Woodworking and gas boilers

JackFre

Being a woodworker (specializing in the creation of saw dust and kindling) I think your neighbor has a responsibility to invest in a primary dust collection system. He knows it too, if he owns all the other equipment. If you have any kind of negative pressure in the basement the sawdust will likely be pulled into either the supply or return ductwork and then throughout the building. Seal all seams in the basement duct system. Hardcast, Polymer or Kingco all make good inexpensive water based products for this. Sawdust can make a hell of a mess of any burner.

Tom S.

In my basement

which is shared by the two condos in the house, my neighbor does woodworking as a hobby. We're talking table saw, jointer, planar, drill press, etc.

We also have 2 gas boilers and 2 gas h/w heaters down there, one for each condo.

It was pointed out to me that there is some danger here with sawdust/fine particles, both as a fire hazard and a combustion issue (CO).

So, if one wanted to eliminate or reduce any risks here, short of not doing woodworking, does anyone have suggestions? Would an air filtration system do the trick? Other ideas?

Both of us have CO detectors and haven't seen any issues (yet), but I want to be proactive about lowering/eliminating the risk.

Thanks,

Tom

Jim_65

Dust Collection

Does the woodworker have a dust collection system?

I read in the latest This Old House magazine that you should use galvanized duct & fittings as your dust collection system. According to the article the fine sawdust is highly combustible and could creat issues if an alternate material was used to collect the dust.

Obviously if these dust particles are air born they could very well create an issue with the heat sources located in the same vicinity. Just a thought!

Dirk Wright

How about building a wall between the two? Also, install sealed combustion on the units, and insist that he has a good dust collection system.

Tom S.

there is

A wall between the two, but it is mainly for space delineation and isn't in any way a true wall. In any case, I'm not so worried about 'my side', but the house overall.

No dust collection system - I guess that's what I was thinking of when I said "air filtration system".

I guess we/he have some research to do.

Thanks

Tom

John McArthur_2

I have personally cleaned and replaced a few boilers that were operated during construction. The sawdust etc can cause a lot of soot problems and in some cases completely plug the heat exchanger. I have seen flame roll-out problems and CO issues.

If the wall was placed as a temporary barrier, make sure there is still adequate comustion air for the applicance to avoid low O2 levels as well. The sealed comustion idea would be ideal but I have seen walls built with openings for combustion air covered by good furnace filters. This is better than nothing. Still, operating that type of equiment in close proximity to the burners is a recipe for disaster. IMHO