Vermiculite Baffles in Fireplace and Asbestos

[jetsam]

Think someone tried this a while back. It was shortlived. Hardiboard used cellulose for a filler, fwiw.

It does, you can see it when you cut it. It's mostly cement tho.

Is the insulation of the material really important? I figured that as long as it was blocking airflow and not degrading at reburn temps, life was good.

 

[begreen]

I thin the thought is that the better the insulation the hotter the firebox, the cleaner the burn.

 

[tathspts]

Some years ago I replaced my vermiculite baffle with one I cut from an asbestos insulation sheet. Has worked and held up beautifully.

To be honest not sure how a fireplace really functions as I am new to this fireplace game. The one I am buying comes with a blower motor. Having asbestos siting in the fireplace will make me worry, specially considering blower motor blowing air to your living space.

Maybe there is an argument somewhere that will say even if the blower is running it will not make asbestos airborne to your living space. It still is just too big of a risk for me to ignore.

The way I see it, there are two mindsets around asbestos around the world.

1. There are so many things that could give you cancer, getting it from asbestos should be least of your worry.
2. I agree there are so many things that could give us cancer, why add one more to the list?

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with both mindsets, since both hold true in different case scenario.

People with 2nd mindset can be looked as thinking in panic mode, but when one have lost close relatives and best friends to the damn thing, feeling ashamed to be judged for the thought process goes out of the window.

I fall in 2nd category. Props to all who have the courage to not care about such things, more power to you, and I mean it.

 

[jetsam]

If the blower was blowing across the baffle, you'd be dead of CO poisoning.

The airflow in the stove goes the other way, and the blower is outside of the stove.

 

[Ludlow]

To be honest not sure how a fireplace really functions as I am new to this fireplace game. The one I am buying comes with a blower motor. Having asbestos siting in the fireplace will make me worry, specially considering blower motor blowing air to your living space.

Maybe there is an argument somewhere that will say even if the blower is running it will not make asbestos airborne to your living space. It still is just too big of a risk for me to ignore.

The way I see it, there are two mindsets around asbestos around the world.

1. There are so many things that could give you cancer, getting it from asbestos should be least of your worry.
2. I agree there are so many things that could give us cancer, why add one more to the list?

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with both mindsets, since both hold true in different case scenario.

People with 2nd mindset can be looked as thinking in panic mode, but when one have lost close relatives and best friends to the damn thing, feeling ashamed to be judged for the thought process goes out of the window.

I fall in 2nd category. Props to all who have the courage to not care about such things, more power to you, and I mean it.

You should do whatever gives you peace of mind. Just know that the vermiculite available now isnt contaminated.

 

[jetsam]

You should do whatever gives you peace of mind. Just know that the vermiculite available now isnt contaminated.

Honestly, if you want to be as careful as possible about lung cancer risk factors, wood burning is really not a good hobby in the first place. It involves turning wood into tiny particulates, including lots of carbon, and then putting that in the air around your house. That's gotta be at a thousand times more dangerous than an asbestos baffle, and probably the exposure to tiny particulate matter is more like millions of times greater.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

To be honest not sure how a fireplace really functions as I am new to this fireplace game. The one I am buying comes with a blower motor. Having asbestos siting in the fireplace will make me worry, specially considering blower motor blowing air to your living space.

Maybe there is an argument somewhere that will say even if the blower is running it will not make asbestos airborne to your living space. It still is just too big of a risk for me to ignore.

The way I see it, there are two mindsets around asbestos around the world.

1. There are so many things that could give you cancer, getting it from asbestos should be least of your worry.
2. I agree there are so many things that could give us cancer, why add one more to the list?

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with both mindsets, since both hold true in different case scenario.

People with 2nd mindset can be looked as thinking in panic mode, but when one have lost close relatives and best friends to the damn thing, feeling ashamed to be judged for the thought process goes out of the window.

I fall in 2nd category. Props to all who have the courage to not care about such things, more power to you, and I mean it.

I like your thinking on this topic and agree with you.

I also agree with Ludlow (no asbestos in the vermiculite), and Jetsam, (wood smoke isn't good for you).

Driving is very dangerous, as is sitting too much, fast food, using weed killer, and lots of other things that many of us do regularly. I think it is wise to be aware of the risks of activities we engage in, and make informed choices.

You don't want asbestos around, totally get it. As Ludlow said, probably no chance the vermiculite baffle has any.

Plus, who knows, maybe one day it'll come out that the c-cast material is also a carcinogen.

 

[Ludlow]

Plus, who knows, maybe one day it'll come out that the c-cast material is also a carcinogen.

My wife would never let me use weed killer around the yard. Always said " You watch....one day they will say it causes cancer".

I still get the " I told you so!"

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

My wife would never let me use weed killer around the yard. Always said " You watch....one day they will say it causes cancer".

I still get the " I told you so!"

Most corn and soybeans grown in the US are drenched with the stuff. I don't love it, but it sure is better than mass starvation, and it helps keep the soil in place compared to till farming. Hope that better solutions are found. I do have faith in our ingenuity, in the long run. If our baffles don't kill us first!

 

[Ludlow]

Most corn and soybeans grown in the US are drenched with the stuff. Oh well!

Well, it decomposes within hours of exposure to oxygen. Its supposedly the people spraying it that are affected. I still think it's just starving lawyers making stuff up for jurys.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Well, it decomposes within hours of exposure to oxygen. Its supposedly the people spraying it that are affected. I still think it's just starving lawyers making stuff up for jurys.

I agree!

 

[bholler]

Well, it decomposes within hours of exposure to oxygen. Its supposedly the people spraying it that are affected. I still think it's just starving lawyers making stuff up for jurys.

There are some valid concerns about the validity of those studies. I honestly don't know enough about it to know which is correct. The scientists on both sides have their own financially based motivations.

 

[Starbrightsteve]

Are we talking about glyphosphate/roundup? That stuff has a very long half-life, more than a year. Now let’s talk about neonikitinoids and dicamba. Or... maybe wood stoves and firewood!