Soot?

STEVEN MARKS

Do you burn alot of candles?

LWise

Dirty spots

We keep the doors to our guest rooms closed to keep the pets out. When the doors are opened, there is a black stripe about 2 inches wide where the bottom of the door was stationary. I called the gas company out to check the two furnaces and the gas fireplace. They said everything is as it should be. I also notice that the white plastic items like the trash cans and security panel get a black coating on them. I still think it is because of the gas heat but my wife is bugging me to find out what is causing this. We have light carpets and whatever it is does not like to be cleaned.

bigugh_4

schorched air heat I bet. that is hot air furnaces. the air flow is carrying the dust (dirt) under the doors and though the cracks and causeing the "drty look" where it is concentrated. (You should see the inside of the cold air return.) a good duct cleaning may help. a electronic air filter may help. do not use candels in the house. replacing the heat with radiant will do the best you can do.

CHARLES_4

Soot

Another possibility--using the fireplace(s) when the furnaces/water heaters are operating. Fireplaces get their combustion air from somewhere and reversing the flue on a gas fired chimney works fine for that purpose. Plays hell w/IAQ, though.

LWise

candles

It depends on who you ask is a lot! I think so but my wife does not. She manages to light from one to maybe 4 just about every evening. We lived in a new home in Texas for a year and had the same sooty problem. This is also a new home and here we go again.

Robert O'Brien

http://www.homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/98/980109.html

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Empire_2

Steven,...Right on...

Candles, will cause "Goasting" and anything that has somewhat of a draw to it meanning light fixtures, door jams, and any area which has an air flow across it. There are carbonless candles which have less carbon content than regular candles. They are twice the cost, but it would help eleviate your problem. I have has situations where the customer was burning only 1 candle and had the same concern as the black soot was forming in noticable areas. The marks take time to devolope and that's usually why the customer says' No way to this theory, but I know it to be true... I hope this helped.

Mike T.

Empire_2

Charles,...

Please explain. Not sure what you mean.

CHARLES_4

Just what I said. Fireplaces require HUGE amounts of air for combustion and chimney draft. Air going out the chimney has to come in somehow. And in newer houses sealed up tighter than a MIL's purse, a good source of fresh air is down the chimney serving the central heating system. And if those appliances are running when the fireplace is being used, products of combustion from those appliances are also being drawn back into the living space.
Since there's now some indication this property is newer construction, the fireplace may be sealed-type and heating equipment may be power vented. In which case the fireplace/chimney interaction may be a moot point.
My money's on the candles. Or lots of cooking in the kitchen...

Empire_2

Agreed....:--)

LWise

Candles

Thank you all for responding. This is not a new subject in my household. My wife is a candle lover and She refuses to believe that this is the problem. I neglected to mention "on purpose" that in the past 7 years we have had built 3 new homes. The first in 98 in Tennessee had the soot problem which She attributed to a non vented fireplace, the second home built in 03 in Texas had a vented fireplace but we still had the soot problem. The 3rd home built -n04 back in Tennessee has a vented fireplace and we have the soot problem. I do believe that She is finally coming around to the fact that all 3 homes have one thing in common with the problem and that is candle burning. I used the excuse of higher energy prices to justify not lighting the fireplace this winter but the soot continued to appear. Case closed!!

Paul Fredricks_2

If it looks like a duck....

Garret

Where does she think all that wax goes?

Now I might have forgotten most of what I learned in physics class, but I seem to recall that stuff doesn't disappear... The wax changes state, into soot, which is carried around the house until it lands and sticks on something.

Maybe try a hepa filter? Of course the fan noise might spoil the mood she's created with all those candles.