woodstove/stove pipe smells

[tower of power]

We got our stove last Jan., a PE Alderlea t5. We burned it for about two months on a regular basis. At first the paint like smell/fumes were pretty bad but they seemed to go away after awhile, or i just got used to it. Perhaps, because i was still building the house we had lots of openings last winter, lots of air exchange so the smell was not as bad. Now our house is pretty tight.

We read on this forum how the smell was the paint that needed to be burned, heated up - was to be expected.

We just did our first burn of this season, got the stove top surface up to 700 F and got pretty bad fumes again, much worst then what my last burn of last season was.

So my question is, does this make sense? Do you have to burn off some of the paint in the first few days of the second season? Is the first burn of every year a little smelly?

Shouldn't the smell be gone by now - after dozens of burns, some getting up to 800-900F. I think i read that each time you reach a new high you will get some smell, but yesterday's burn was 200 degrees below our highest temp of last season.

thanks for any help, because i am actually beginning to doubt if the smell will go away and with a baby on the way, i dont want my family to be smelling this stuff as we enjoy the favorite part of our house.

 

[begreen]

Agreed, I would not expect any break in smells at this point. Maybe just some dust burning smells, but nothing like the first break in fires. (Maybe sawdust, if there was a lot near the stove.)

If now, this is new, tight construction, it could be the stove is starving for air. Have you tried opening a window near the stove about an inch? Also, was the flue and cap cleaned since spring?