Smelly oil-fired stove

[KingoftheBungle]

Hi We have moved into a house with a flame effect oil stove (Harmony 2 for those in the know) set in the living room fireplace. It's been serviced because we had a few problems with it, but there's one thing still bothering me - the smell of oil fumes. It's strong enough to make my eyes smart a bit when sitting in the living room and is very noticeable when going from outside the house to inside. I think I may even be getting a headache from it. The service engineer said that the smell was due to a bit of oil residue and it would soon burn off, but the stove has been in operation now for a total of about 48 hours and it still smells. If I open the windows and let fresh air in, then close them again, the smell is back within a few minutes.

We have a new CO detector and that's not raising any alarm, but is this strength of smell normal? The flue is the chimney liner type and the service engineer says it's pulling OK. Could it be leaking?

K

[Derek Geldard]

Are you burning the right oil? Paraffin oil for home heating used to be de-odourised but the heaters will burn kerosene, are you being sold the right stuff, or even is it still available?

Google for "Esso Blee Dooler". :-)

Then I'd take it seriously, my eyes became sensitised to fumes from burning fat after we got an electric oven to replace the previous gas oven which was ventilated and had catalytic linings.

It shouldn't smell of oil even if it were.

DG

[KingoftheBungle]

It must be the right oil. The engineer had to do work on the tank (it's well away from the house, so that's not the source of the smell) and emptied it out and refilled it, so he would have known if it was the wrong stuff.

Yes, I know the feeling. The stove has been off for a couple of hours and I can still feel my eyes are irritated.

Perhaps there's not enough ventilation in the room? It's double glazed and I can't see any air bricks.

K

[cynic]

There are engineers and then there are Engineers.

If your ventilation and flueing are up to scratch you should NOT smell any products of combustion! There should be NO leaks of fuel to create a smell.

I'd get him (her?) back pronto and demand a proper check which you can witness and have fume clearance demonstrated during the course of. If you still don't get any joy contact OFTEC for a properly trained person to investigate

[KingoftheBungle]

Agreed.

That's what I thought.

He is OFTEC registered, but I don't have a lot of confidence in him, now. Trouble is, we are tenants and the landlord is ultimately in charge of who is brought in. I think I'll phone the company who sold the stove - several years ago - and get their advice. I've never lived with one of these beasts before and I'm not looking forward to this winter!

K

[Mogga]

Your landlord won't want the hassle of dead tenants so let them know you're concerned too. He's got obligations to ensure you're safe.

[meow2222]

AIUI (but its not my subject area), any room with a fire must have some ventiation.

NT

[cynic]

Phone OFTEC and ask them to check out this guys work. Tell them the facts as you reported them here. I'd be surprised if they don't follow up on this matter PDQ

[KingoftheBungle]

Yes, I guess that's the final recourse once relations have broken down completely. I've looked on the OFTEC site for other people that service vaporising stoves and rung a few but it turns out that they mostly don't touch the type we have - maybe for a good reason! I'm pretty sure now that the smell is coming from a faulty or leaking oil control valve (Toby model). It's a bugger to get to because the stove is set back in a chimney breast - I reckon the engineer just didn't fancy it so is trying the easy way out.

K

[KingoftheBungle]

I've found the source of the smell. The joints on the oil control valve are weeping slightly, even when the valve is off - not much but enough to be detected with a wipe of a kitchen towel. I guess they'll probably weep more when oil is flowing and hot (valve is very near the burner pot). Definitely an oversight by the engineer.

K