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paulz
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# Posted: 15 Dec 2021 08:29am
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Thinking about getting one now that we're indoors much of the time, with the wood stove going constantly. I get a cough sometimes..
The ones I'm seeing measure CO, CO2, HCHO (Formaldehyde), TVOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) and AQI (Air Quality Index).
Worth knowing about? How do these relate to wood stoves specifically? Anyone use one?
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paulz
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 10:34am
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Here's a quick video showing the change in particulate matter when refueling a wood stove. I'm going to get a monitor, less than $100 and I'm on a Christmas season buying frenzy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxiDnKmtWnY&ab_channel=stuartguy2000
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gcrank1
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 10:46am
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Ive got COPD, came on about 5-6 years ago. Being in a woodsmoke environment isnt a good thing for me, even upwind at a bonfire gets iffy. When I dont have issues going on it is easy to forget it.
I guess it is one of those things that is cumulative, it stacks up in you over time until you find out you cant breath. At that point with me I realized I couldnt breath all of a sudden When I Really Needed To Breath.
That is pretty much a sinking feeling.
So, yeah, use stuff to keep ya breathin!
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paulz
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 11:25am
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Good warning. As I mentioned I've noticed over the last couple winters some minor breathing difficulty and bit of a cough. Goes away when I get outside and get to work. And gone in the summer. i was negligent for a long time when loading and lighting the wood stove, much more careful now. I think the monitor will be a useful tool.
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ICC
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 01:27pm
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#1 for me if there were things I did, or certain times that breathing difficulty was noticed is see what my doctor thinks. There are occupational, environmental things that are not good for us; wood smoke is one of them.
Do whatever you can to find the irritants and eliminate them as best as you can. I don't think anyone wants to end up walking around, when they can, trailing an oxygen tube or carrying an oxygen cylinder everywhere.
I thank my lucky stars, or whatever, that even up here at 7700 feet, I can hike 4 miles and not feel tired or winded and have BP of 133/85 at age 75 with no meds.
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snobdds
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 05:17pm
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Why even mess with a monitor, just get an air purifier with built in monitor.
I have bad seasonal allergies and I'm allergic to dust mites. I bought a 4 stage air purifier for my house. It has a charcoal filter and series of hepa filters. It also has an automatic air sensor that will increase the fan speed if it detects particulate matter in the air.
It worked so well that I bought two more for the bedroom and downstairs area. It's amazing how well they work to take the dust and allergens out of the air. Every time I open the wood stove, a few minutes later the fan kicks up to turn the air in the room over a few times. Then once the air is clean, it goes back down to a low speed.
I let it run for two months straight and then checked the filters...full of dust. We even have a housekeeper that cleans and dusts twice a week.
The filters are designed to be cleaned with air and then you put in the sun for a couple of hours to sanitize them. The charcoal filter can not be cleaned, but it's mainly there to remove odors.
It's nice to wake up without being stuffy.
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ICC
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 05:36pm
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Quoting: snobdds Why even mess with a monitor, just get an air purifier with built in monitor
Sounds like a great idea
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 05:49pm
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Quoting: snobdds I have bad seasonal allergies and I'm allergic to dust mites. I bought a 4 stage air purifier for my house.
What do you have in your cabin? Is it off grid?
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snobdds
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 06:05pm
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Quoting: paulz What do you have in your cabin? Is it off grid?
Nothing yet, but when I open the cabin up in June I will buy one for it. I litterly just bought it at the first of October. Yes it's off grid, but I also have power. I will just run it on high while I have the generator going to purify the air.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 06:28pm
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I see they also have 12v car HEPA purifiers. Might be too small for a cabin (mine is 300sf).
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snobdds
Member
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# Posted: 16 Dec 2021 06:41pm
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Here is what I bought. A little pricy, but like I said...I quickly bought 2 more once I learned how well they worked.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07V56QH7T/ref=emc_b_5_i
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 29 Dec 2021 09:54am - Edited by: paulz
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I was in the ER at the hospital the other night (better now, I think..) and they had a couple of those same ones in the waiting area.
Been getting to know my new air quality monitor, to understand what the numbers mean and how they change from place to place. Fortunately the bottom readout tells you at a glance if anything is in the red zone. Don't know if this will lead to any room or habit changes but educational at least. $30 shipped.
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