On the evening of the Superbowl we had a chimney fire. It was incredibly frightening, but fortunately there was no real damage. It was a creosote fire, of course, even though we had been following the advice of our chimney sweep, recommended to us by the people who sold us our custom fireplace enclosure. We were told to clean the chimney every other year. Obviously incorrect.
The insurance adjuster inspected our setup and our wood, and didn’t see anything wrong. The new chimney sweep (recommended by the insurance company) also thought that aside from a huge creosote buildup, everything looked o.k. He cleaned the chimney and told us to have it cleaned after every cord of wood. For us, that would be twice a year.
Then, yesterday, my husband made a fire, and our neighbors rang our bell to tell us their backyard was filling up with smoke. Our neighbor concluded the problem was wet wood, but also commented that the fire might be too big.
My husband and I are now fighting over this. I would like him to keep the fires small and less frequent. He thinks I don’t know what I am talking about. Does wet wood really cause that much smoke? Can the chimney fire and the smoke condition be related? Can something else be wrong? This is very scary.
Replies
You'll like this web site. It backs up your intuition. http://www.usfa.fema.gov/safety/fireplace.htm . Something it points out is that wet wood will smoke more and lead to a faster creosote build-up.
Edited 4/5/2002 9:43:18 PM ET by Cloud Hidden
Edited 4/5/2002 10:52:13 PM ET by Cloud Hidden
I tried logging on to the web site you posted, but I keep getting the response "file not found". I tried the home page for FEMA, but couldn't navigate well enough to get anything good. (I'm still kind of new at this.) I'll keep trying. Thanks, though.
Try it now, without the stinky period on the end.
Finding a chimney sweep you trust is important, and twice a year is not too frequent. Your sweep should be able to inspect your flue and it is not unusual for sweeps to have video equipment to do that sort of inspection. How often it really needs it depends on how quick creosote builds up and that depends on a lot of factors, such as how dry your wood is, humidity and flu temperature. Dry wood, low humidity and a warm chimney will reduce the amount of creosote condensing out of the smoke on to your flue lining.
I would have to side with your husband on this one to the extent that a hotter fire will keep your flue hotter and lessen the amount of creosote buildup. Hotter to a point anyway. This is because smoke will condense on a cold surface just like water vapor on a cold window, keep the chimney hot and creosote won't build up as fast. I schedule the sweep to clean twice a year, once each fall before I start burning and again in February because that is when I notice a reduction in draft. We burn 6-8 cords a year; our chimney is a triple wall stainless steel affair that is entirely contained within the heated space of our house except for the topmost 10 feet or so. Being inside the heated envelope of the house helps keep the flue warm and creosote buildup down. It is travels from the basement through 1st and 2nd floor and through the roof so is tall enough to have a strong draft to remove the smoke quickly, which is also good.
Your smoke-filled backyard could have been caused by wet wood. It could have also been caused by atmospheric conditions, such as an inversion, that trapped the smoke low to the ground. It could have been caused by a short, cold masonry chimney that cooled the smoke to the point that it lost boyancy and failed to keep rising, or some combination. If you have a large masonry chimney, the draft should improve as the chimney warms up. Building a fire too big too quick would probably be noticed by smoke backing up in the house.
Keep your wood dry, your chimney warm and your chimney clean and you should be just fine.
Wflather makes some excellent points. Let me just add: hardwood. Popular/birch/aspen are better than conifers (pine/spruce/larch). Oak, maple, ash, hickiry, etc. are better yet.
David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
As Dave said , the hardwoods are your best choices for burning, generally the denser species burn best. Another thing to consider is how you burn your fires. If this unit is of the airtight type construction don't try and shut down the air to a minimum. It will make the fire last longer but it lowers the burn temp. and causes creosote build-up to speed up. I am a volunteer fireman of 28 years, and back when they first started using these units, we constantly were on the go for chimney fires because everyone was trying to stretch their fire out to last overnight. Some calls you couldn't even get a brush down through or up the chimney. Also make sure if you have a chimney fire, have the chimney inspected before you use it. Over a period of time a pre-fab chimney can have enough deterioration that the fire may cause a failure you don't notice until too late. A masonry can crack depending on how hot the fire gets. Many sweeps have got a camera system that can be dropped down the flue.
In my own house I have an airtight wood stove that we use a fair amount. I try to start my fires with good dry kindling and dry firewood. Once you get a good hot fire going you can add some wetter wood as long as you keep a hot burn. This will keep kreosote to a minimum. Smoke at ground level usually has more to do with atmospheric conditions than wet wood.
Bish
What kind of chimney? Was it replaced after the fire? Was it inspected by a fireplace inspector (the high end of chimney sweeps) with a video camera?
If "masonry" to question one, or if "no" to any of the other questions, I'd recommend not using it until it's properly and thoroughly inspected.
The odds are the chimney was significantly damaged by the chimney fire. Only you can draw your own risk/benefit conclusions, but weigh the risk of the house burning down against whatever it is you get from using the fireplace. Then act appropriately.
All it takes is one little spark getting out of the chimney and into the house.
We have an old house, built in 1928, with a very tall, brick chimney, and a terra cotta liner. The fire was contained in the upper part of the chimney, and did not spread to the house. The chimney expert, sent by our insurance company, told us our liner was intact. I don't know what kind of equipment he used to determine this. I did not know at the time that video equipment was recommended. We burn only seasoned hardwood purchased from a nursery that specializes in firewood.
Thanks to all for your thoughtful responses. It makes sense that atmospheric conditions can account for smoke not rising. I think that's what happened the other night. It scared me because it closely followed a real chimney fire, that occurred for other reasons.
Part of the problem is that we were given very bad advice from people who hold themselves out as experts. We were told, by several people, to clean the chimney every OTHER year!! We were also told to burn hot fires, and my husband thought "hot" meant "big". Thanks to the USFA web site and your responses, I think I have finally convinced him that small is better.
Tiny: So you are saying "Size does matter."? :-)David Thomas Overlooking Cook Inlet in Kenai, Alaska
Funny.
"We have an old house, built in 1928, with a very tall, brick chimney, and a terra cotta liner."
I would <i>definitely</i> have the chimney inspected by a certified fireplace inspector (see http://f-i-r-e-service.com/f-i-r-e-service/mainframe.html )
I've met the founder of that service, and attended seminars he's put on, and he makes a convincing case for that level of inspection.
I would insist on a video camera inspection; anything less is whistling past the graveyard!
I logged on to the site - only a few states have chimney inspectors licensed by this course; NY not included. But, the fire season is over, and I have the next 6 months to do more research. There must be something equivalent here on Long Island.
Out here in earthquake country we've been finding out an interesting thing about masonry chimneys. Even though they may seem to have come through the shake intact, they can have small cracks that allow very hot gasses to escape and heat up the surrounding wood framing. When wood is heated to high temperatures for long periods, it undergoes a chemical change called pylorisis. This makes it burn a lot better that it would have without the chimney crack. So, our fire department is finding fires that start this way years after the quake that damaged the chimney. They strongly recommend the camera check.
-- J.S.
Thanks for the response. Several people on this message board have told me about the video check. But I can't seem to find anyone in my area who offers this service.
Earthquakes AND chimney fires are too much to contemplate in one message.
Hardwoods,HARDWOODS, HARDWOODS!!!!
They just burn cleaner, When we used to burn softwoods there were similar problems. After a good sweeping we burned only hardwoods ( that were seasoned bout a year) no more problems! Hope this helps!
use only seasoned wood. It may look dry but still could be wet on the inside. Avoid soft woods and woods with high pitch content. Dont pack it tight and burn away. two-3 split logs is sufficient.
If you burn more, clean more.
Draft also effects the smoke, smoldering fires smoke more and make more soot then well drafted fires.