Sore throat. Wood burner?

[Dry Rot]

I have been suffering from a mild but annoying sore throat for several months. I had a more severe version when the stove started smoking badly a couple of years ago because of a bird's nest. I was coughing so badly that I coughed up blood and was rushed off to x-ray. The chimney was (officially) cleared and the stove is now working perfectly.

The soreness isn't there all the time. My airways are quite clear. No problem with the nose. Just slight difficulty swallowing and occasional (annoying) soreness. The doctor has had a peer down the hole but can't see anything and says to come back in a month.

I am wondering if it is the stove drying out the air? Anyone else had this problem? Of course, it could be completely unrelated. Cold weather makes it worse.

 

[spin cycle]

i've dehydrated myself before in front of a woodburner

 

[Adeptandy]

We always put either a pot of water or an old whistling kettle on top of ours, find it really dries the air out without it, plus you can have a cuppa when it boils

 

[Dr. Alkathene]

Have you been burning treated wood? Old pallets / fence posts etc?

 

[Dry Rot]

Have you been burning treated wood? Old pallets / fence posts etc?

No, all clean well seasoned birch. The stove (Woodwarm) is also fairly new, but 'run in'.

I think I need to buy a kettle.

 

[jpd]

Blamed a stove for having a cough during winter
Replaced it at Xmas-there were gaping gaps round the back of it
New stove is welded
So cant leak into room
Get a CO2 detector
My old stove was slowly poisoning me

 

[Y Fan Wen]

You need a carbon monoxide detector to make sure.

 

[tomg]

How do you get on with air conditioning? If it's the air drying out causing the sore throat then being in an air con environment would be worse?

 

[Dry Rot]

You need a carbon monoxide detector to make sure.

Actually, I have two -- both working. Bought one and was given the second. That is not the problem.

How do you get on with air conditioning? If it's the air drying out causing the sore throat then being in an air con environment would be worse?

It is still cold up here so I am using the fire, but when it gets a bit warmer it will be interesting to see if the throat gets better. I suspect you might be right and the air is too dry.

 

[Pilgrimmick]

Always run a woodburner for heat in part of the house, not sure how it can dry out the air in Scotland enough to cause the problems you describe, unless you live in a modern sealed house.
Any new woodburner fitted should be installed at the same time as an air brick/vent to comply with regulations.

 

[Adeptandy]

Always run a woodburner for heat in part of the house, not sure how it can dry out the air in Scotland enough to cause the problems you describe, unless you live in a modern sealed house.
Any new woodburner fitted should be installed at the same time as an air brick/vent to comply with regulations.

Its one thing to instal it, its another for the customer not to cover it over

 

[Pilgrimmick]

Exactly what I did with mine in the last house!

 

[Adeptandy]

Explaining why your making a hole in the wall to fit an air brick I often think it must be the same as a flight attendant on a plane doing the safety talk, nobody is interested until it all goes wrong

 

[Pilgrimmick]

The house was two hundred years old and on a windy day I could have had a turbine running in the living room!

 

[Dry Rot]

Yes, the stove is ventilated.

And also have TWO carbon monoxide alarms. (Both work, one was given to me by HETAS).

 

[Y Fan Wen]

The house was two hundred years old and on a windy day I could have had a turbine running in the living room!

A lot of old houses seem to be made of air bricks. They do not need another one!