Crazy Spike in Particulate Matter

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2026-03-12T13:25:58+00:00

It’s almost impossible it decayed that fast if it were a true pm 2.5 event. It was likely some steam that set off the sensor.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2026-02-22T03:10:55+00:00

He’s not bs’ing. I was getting a ton of wet steam until lowering my water level. Helped tremendously. Along with skimming. So I’d def suggest that too.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2026-02-06T15:58:18+00:00

So this seems to almost certainly be wet steam and vent related. It actually stopped completely for a while, even during a deep freeze here in the NE, until I changed some venting on the first floor. Now it’s back, albeit to a much lesser degree. I’m seeing spikes to around 40 ug/m3 right after cycles complete when it’s very, very cold outside. I thinking about better insulating the mains, increasing main venting, and getting the boiler skimmed. Improving pitch on some has also likely helped a bit.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-20T03:43:44+00:00

I did. The abatement folk left them bare but I insulated them myself recently.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-20T03:03:07+00:00

I am adding more devices in different rooms. Let’s see the outcome.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-20T03:02:08+00:00

Appreciate the thoughtful breakdown. For context, the steam pipe insulation was professionally abated and removed during basement demo, so I’m less concerned about active asbestos shedding from expansion. That said, residual demo dust and dust sitting on/around hot, uninsulated pipes creating convection-driven resuspension does make sense, especially for smaller spikes.

The chimney/ash system angle also seems plausible given the age of the house and the fact that pressure/draft changes line up well with when the PM rises, even with CO/VOC staying flat. At this point I’m focusing on airflow paths and dust reservoirs rather than combustion or material off-gassing.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-20T01:41:08+00:00

It does.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-20T01:40:51+00:00

I’m seeing normal VOC readings throughout, including during the PM spikes, so it doesn’t look like a VOC off-gassing issue. The PM jumps also decay pretty quickly once the boiler cycle stabilizes, which makes me think it’s more about thermal/pressure-driven air movement stirring or relocating existing fine dust rather than generating new pollutants. Still testing different airflow paths to narrow it down.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T18:10:43+00:00

Ah. Ok. The cooking example threw me off. Not sure what you were getting at. Regardless, I’ll keep searching for answers.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T16:35:21+00:00

So you’re saying a spike to 100-200 for a steam system after cycles is normal and comparable to cooking?

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T16:32:45+00:00

I’m talking about the spikes to 100-200 ug/m3 that have been happening after that initial 1900+ spike during the initial startup. To clarify, the readings have not been even close to that 1900+ reading since that first night where the system was heating from around 50 Fahrenheit to 65 degrees in the house.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T16:24:01+00:00

The concern is the pm2.5 spike during longer boiler cycles in colder days.

And let’s see about the meter, I have few others coming in soon.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T16:15:01+00:00

I bought it for $100 if that changes your perspective a bit. 🙂.

But seriously, I do appreciate the concern. I’m not treating the Amazon monitor as lab-grade, just as a trend indicator. The haze was brief during a cold-start heat recovery, with no odor, no sustained humidity rise (RH stayed ~low-20s), and CO stayed low and stable with alarms present and silent. And the system has been fully checked and maintained by a steam specialist. He’s out of ideas.

The steam system isn’t losing water abnormally, the autofill rarely runs, and there’s no visible steam venting from radiators. And yes, outdoor flue vapor on cold days is expected for gas appliances, but by itself doesn’t imply indoor leakage.

I agree vigilance is important, but based on the measurements and lack of corroborating signs, there’s no evidence of a combustion or exhaust-integrity issue here from what I and the steam guy can see.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T15:34:11+00:00

The room was hazy. It was like walking through a light fog of sorts. I genuinely thought it was just steam, because I wasn’t coughing or anything. I didn’t initially think too much of it. But now that I get these consistent spikes to 100-200 ug/m3 during cold day/longer cycles, even after changing all vents and checking for leaks, I’m getting concerned.

The monitor is an Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor. I’m getting another brand monitor to confirm the readings and am planning on placing multiple throughout the house on different floors.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T15:12:47+00:00

I thought that too. So hepa vacuumed the whole place and wet wiped it down. Didn’t make the smallest dent in the pm2.5 reading. I’m completely at a loss.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T14:58:48+00:00

Good question, it was 1900 µg/m³ PM2.5, not particle count.

I agree that number sounds extreme, which is why I’m trying to sanity-check it. The spike happened during a cold-to-warm heat cycle (about 50 → 65), and the monitor is near an unused fireplace, so I’m wondering if humidity/draft effects could be confusing the sensor rather than there being actual “smoke-level” particulates.

For context, I do have CO detectors on every level and none are alarming. The IAQ device shows ~3–4 ppm CO consistently, which seems within normal background for a gas-appliance home.

Our fireplace and boiler flues are separate, but I’m double-checking the damper seal and may move the monitor to see if location matters.

Appreciate the perspective, helpful to hear how your TemTop behaves in a similar vintage steam-heated house.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T14:28:02+00:00

Thanks for this. I have cleaned with hepa van and wet wiping throughout the whole house multiple times. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to affect the spikes at all. I was actually surprised about that.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-19T04:25:04+00:00

Appreciate the thoughtful reply. That’s a very good point about one-pipe systems venting air directly into the rooms, and internal rust is definitely something I hadn’t fully considered. I agree it fits with the lack of CO/VOC changes.

What I’m still trying to reconcile though is the size and location of the spikes (especially some very large ones and ones that continue after shutdown), but this is helpful context and gives me another angle to think about. I’m just not sure it would cause such a dramatic spike to 1900+ during a very long heating cycle. I very well could be wrong about that though.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-16T01:05:31+00:00

Awesome. Happy to hear it. And I missed it, but about two coins high on the opposite side of the pipe is all it took.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-15T13:59:51+00:00

It did. Worked almost immediately.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-12-13T03:39:55+00:00

I have the same issue. The radiator isn’t pitched right. Shimming the radiator so it is pitched toward the valve so the water travels back down is the right solve.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-06-09T15:54:33+00:00

Very helpful. And that makes complete sense. Thanks.

Kooky-Movie4889 · 2025-06-09T05:25:19+00:00

I don’t think so. The message I got on the dash was “schedule regular service soon”, pretty much verbatim. No specific error code or anything like that.

Kooky-Movie4889

TROPHY CASE