Having what seems to be a draft issue

[Iaff113]

So the wood furnace (hotblast 1557m)has been running fine. Lately when the stove temp gets low, smoke will start seeping out of the feed door and dampener when you open the stove door it comes pouring out. I guess that is telling me a need new door seals for one. But I have never had this happen before. No blockages in the chimney. The stove have a 90 of single wall to a 24 inch straight to another 90 to the thimble. The chimney is 15 feet of triple wall class A. Could it be that I need to put an air inlet into the basement since this thing has two blowers on it? Once the stove is hot and is running at temperature this doesn't happen.


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[Whitespider]

What's the outside temperature been in your area lately??
Ambient conditions such as temperature, barometric pressure, wind, and even relative humidity can all have an effect on draft... especially when firebox temperatures get low(er).
I have a key damper in the flue pipe to my DAKA furnace, and with the warmish, damp days (for this time of year), running smaller fires, I've been leaving the damper wide open and I'll still get a bit of smoke exiting the loading door on occasion when I open it. But once the weather turns cold and dry, and I start running hotter fires, I'll need to close the damper about half way or so to cut the draft back... and I still won't have any smoke exiting the door, even with the damper closed half way.
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[Iaff113]

Temps have been from 50s to 30s. I am on a ridge now so it is more elevation then when I last ran it but it's only 1000 so I don't know what difference that would make.


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[tla100]

Do you have a fresh air intake? I had issues loosing draft overnight, added a 4" fresh air inlet to stove and has not done it since.

I have been fighting a back draft when lighting from a cold stove, just got to keep fire going and no issues.

 

[Marshy]

Idk how tight your house is but you should open a window nearby while you are getting some smoke spillage and see if it stops. If it stops then you know the house is too tight and you need a makeup air path to the stove or into the house.

Whitespider gave you great advice. Load less wood, burn it hotter and load it more often to try and increase you flue temperature to aid in draft.

Give those two things a try and let us know if they help.

 

[Iaff113]

Yeah I will try the window idea and see if that does it. I'm not sure how the wife was burning it when she called me about the smoke the other day, but I know it was in the morning so she most likely filled it up at night and it was on the end of a burn


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[cat10ken]

Make sure your clean out door in the bottom of your chimney is closed tightly, it could be getting its draft there and not drawing through the stove.

 

[Marshy]

Idk how long you've had the stove but it might just be a learning curve on the best method to operator it. If it was the first reloading after an overnight burn and the coal bed was burnt down then it could have trouble catching the new wood you put in. In stead of loading it full try putting in a half dozen small dry splits to get a hot fire roaring before filling it full and taking off for the day.

 

[Iaff113]

I have had it for two years now but this is the first year I have used it inside. Prior to this I used it as an outdoor furnace. I have been burning it for two months this year and it seems like this just started.


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[Marshy]

The house might be too tight. If you had a draft gauge you could check draft then do the window check and see if draft goes up.

 

[Whitespider]

I am on a ridge now so it is more elevation then when I last ran it but it's only 1000 so I don't know what difference that would make.

...this is the first year I have used it inside.

Hmmmmm.... just hmmmmmmmm.
You really ain't comparing apples to apples.
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[Iaff113]

Fired up the furnace this morning. And it appeared opening a window stop it from smoking out the door when it started to. So what do people do to solve that issue. I guess this is where you see people running pipe to the stove of some sort


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[NSMaple1]

I have a basement window, right behind my boiler. I open it just a crack - with some fiberglass batt pieces stuck in the crack. Not jammed/wadded too tight. Air seems to filter thru the fiberglass, but it doesn't blow through full blast as if the window was fully open to the outdoors.

 

[Marshy]

You could buy an outdoor air kit for your stove or install a dryer vent type flapper backwards to allow air in. I'm sure you could find a universal kit but I suggest talking with your stove manufacture about the kit, they might have one that connects directly to the stoves air inlet. The purpose is the same, allow air into the house to replace what it's consuming and sending out the flue. The disadvantage to just cracking a window or installing a dryer vent to allow air into the living space is now you have a heat loss (ie cold outside air coming in). The major advantage to having a kit that brings I outside air directly to the stoves inlet is that air is consumed by the stove and it's not causing a heat lost to your living environment. The pain of it is you have to install a dryer vent type flexible pipe from an outside air source all the way to the stove and figure out how its connected to the stoves inlet air. Some stoves are manufactured to have that connection available and you just have to purchase the fresh air kit and install. Other stoves might not be manufactured with that in mind and will be completely custom for hooking up a fresh air kit. Asking your stove dealer for manufacture if there is a fresh air kit hookup available is where I suggest you start.

Btw if you get a chance, re-do the window test. Start the fire with the window closed and see if you have some smoke seepage, open the windows and observe if it goes away, close the window and see if it returns. It's a fail proof way to make sure you have the right issue before you spend money on the kit. Just my $0.02. GL

 

[Brushwacker]

Make sure your clean out door in the bottom of your chimney is closed tightly, it could be getting its draft there and not drawing through the stove.

This happened to me and I got what you got, smoke backing out the stove door. Close the door tight, problem solved if that is what it is. I suppose the chimney could be cracked and the same happen. Ever have a chimney fire and put it out with water, that will crack a masonary chimney.

 

[Iaff113]

This happened to me and I got what you got, smoke backing out the stove door. Close the door tight, problem solved if that is what it is. I suppose the chimney could be cracked and the same happen. Ever have a chimney fire and put it out with water, that will crack a masonary chimney.

Yeah I will check that. I have class A pipe for this furnace so no cracking.


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[stihly dan]

Test. crack window, get fire started and hot, then close window. Sometimes reversing draft needs a nudge of neutralization.

 

[Iaff113]

Well window trick doesn't seem to work started tonight with one window open still did it? Do you think I should add another section of chimney pipe to the top


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[laynes69]

Just to be sure, you've inspected the flue pipe and chimney lately? I had a furnace like that for years, and it takes no time to plug things up. As soon as it started to spill, it was time to check things and clean the chimney.

 

[Iaff113]

Yeah I just put it up afew weeks ago to start running it. Looked down it the other day and it's fine not much on the inside


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