I have had a Charnwood Country 4 installed for over 2 years now - and gets used regularly over winter. However, it seems that whenever it gets going and hot - a chemical smell is emitted, which then starts to fade away the longer it has been burning. This smell / fumes tends to cause slight headache. The log stove is positioned quite close to the back wall due to limited space, but it was installed professionally. The walls were painted over in standard masonry paint before the stove was installed. I am aware that was not the right kind of paint to use, and should have been fire/heat resistant - however, I did not think that would cause the smell after a couple of years. The bricks in the recess do get very hot when the stove is fully on.
The fire surround is made of pine and does get hot, but long after the smell starts. The chimney gets swept every year, and I only use well seasoned hard wood. Do you think it is a case of the paint on brick behind / to the sides? However, why would the smell start to go away after the fire burns for longer? Not sure how I would be able to remove the paint on the bricks, especially with the stove in place. Would a solution be to simply paint over the existing paint with proper fire/heat proof paint?
Any help you can give would be appreciated as this is most frustrating after a couple of years.