fireplace smoking

[lh3]

just bought a house with a fireplace. had a reputable chimney sweep come out to clean and inspect it. Said the opening is too large for the chimney itself. having the first fire in it resulted in smoke coming into the house. is the fire sucking more air than the chimney can transport? does the inside and outside temperatures have anything to do with it? and, does cracking a window help the fire breathe? does a chimney "topper" affect "flow"?

 

[excess650]

you should expect some smoke if the flue is cold. Once the flue is warm, the heat and smoke should rise properly.

The suggestion of an insert, or woodstove to fit in that space is wise as fireplaces are terribly inefficient.

 

[LTREES]

As a teen I lived in a old farm house (1803) You could walk in to the fire place and stand up. We had to take a news paper, roll it up, and light it like a torch. Take the torch and hold it up into the flue as far as you can reach, hold it for as long as you can. That helped heat the flue and start the draft. It wasn't perfect but it helped.

LT...

 

[lh3]

thanks for the replies! I still wonder about air flow and the effects of temperature, volume in and out and obstructions if there are any engineers or "experts" out there.

 

[Rookie1]

Ill say there are some contributing factors to smoke in house. As said before get newspaper on fire an hold up to flue. That should start draft. Then get it burning. Ill say outdoor temp has a little to do with it. Mine smokes if outside is around 60 or so.

 

[Blowncrewcab]

I have a huge fireplace also, when I first moved here we had smoke problems. I called the chimney sweep and he had me cut a piece of cardboard wider than the fireplace opening-about 1 foot tall. get a fire going and tape the cardboard across the top of the fireplace opening-essentially making the front opening smaller, you can move it up and down to find the right spot, the when you find the right spot measure and make a sheet metal piece that fits across the top of the fireplace opening, paint it black, screw it in and don't look back. mine worked for 7+ years before I decided to switch to an insert. governing the size of the front opening is key and once you find it (with the cardboard) your smoke problems will be gone....

 

[Scootermsp]

Cook in it!

There is an old inn nearby that cooks their prime rib in a huge fireplace. It really is a great way to cook you know!

 

[Garfield]

outdoor temp

Mine smokes if it's warm outside. Warm moves to cool. The greater the difference the faster it moves.

 

[Mike Van]

There's some fireplaces that smoke, just because of poor design - Too deep, throat too small, smokeshelf not made correctly, etc. Sometimes too it's the chimney, too short, downdrafts, too small. Glass doors will help, you can regulate the ammount of air better. But, sometimes design is so bad, you're just stuck. Having some ash built up in the hearth can help too, you get a better fire resulting in less smoke.

 

[ozarkjeep]

Maybe a dumb question, but did you make sure the damper inside the fireplace was OPEN?

I have to admit, ive attempted a few times over the years to start a fire, and gotten smoked out, and then realized the damper was shut.

just bought a house with a fireplace. had a reputable chimney sweep come out to clean and inspect it. Said the opening is too large for the chimney itself. having the first fire in it resulted in smoke coming into the house. is the fire sucking more air than the chimney can transport? does the inside and outside temperatures have anything to do with it? and, does cracking a window help the fire breathe? does a chimney "topper" affect "flow"?

 

[ssupercoolss]

i had a smokey fireplace, so i have been through all this....i forget what its called, rumsfield, rumsford...something like that. rumsford rule(if thats it) the chimney area needs to be 10% of the fireplace opening. i think thats what it is, so if you have a round chimney is PI(R)squared...i think. now...just like mentioned above if you play with the cardboard to close off some of the opening, and that works, you can actually get a nice peice of metal made up to cure it. also make sure your chimney is clean. then, check to make sure your chimney is high enough. chimney needs to be 2' higher than anything within 10'. make sure your chimney cap isnt too restrictive. when i bought my cabin something must have hit the chimney cap and smashed it down onto the pipe. i could have smoked meat in the house with my first fire. now, all that being said, glass doors should help as well. kind of depends what you looking to do with your fireplace. i think the draft on my fireplace is marginal at best, which to me means i am not sending too much excess heated air up the chimney. if i dont have a nice hot fire going, and the doors are open, i will get somke out. i also custom fabbed a blower grate into it, to blow heated air back into the room. and it does work to heat my house. efficiency is probably pretty low, cause fireplaces tend to gobble wood. but when everyone is there, they always like to have a fire going anyways.

 

[bigjake]

It sounds funny but the guy that had my house before me never used the
fireplace at all. and i kept getting smoke and the fire would go out. couldnt
figure it out went on the roof and there was little vents that were stamped
but not opened up did that and it helped some but after i had about 20 good
hot fires it started working perfect i dont know if it had to get a small coating
on it or what .But it has a lot of brick and it does take a while to get the brick
hot to get a good fire and also i take a small propane torch and heat the flu
before i lite the fire.

 

[lh3]

thanks

thanks for the replies! i now have a better grasp on what needs to be done for sure. now, if we could get some cold weather!

 

[Wood Doctor]

thanks for the replies! i now have a better grasp on what needs to be done for sure. now, if we could get some cold weather!

+1! Cold weather will help--also a high pressure center that accompanies it. Draft is reduced substantially by low pressure centers that precede stormy weather.

Here's a tip. If the smoke won't go up the chimney, open a door or window temporarily that is on the same floor as the fireplace. Close it after the draft is established.