Any wood burners here?

Easy Runnin

I put an insert in my fire place and I’ve been burning a lot more wood the past couple of winters. Just curious if this might have a negative impact on my gear. It not that my gear is too close, I’m just wondering if the ash/dust might be affecting its useful life.

Thoughts?

audioluvr

I've been burning wood for 30+ years in my place but I have a high efficiency wod stove with outside air draft

tonyb

Easy Runnin wrote: »

I put an insert in my fire place and I’ve been burning a lot more wood the past couple of winters. Just curious if this might have a negative impact on my gear. It not that my gear is too close, I’m just wondering if the ash/dust might be affecting its useful life.

Thoughts?

Yes, it will, especially if you have a blower in the fireplace to blow heat out. It also blows ash, small enough so you can't see it, but it accumulates inside gear. Ruined a Sony TV for me and it was 20ft away on the opposite side of the room. I was shocked at the amount of ash inside when the repair guy opened it up.

I still have a wood burning fireplace, but I took out the blower insert. Wood stoves are a little different in that usually the doors are closed, My TV and audio stuff is just to the right within 6 feet of my fireplace now, and so far very little problems at all. Those heat blowers are nice, pretty much heated the whole house with it, but it wasn't friendly to nearby electronics.

Easy Runnin

My insert has the door that shuts tight. Once I get it going I can go 5 to 8 hours before I have to reload. I assume when I reload or clean it out, some ash gets into the room. I do notice a little bit on the hearth. Just curious if others have had issues or recommendations on addressing potential issues.

I guess I can just take the covers off things and use the leaf blower every so often.

muncybob

We have a wood fired boiler in our basement so no ash in the house. But, yesterday I took the cover off one of the amps and was a bit surprised on the amount of dust accumulated under the hood. So I can see how a fireplace with fan could pose a problem.

motorstereo

Many years ago I used a fireplace insert as a heater in my uninsulated at the time listening room. The heat was welcome with the room having zero insulation but it came at the cost of being very dirty. The only dirtier heat I've ever had was a portable kerosene heater. Nowadays I choose not to use either of these heating methods.

motorhead43026

I would be more concerned that these particulates are being inhaled than my gear getting dusty.

Jazzhead

We've got two large fireplace inserts (one in the basement and one on the first floor) in a massive chimney that goes up the center of a one and a half story Cape. Both stoves have blowers and the one on the first floor (a Lopi) is in a den that's our listening room. Living in N. Idaho I've run it hardcore in the winter for decades without any gear-related dust problem. That said, our chimney draws extremely well as it's very tall with no exposure outside the house envelope (keeps the flue hot). Both stoves are tight with good flue connections. I use a small vacuum beside each fireplace to keep bark/ash cleaned up. Cleaning ash out of the stove can be a pain. I make sure the ashes are completely cold (if you don't they will travel when you shovel them) and I keep the stove door and flue damper open so there is updraft as you shovel ashes (this works for me even when the fire its out -YMMV). I put newspaper on the floor in case I spill anything and shovel them into a big-**** porcelain canner with a lid. I wait between shovel fulls (lid on) to let the dust settle inside the canner. When I'm finished the newspaper goes in the stove for the next fire. So far, so good - fire and music.

motorstereo

Something else to keep in mind and it's a thing that really used to bug me about burning wood was indeed the bugs. Many times I've split a piece of wood only to find it full of carpenter ants. Cherry and soft maple especially. Termites weren't as common but occasionally I'd run into a cluster of them to. Toss that split piece into a wheelbarrow and now the little buggers are everywhere just waiting to warm themselves near the woodstove and become active once again. Won't even mention barometric changes in the weather that stop the updraft and load the house with smoke when the door opens. The occasional chimney fire that sounds like a freight train running through the house made for some fun times to. Nope I do not miss my woodburning days in the least.