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Tired of getting smoked out when I use the fireplace. I’ll tell you all I know about it and maybe someone has a suggestion. Masonary f/p. 2-sided. 4′ x 3′ arched opening. 3″ fresh air inlet. No doors. No blower or anything else. Chimney is to code height outside, about 25′ rise above the fire, and has a masonary cap. No obstructions that I can see. When it’s real cold outside, usually don’t get smoke inside. But on a day like today–40 or 50 and rainy but no wind–it’d be nice to have a fire, but every now and then the smoke just starts folding back into the room instead of up the chimney and makes it real nasty inside. Other times it goes up the chimney real nice. The wood is two-year-aged white oak and chestnut oak split fairly small, and it burns great. Just second year of using it, maybe 30 or 40 fires total. Stumped on how to keep a good updraft. Technique? Products? Prayer?
Thanks,
Jim
Replies
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I used to burn a huge wad of newspaper to get the flue good and warmed up. Hot and fast burning. This causes the updraft that you need to take the smoke from a fresh fire up and away.
If faced with the same sort of situation now, I would probably get out my propane brush burner, and aim it on high, at the flue bottom. I might even get the fireplace itself warmed up before starting the fire.
The brush burner also comes in handy when you have a cantankerous pile of wood to get started. LOL
*Love the brush burner. :)
*In many fireplaces, a piece of newspaper, lit and held up the flue, is helpful to establish the draft initially. Sounds like you have bigger problems.Chimneys can be too narrow (constricted), too large (flue isn't hot enough), too short (common), but a chimney can not be too tall.I would, in order:1) block off the other side. See how much that helps.2) reduce the opening of the fireplace on a trial basis, especially at the top. Temporarily duct tape 6 to 10" of heavy aluminium foil across the top of the opening. Then consider adding brick or wrought iron to the opening to effect that change permanently.3) (hardest but best): extend the chimney. Use metal flue pipe of the same diameter to see how much more height is needed. Do some trail burns on your worst-case days. Then consider having the chimney permanently extended by a mason.One story house? Often the chimney is installed only to a height that "looks okay" rather than being really tall enough. -David
*My problem isn't getting it started. It could be an hour later, or two, or three. There's just times when the draft seems to drop off and we watch smoke come back in. Other times it's a roaring good blaze with everything going up.
*My prior answer was to Luka.David, 3 story. F/P on second. Chimney to at least code height--2' above 10' over or whatever the right numbers.#1 is a worthy try. We were going to initial block it off but liked it open. Flue is big enough for santa to climb down, but still sized for only the one 10.5 sq ft opening.2 is also easy and I'll try it.3 is hopefully not necessary be/c of the concrete cap across two flues. Yuck.Thanks.
*Does the fireplace have a smoke shelf or go straight up from the box? Usually, the chimney should be offset to the rear of the box to draw the smoke to the rear and up.
*My grandfather is a retired mason. Built alot of fire places and used to look around the house first to see if it was a good place for one.Some things he has mentione are:Fireplaces don't work well in houses with a staircase that opens the first floor to the second if the stair is near the fireplace.Freplaces don't work well on the windward side of a house.Too narrow a chimney won't pass much smoke and too large a chiney has so much air in it that it can't get hot enough to start to draft properly.A small or cool fire is likely to smoke.A large firebox opening will smoke.An open door or window on the windward side of the house will help a fire draft and an open window on the leeward side of the house will make a fire smoke.The pressure difference between the hot air in the chimey and the air in your house is what keeps the smoke moving up the chimney. This is a very tiny pressure difference. All sorts of things can offset this, wind, open doors, furnace blowers, etc.He said that somethimes he couldn't find a reason that a perfectly good fireplace would smoke and an indentical on in the same house wouldn't.
*CH:I 2nd (3rd?) the idea of reducing the firebox opening; there is a certain ratio of firebox opening size to flue size, and I suspect, given the smoke on warmer days (when there is less natural draft) that this is the problem. By "2 sided fireplace" I assume you mean openings on 2 sides) tend to be problematic. I often see smoke stains on the mantles/walls above 2 sided fireplaces (although I don't see more than 2-4 a year.)Ryan: great info, thanks.
*Thanks, it gives us stuff to try. The collective experience here always impresses me.>I assume you mean openings on 2 sides) tend to be problematic.But they look cool as hell, Bob! What's a little smoke compared to that?!?!?!?!
*"But they look cool as hell, Bob! What's a little smoke compared to that?!?!?!?! "That they do. The few that I see that don't have smoke stains above the openings (the one's with brick) have b really big flues.Perhaps glass doors. I personally dislike them, they block too much heat, but that way you could keep one side closed and improve the draw.
*Only one sure way to avoid the smoke. Never light the fire.
*Or if you get serious about gaining heat from it, block it off and stick a good wood stove in the opening.JonC
*I have a flue that Santa can literally crawl through. First mason quit be/c he said they were too heavy for him. I liked some glass doors until I priced them, then not so much. Not serious about gaining heat; serious about stopping smoke. I'll experiment first and go from there. Didn't experiment yet be/c I didn't have the heart to smoke out the same guests twice!
*Cloud,Once upon a time, I had a bad smoker. My low techsolution turned out to be simply raising the log cradle on top of some bricks. Really, that took care of 90 percent of my smoke problem. Certainly worth a try - cost is zero.Greg.
*Cloud,I have the same problem from time to time. After everything gets really nice and hot, sometimes get back drafts and incomplete drafts. What works for me, in moderate temps when the fire is more for fun than heat, close the outside air supply and let it draft from the house. I rarely get smoke in the house with the outside air vent closed. If your house is REALLY tight (not a problem I have), crack a window on the upwind side of the house.
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Tired of getting smoked out when I use the fireplace. I'll tell you all I know about it and maybe someone has a suggestion. Masonary f/p. 2-sided. 4' x 3' arched opening. 3" fresh air inlet. No doors. No blower or anything else. Chimney is to code height outside, about 25' rise above the fire, and has a masonary cap. No obstructions that I can see. When it's real cold outside, usually don't get smoke inside. But on a day like today--40 or 50 and rainy but no wind--it'd be nice to have a fire, but every now and then the smoke just starts folding back into the room instead of up the chimney and makes it real nasty inside. Other times it goes up the chimney real nice. The wood is two-year-aged white oak and chestnut oak split fairly small, and it burns great. Just second year of using it, maybe 30 or 40 fires total. Stumped on how to keep a good updraft. Technique? Products? Prayer?
Thanks,
Jim