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What's your heat source? I had a similar problem in a home with cast-iron radiators. I knew that the previous owners were smokers; I didn't know that one smoked cigars. They were also heavy meat eaters (the oven wasn't cleaned when I moved in, and it took me an entire day to clean). After a year of waking up with red eyes, I waited until a very cold day when the heat was high. I mixed scalding water with OxyClean, literally poured it over the radiators, and watched a mixture of grease and nicotine so revolting come off. I Shop-Vac-ed the water.
If you have forced hot air, there absolutely could be something in the air vents. If you have baseboard heat, clean them. I recommend OxyClean for baseboards as well. Vacuuming alone may get rid of suffocating, asthma-causing dust; it won't get rid of viscous materials such as the ones that caused my misery (nicotine, tar, meat grease).
Have you ever pulled out the stove and cleaned under and around it? It sounds like you have leftover grease around the cooking area - very prevalent with some cultures that do a lot of frying as in Asian and Southern Asian cooking. Who lived in the house before your husband? The grease gets atomized and gets into crevices and coats walls, even behind appliances. It can also be in the exhaust system, but you don't even seem to know if you have one. Is the microwave mounted above the stove with a built in fan? It could be in there.
Have you ever pulled out the stove and cleaned under and around it? It sounds like you have leftover grease around the cooking area - very prevalent with some cultures that do a lot of frying as in Asian and Southern Asian cooking. Who lived in the house before your husband? The grease gets atomized and gets into crevices and coats walls, even behind appliances. It can also be in the exhaust system, but you don't even seem to know if you have one. Is the microwave mounted above the stove with a built in fan? It could be in there.
That's exactly what I was going to say. Pull out the stove and clean under it and make your calendar to do it at least 3 times a year. Its amazing how dirty under your fridge and stove can get in a short time.
That's what I was going to ask. Especially if you have forced air, there could be something in the vents. But...since you seem to think it's most noticeable near the oven area, maybe it's just something within or under your stove--or on walls behind (not sure what you kitchen setup is like).
IF your refrigerator has a drip pan it could be the source
of your smell OR if your stove is propane you might be
leaving a knob turned on just a little.
How about sectioning off portions of the kitchen with plastic sheeting. Maybe divide the room in half. Make one side air tight - tape it floor to ceiling.
Then let it sit over night, see which side has a stronger odor.
Maybe you could narrow down the source of the odor that way?
Microwaves typically have a vent pipe above them, and a vent fan as part of the microwave. (The little silver colored screen is the filter entrance to the vent system in the microwave. I gather you have removed and cleaned that.) A draft damper on the microwave prevents downdrafts and the smell from the vent. If your draft damper isn't working, and/or the vent is clogged or not terminating high enough the roof line, you may be smelling the crud in the vent. A fix would involve removing the microwave and then inspecting/cleaning/replacing the vent stack, verifying the damper functions properly, and replacing the microwave. Inspecting the hidden cabinetry while the microwave is down is also important.
I don't know how to do any of that. The only part of the post I understand is the part about the silver pipe thing connected to the microwave.
Since our microwave is not even 1 year old and the odor preceded the new microwave, I'm not certain if that is the reason but would be willing to take a look. I just don't know how. Also, since the micro is new, I have not taken off a grate for the fan, because I'm not sure anything is there.
What's your heat source? I had a similar problem in a home with cast-iron radiators. I knew that the previous owners were smokers; I didn't know that one smoked cigars. They were also heavy meat eaters (the oven wasn't cleaned when I moved in, and it took me an entire day to clean). After a year of waking up with red eyes, I waited until a very cold day when the heat was high. I mixed scalding water with OxyClean, literally poured it over the radiators, and watched a mixture of grease and nicotine so revolting come off. I Shop-Vac-ed the water.
If you have forced hot air, there absolutely could be something in the air vents. If you have baseboard heat, clean them. I recommend OxyClean for baseboards as well. Vacuuming alone may get rid of suffocating, asthma-causing dust; it won't get rid of viscous materials such as the ones that caused my misery (nicotine, tar, meat grease).
Our heat source is central heat and AC. The previous owners were not smokers to our knowledge.
That is gross what you had to do.
However, thanks for the OxyClean suggestion. We don't have OC but we have Tide Oxy which is comparable. I will try to use that to clean the cabinets in case there is something that I have missed.
Have you ever pulled out the stove and cleaned under and around it? It sounds like you have leftover grease around the cooking area - very prevalent with some cultures that do a lot of frying as in Asian and Southern Asian cooking. Who lived in the house before your husband? The grease gets atomized and gets into crevices and coats walls, even behind appliances. It can also be in the exhaust system, but you don't even seem to know if you have one. Is the microwave mounted above the stove with a built in fan? It could be in there.
Yes. We pulled the fridge out and cleaned under that. We have done that a few times.
As far as the oven...no. But we get a new one tomorrow and we already have a plan in place to clean the floor, wall and sides of cabinets when the old was is removed. Hubby will have the vacuum ready and I will have cleaning solution and the Swiffer ready.
Thank you for validating that it is likely grease. Although the previous owners were not Asian or South Asian, they may have fried a lot of food and not cleaned it well. My husband had met them a few times when he viewed the house. What I don't understand though, is that my dad fries food weekly - sometimes nearly daily, and their kitchen doesn't smell like this.
The micro is mounted above the oven but it is new - less than 1 year old. How do I get in there?
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