Paranoid

MidnightMadman wrote:Sounds like the ash door being left open is the big danger.

It is. If you're stove is in good condition, stovepipe screwed together at each joint, no CO reading (with a good chimney draw) there is very little that can go wrong with a hand fired stove.

That said, I have been burning coal for almost 30 years & I STILL always check the CO readings & the ash door every time I leave the house when it's running.

MidnightMadman wrote:What are the biggest risks? What can I do to make 100% sure none could happen?

If you’re concerned about eliminating all risk of injury or loss, I’d advise you never take a medication, avoid all saturated fats, never climb a ladder and, most importantly, NEVER even consider riding in an automobile.

The simple but important point is that almost nothing is riskless, and it’s impossible to be 100% certain nothing bad will ever happen from using a coal stove. That being said, here is my newbie list of four major risks and some practices to minimize those risks, modifiable by those with more experience or common sense than me:

1) house fire—You know, from your installation, whether there is any flammable construction material conceivably close enough to the stove or stove pipe to catch fire. You can educate and reassure yourself about this issue, or modify the installation in some way to lessen this risk further. Also, never leave unattended an open fill door or ash pan door, from which exploding pieces of coal could fly onto flammable material, such as rugs or paper, etc.

2) carbon monoxide poisoning—Except for a small amount of cost, there is no penalty for having an extra CO detector, especially having at least one on each level of your house. I had one type on each level, but they were of the same type, and neither had a digital readout. Personally, I was reassured recently by adding a third detector, this one of a different brand, which has a digital readout of CO level and historical peak levels. One other thing that helps me—with CO risk and with risk of some types of burns—is to remember that: Draft is Your Friend. If you open the fill door only when ashpan door and other modifiable draft limiters (such as manual pipe damper) are fully open, poisonous and/or flammable gases are more likely to be sucked up the chimney rather than out toward you or your house.

3) Eye injuries—Whenever the fill door is open, wear goggles.

4) Burns—flash burns from unvented explosive gases (minimized by remembering that the Draft is Your Friend, especially during/shortly after loading), burning from ignition of clothing when tending the stove (never reach into the stove when wearing your clown costume, for example), and the common skin burn (minimized, but not prevented, by wearing gloves)

They got this thing...... don't know for sure but I gota think about it for a bit.... it's caled Manhousting by proxy. ever hear of it.

Ashcat wrote:The simple but important point is that almost nothing is riskless, and it’s impossible to be 100% certain nothing bad will ever happen from using a coal stove. That being said, here is my newbie list of four major risks and some practices to minimize those risks,

Great post Ashcat!!...Right on!!

Some great posts here.

The biggest thing I worry about is my boiler getting to hot and blowing off. My blow off shoots out into my driveway but I'm always parenoid to the fact it may happen when I'm not around. I guess smoke back drafting into my house is the second. This has happened and it's not a good feeling I can tell you.

Electricity, knives, guns, muscle cars, fish hooks, wives......all very dangerous without the proper respect. Know what your stove does when operated properly, what it could do under the wrong circumstances and what you can do to avoid those circumstances.
Look at it this way.......you could have a pipe burst and flood your house, but you probably don't shut your water off every time you go out the door, right? Sleep tight by keeping a close eye on it.
If you have done everything right you probably stand a better chance of freezing because you lost the fire for one reason or another.

Just an observation....but most "accidents" or problems occur when you are actually at the stove....
Opening the loading door or hopper
Opening the ash pan door
Shaking down
Removing ash pan
Carrying ashes
Emptying ashes
Loading coal
etc etc
Leaving the stove unattended might be the safest thing you can do.....
Just an observation....I could be wrong....

4. Buy some video equipment & carry a wireless monitor so you can watch it at all times.

Actually that is what I did. The first time I reloaded my boiler in my cellar and went to work I was worried about my dogs-as well as the house. I was unsure if something would go wrong and I'd end up with CO in the house that would kill them. I began thinking that if I could see that they were OK I would also know that the house was ok,too. I mentioned it to a guy at work -I teach carpentry in a vocational school and the guy was our network administrator. He turned me on to what are called "network cameras" or IP cameras. You do not need any computers to be left on at the home. All you need is a router and either a wireless connection to it or hard wire it to the ethernet port on it and you are good to go. I teach in a shop and I leave it on all day at the computer behind my desk instead of a screen saver. You access it by typing in its ip address and then a user name and password. You can add or delete users as you wish. My son is in San Francisco, another in Boston, and my daughter is in N. Ireland. They can check in any time they like. The camera even picks up audio so I hear the dogs barking (3 of them) when the mail man shows up,etc.. This camera can be rotated 360 degrees by clicking on the web page controls. It also can take a picture and all sorts of other stuff I don't use. It costs under $200 and is absolutely the best $$$$ I ever spent for plain peace of mind. Shortly after I installed it one of my dogs was diagnosed with lymphoma. We decided to spend the 5-6 grand to keep her around for another year to a year and a half (as long as she's feeling good and appears happy). The chemotherapy uses different drugs and I can see her and see if she is sick or if she is ok. So far she has done fantastic-she is already in remission, and I can tell she feels better than she has in a long time. Without treatment she was given 30 days tops. Anyway that is another story. Bottom line is I can pan the camera to see outside or inside and I feel like I'm right at home. You can buy stationary cameras for less than 100 bucks. When I bring my Baby Girl for treatment an hour away from home I can take my laptop and check on my other dogs by connecting to any open wireless connection in nthe vicinity. Here is a couple of still shots I just took. Camera is even clearer during daylight hours.

Looks like those dogs are petrified right in place!

If I had three or four dogs I am sure they would fight over the rug right in front.

Gary

I have 3 dogs and 2 of them fight for the spot right in front of the stove.

[quote="Ashcat
One thing that helped me, after a small test fire lasting several hours, was that I didn't really stoke it up until a Saturday morning, when I had all day Saturday and Sunday (and even Saturday night if necessary) to watch it constantly. Learning how it behaves with different modifications, of the vents and other controls, allowed me to be more comfortable to leave the house.[/quote]

I agree Ashcat. I would never light up a stove and leave it unattended until I was familiar with it's operation.

Bobs86GN wrote:Buy some video equipment & carry a wireless monitor so you can watch it at all times.

Actually that is what I did.

I love it Bob!! (love gadgets)

Just trying to justify something like that for me.......But I'm home most of the time!!

(Maybe I could set up a camera in an office somewhere just to reverse the concept!)

Let me tell you a little something about being paranoid....
Ever since I was a very young kid, I always lusted after the Porsche 911 with a whale tail. I saw them in the movies and just always thought I'd never be able to own one. Well, spring of 2007, I did my homework and found a very nice red 911 carrera with a whale tail. I had the car checked out, and I bought it. I drove the heck out of it thoughout the summer. I built a 3-car garage, and stored it away for the winter. During the winter months I began frequenting a Porsche forum. During my forum surfing, I came across many posts about everything from the cars being stolen, to vandalized, to minor mechanical issues. I found myself starting to focus on the bad things that could POSSIBLY happen rather than on the positive aspects of ownership. Well... this summer I sold the car. Even though I never had any problem with the car of my dreams, I couldn't get past the thought that something might happen to it. I did it to myself.
So, I guess the moral of the story is to do your homework, know what you're dealing with, maybe have someone check it out for you, and if everything is found to be adequate, don't worry about what CAN happen. It'll drive you crazy, and you'll never be happy with it.

eelhc wrote:Just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean there's no one or nothing out to get you!!!

That's right!!

Personally.......I can't watch a football game anymore...........(I just KNOW they are talking about ME in the huddle!!)