Smoke

[Searchertwin]

Doing research on buying either an outside wood furnace or indoor furnace. I would prefer the inside one but I don't want to smell like burning wood when I go someplace...any indoor stoves that prevent this? Thanks

 

[ericjeeper]

smoke in the house

This is mainly caused by cold chimney or too short of chimney. My outdoor wood burner will smoke me when I open the door.. I think I need to add another 3 feet of pipe. Or purge the firebox with the blower for a few seconds before opening the door.

 

[PA Plumber]

We had a Silent Flame wood burner stove that would smoke nearly every time the doors were open.

Our new stove, Pacific Energy Summit(not quite a week old), doesn't do this at all. Chimney size and length was unchanged.

 

[ericjeeper]

so maybe it is the amount of depth

above the doors? I am thinking about welding a pivoting flap inside my boiler to see if that will curtail the smoke from billowing back out.
say something that hangs about 5-6 inches down and when wood is shoved in it just folds in and up out of the way?

 

[PA Plumber]

You could be on to something there Eric. The silent flame had a 6" hole in the back. No baffle or anything.

The Summit has a stainless steel baffle in the top to help with a "better burn." This baffle narrows the inlet area to the 6" flue. I'll bet there is just better air movement because of a smaller area for the draw.

Anyway, the Pacific Energy Summit is very impressive. Had the house windows or doors open the last few days to keep it under 76 in the house.

 

[wdchuck]

above the doors? I am thinking about welding a pivoting flap inside my boiler to see if that will curtail the smoke from billowing back out.
say something that hangs about 5-6 inches down and when wood is shoved in it just folds in and up out of the way?

The DAKA has a removable flap that is supposed to keep the smoke from coming out the door while loading, ehh, sometimes it works, sometimes not. When it does not work, I think it is other circumstances, like barometer/wind/too big of diameter inside the chimney, otherwise it would never work.

The chimney is tall, and warm since it runs through the center of the house.

 

[wmscott]

An indoor furnace in theory will smoke less than an outdoor one, outdoor units idle more on low fire, while an indoor idling furnace will still tend to over heat the house so there is a incentive to avoid that. To prevent smoke spilling out the loading door, keep the door closed. Load according to how much heat you need, light and close the door. Then don't open the door until the fire is down to coals to reload. There also needs to be a fresh air intake the same size as the chimney stove pipe or larger, routed right up to the furnace. I heat with a indoor wood furnace and don't have any smoke smell at all. The more expensive units will work great, the cheaper ones may need some fixs to stop smoke leaks. I prefer indoor furnaces because they use maybe half the wood outdoor units use do to heat losses because of being so far from where you need the heat to be.

 

[turnkey4099]

In general: If you can smell smoke in the house, there is a problem with the 'draw' of the stove/chimney. It can also be caused by smoke entering the house through and open window/door. I get that occasionally under just the right atmospheric conditions.

Exception as mentioned is smoking while loading. I get that with mine and it does have the hinged flap it's a "King" (not Blaze King, it is an Ashley knockoff). It is always when I have the drafts shut down and open the door. If I remember to open the draft first, there is never any problem.

Harry K

 

[Moddoo]

manageable

I open my door about 2 inches for 5 seconds before messing with the fire.
Pretty much eliminates any smoke in the house.
Mine has the 'smoke flap' too.
It only hangs down about 2.5" but it helps a lot.
I have a 4" fresh air vent coming right next to the door too.