should be a sealed system. this should prevent most anything combustion related from entering your room. The biggest culprit I see for dispersing the very fine ash is the vacuum you may use to do the cleaning stuff. If you're using a shop vac you may want to invest in a nice filter for drywall/fine dust. ANytime you open the front door to clean something you'll have some very fine dust scatter off into the area, but its usually minimal..the vac has great ability to waft things around for you.



HEPA filter and a Fine Particul collection bag for the inside. Works wonders. As long as the stove is cool. Its better than any "Ash Vac". IMO.


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## save$ (Aug 18, 2011)

If you are careful with a candle, you can ck for any air leaks from the stove.  If no air leaks, are you using outside air attached to your stove.  If not, outside is drawn into the house from any crack in the house.  Could you have air leaking in and round your windows? This can dirty them up.   If none of these, then you may want to run a air cleaner with a filter, and run a humidifier during the dry winter months. 
Sometimes, I run an air filter and the walls get dirty any where near the filter.  This happens to me even if I am not running the stove.


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## heat seeker (Aug 18, 2011)

If you have a soot leak, it would be after the combustion blower, such as the exhaust piping. The stove itself is under slight negative pressure, so no ash should be able to escape, unless you open the door. I'd carefully inspect the exhaust, you might even see a soot stain at a joint, especially where the pipe meets the stove.
Some very old stoves had positive pressure in the stove, but as far as I know, none do now.


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## Doocrew (Aug 18, 2011)

My money is on the vac being the culprit.


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## Fsappo (Aug 18, 2011)

Doocrew said:
			
		

> My money is on the vac being the culprit.



I agree.  Even if the pellet stove was leaking a little you'd see more soot closer to the stove.  Only a vacuum will give you that nice even coat of soot all over the place.


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## tjnamtiw (Aug 18, 2011)

I had similar problems with my Quad inserts.  I noticed that there was a pile of ash on the inside of the stove just below where the quick connect exhaust coupling and the first piece of flexible piping are located.  Both stoves had the same problem where the flex pipe was not fitted and caulked correctly by the installers.  My squirrel cage room blower was, of course, picking up the dust and blowing it throughout the room. What dust was on the bottom was the amount that WASN'T blown throughout the room!   A liberal dose of high temp caulk hopefully has solved the problem.


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## LIpelletpig (Aug 19, 2011)

I have two scenarios..the first I have to agree with the other posters I am leaning towards the Vacuum.  I use a shop vac as well with a HEPA filter but what really makes more of a difference is if you can get a small particle bag used for sanding dust.  It works wonders as the other poster stated.  Its just an extra layer of protection and easier to clean vac.  My second theory is if you burn candles?  Some candles still use partial lead wicks and they will throw off a ton of black soot in a home.  All candles at some point will contribute to a light soot in or around the candle.  My son suffers from allergies and I have to large IQswiss HEPA filters in my house and they run all the time especially in the winter months when the stove is running 24x7.  The stove's distribution blower will suck up anything in its path and shoot it out.  If its candle smoke(soot) or pellet dust or just plain old house dust.  So I would investigate those areas in this upcoming year.  Good Luck!


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## EHammer (Aug 19, 2011)

It has been my experience that what tjnamtiw was leaning towards might well be the culprit.  Pellet stoves are under negative pressure from the exhaust blower, but there is a LOT of positive pressure on the exhaust end.  This means that the gasses being expelled into the flue pipe encounter a tremendous amount of friction on the inside of the pipe.  If you do not have a gas-tight seal at the seam created by the flue pipe slipping over the end of the exhaust blower you get wisps of gasses (smoke, soot) blowing into the back of the stove - where the room-air (convection) blower will pick them up and distribute it throughout the home.  This can especially be problematic if the first thing the exiting gasses encounter is a clean-out tee or some other type of bend.  One way to test to see if this might be the problem is to simply run a white cloth over the vents in the front of the stove where the convective air comes out.  If it comes back "sooty" then this is most likely what is happening.  My advice?  Make sure you have a gas-tight seal where your very first piece of pellet vent pipe, or adapter, meets the combustion (exhaust) blower by utilizing some High-Temp RTV Silicone or some Aluminum Foil Tape - or both.


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