I have a wood furnace. It's not very modern but it works. It's located in a room off of my garage. Last night I spent a little while riding my bicycle in the garage for a bit. Afterward I had a cough that's just now clearing out 24h later. Nothing severe, but I'd like to do something about it before I put in longer rides. The garage is not dusty except for the wood dust that comes in with the firewood from outside. The cough reminded me of what happens if I would run or ride outside when the air is really chilly, but it was not cold in the garage. Is there any possibility that what I'm burning could irritate my lungs? I was burning some cherry and black walnut.
I bet it's the black walnut. I know some people get a rash from working it, also the dust from sanding can be a respiratory irritant. ..
Might just be low humidity air dried you out and irritated your lungs. The RH gets cut in half for every 20 degrees that the temperature rises. If you are pulling outside air into the garage and heating it up the RH can drop by quite a bit.
Hey OP, hate to sidetrack your thread, but it sounds like you're a runner and a cyclist? That combination often indicates triathlete . . . would that be the case?
It's not likely smoke. Could be just the dry air, could be the walnut dust, or it could be the black mold or mildew that often forms on firewood that sits out in the weather. I would try cleaning up all the inside wood and dust and then try burning and running again with a fire going, but only burn wood that you bring directly into the stove. Leave no wood (or dust) sitting in the house. See if you don't get the cough, Then try bringing a good load of wood in, but don't light a fire, and then try running. See if you get that cough. Process of elimination.
I repeated the exercise last night and made sure I was extra hydrated beforehand. I don't have much cough at all this time, so I think the dry air + lack of humidity was what got me. No, I'm not a triathlete. I hate to swim.
One thing that can bother people is mold developing on piled wood. I refuse to bring any splits inside to sit if there is mold development. It goes right into the stove if that is the case. Food for thought.
I gave up running too. I competed Div 1 in college. My joints are fine but my gut stopped tolerating the bouncing and stress. I got enough runs in back then I don't especially miss it, and since I've gained 40lb and 20 years there's simply no going back to what I consider "running". So I spin the bike and try to enjoy the wider range of scenery. Fair point - this wood is not moldy, but I don't have 3 year old wood to burn yet and I do bring in larger amounts to the garage to get a bit more seasoning done. Mold would be bad for a lot of reasons.
I agree on all points and will add that just the dust from wood can bother me. For the bike riding in winter, I just bring the bike indoors. It is a bit warm but the sweating is good. Maybe all that sweat will raise the humidity level?!
Yeah I wish. Even riding in the garage it leaves some "exercise" odor so even if I had a spare room it wouldn't work out. A bit warm is ok. Stupid hot not so much. I've been doing a weekly spin class that's 90min long. By the time we're done, everything is soaked with condensation and it's 85F. It's about all I can handle.
I mountain bike when the weather is good, but for inclement weather we invested in a decent quality elliptical exerciser. We have it in a smaller room which is separated from the rest of the house by an insulated door, and if it gets too warm or humid for exercising that room there is an exterior door we can open to get rid of the moisture and odor, and or cool the room down.
