Trouble with smoke coming in the house.

[kevinj]

O.K. So here's what I got.

First of all, my primary heat source is a ground water heat pump.

Then, on the main floor of my home, is a heatolater.
(It's O.K. but I think it should force out more heat than it does.)
On the lower level, is my freestanding wood burner.
Both flues go up the same chimney.

But, here's the problem.
Whenever I have a fire on the main level, the lower level gets real smokey.
Right now, there is a seal over the stack to the lower level to prevent
smoke from coming in.

I do have chimney caps to prevent nesting wood ducks from coming in.

Should the stack on the main level be higher ???

Or is there a better solution ???

Thanks for all responces.

I hope this is clear...

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Is your H-alator in a fireplace?


If so is your damper wide open?



Can you show us some pics of your chimney in relation to the roof of your house?


.

 

[kevinj]

Is your H-alator in a fireplace?


If so is your damper wide open?



Can you show us some pics of your chimney in relation to the roof of your house?


.

Hey Thanks RBW,
I was hoping someone could help...

I'll try to get some pics soon.

The top of the chimney is a good 4 ft. above the peak.

If that helps.

I'll try to get a few pics tomorrow...


Yeah, the heatlator is one piece together with the fireplace.

As an insert itself.
Installed when I built the home in 1988.

( Man, that seems such a short time ago.. )

 

[logbutcher]

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

From an opinionated wood ash maker for too long:

Heatilators are built-in steel heat vents for open fireplaces. They barely work to take heat out of a fireplace with side vents to a room. Expensive, barely functional, near useless. You still have an inefficient open fireplace that sucks heat OUT of a room. Your buns will warm only when close in.:help:

Best solution: get a real wood stove--insert or free standing (preferred) that will put out heat both radiant and circulation. It then won't take the draft from your lower stove--that's the problem: the draft in the shared flue is not going "down" to the closed stove.It sounds like your chimney works fine.

Try closing off the open fireplace and the Heatilator vents (cardboard or plywood taped to the openings) , then testing the draft in the lower closed stove.

Bill is in the mail.

 

[mga]

i agree with the heatilators if they are those tube types. waste of money.

how new is your house? new homes are sealed pretty tight and the fireplace might be drawing air back down the other flue. just taking a wild guess here.

when i have a fire going, i can actually see a difference when the bathroom vent fan is on.

as for heatilators, i have something called an Arvin heat stream. the grate is a series of tubes the logs sit on and the heat blows out under the glass doors. the damn thing works so damn good my front part of the house gets way too hot. we have to open a door just to cool it off sometimes.

it's too bad Arvin went out of business.

 

[LarryTheCableGuy]

how new is your house? new homes are sealed pretty tight and the fireplace might be drawing air back down the other flue. just taking a wild guess here.

Just a wild guess but the house was probably built in the late 1980's.


.

 

[mga]

Just a wild guess but the house was probably built in the late 1980's.


.

LOL.....ok ok...i just went back and read that. stop breaking my balls. LOL

Installed when I built the home in 1988.

 

[LarryTheCableGuy]

LOL.....ok ok...i just went back and read that. stop breaking my balls. LOL

Installed when I built the home in 1988.

Oh, I didn't see that part either. Was just guessing. Sheesh, I could be like a gypsy or a psychotic or something!


.

 

[kevinj]

From an opinionated wood ash maker for too long:

Heatilators are built-in steel heat vents for open fireplaces. They barely work to take heat out of a fireplace with side vents to a room. Expensive, barely functional, near useless. You still have an inefficient open fireplace that sucks heat OUT of a room. Your buns will warm only when close in.:help:

Best solution: get a real wood stove--insert or free standing (preferred) that will put out heat both radiant and circulation. It then won't take the draft from your lower stove--that's the problem: the draft in the shared flue is not going "down" to the closed stove.It sounds like your chimney works fine.

Try closing off the open fireplace and the Heatilator vents (cardboard or plywood taped to the openings) , then testing the draft in the lower closed stove.

Bill is in the mail.

Here's a pic of the fireplace.

You can see where the warm air is blown out from,
just above the doors.
There are two vents. One on each side of the hearth.
I do consider changing to an insert.
However, I dont want to take away the arch that is there already.

And come to think of it.

To remove the existing chamber,
They would have to remove a lot of brick work ...
Am I right ???

When things get good again,
maybe I can make that change ...


By the way,
Thanks Guys for all your responces.
Thats alot of great information.

 

[ScottWojo]

i agree with the heatilators if they are those tube types. waste of money.

how new is your house? new homes are sealed pretty tight and the fireplace might be drawing air back down the other flue. just taking a wild guess here.

when i have a fire going, i can actually see a difference when the bathroom vent fan is on.

as for heatilators, i have something called an Arvin heat stream. the grate is a series of tubes the logs sit on and the heat blows out under the glass doors. the damn thing works so damn good my front part of the house gets way too hot. we have to open a door just to cool it off sometimes.

it's too bad Arvin went out of business.

Kevin, this guy is on to your problem.

You need to have a fresh air vent into your house. Your one flue is acting as a fresh air return. If you have a basement window. get that one chimney to start sucking the smoke in and open the basement window. the smoke should stop. You need to draw your combustion air into the house from the outside. You could add a stack on to your primary use chimney, like a section of 8' stainless steel three walled flue piping and see if this solves your problem. Or a 6" PVC pipe vent with a grate to keep the critters out. Place it in the basement. be sure to run the pipe to above the snow level.

 

[ScottWojo]

:To remove the existing chamber,
They would have to remove a lot of brick work ...
Am I right ???

When things get good again,
maybe I can make that change ...


By the way,
Thanks Guys for all your responces.
Thats alot of great information.

Kevin,

No. You are not correct. You could fit that hearth with a Insert. You stick the insert in, run a chimney liner to the roof. then you pack the sides and back and top with fiberglass insulation. Then in the open spaces where you can see the insulation you trim that up with sheet metal painted with flat black HT paint. You couls have a fancy arch in sheet metal to match the brick, and only remove the movable parts of the flue.

You would not believe the amount of wood you do not burn with an insert. You will use 1/3 the amount of wood and get 3 times the amount of heat out of that insert.

You know who you have to thank? He is 300 years old and very dead. He is also on my favorite denomination of money. The $100 dollar bill.

But if you have a tight house you do still need to bring in outside air for the combustion burner.

Sorry so long. Hope I helped.
Scott.

 

[mga]

Here's a pic of the fireplace.

You can see where the warm air is blown out from,
just above the doors.
There are two vents. One on each side of the hearth.
I do consider changing to an insert.
However, I dont want to take away the arch that is there already.

And come to think of it.

To remove the existing chamber,
They would have to remove a lot of brick work ...
Am I right ???

When things get good again,
maybe I can make that change ...


By the way,
Thanks Guys for all your responces.
Thats alot of great information.

i gotta question...maybe a couple:

i didn't see any vents and there was a solid wall to the left. where is air drawn in to convect out thru the opeing above the doors?

is the inside of your fireplace a steel box?

my fireplace has a thick steel box inside. outside, on each side, there are vents at the tops and bottoms. cold air is drawn in at the bottom and hot air flows out the top vents. you don't want to put your hand near them....that's how hot they get.

so, where is the cold room air drawn into yours?

 

[kevinj]

On each side of the hearth.

Here's a pic of the fireplace.

There are two vents. One on each side of the hearth.

By the way,
Thanks Guys for all your responces.
Thats alot of great information.

They are not in view, but one is located on each side of the hearth.

When I put my hand close, I dont feel any air drawing inward.
And besides, they're Loud.

I wondered about putting more powerful fans in them.
Would this help ??

I'll get back with y"all tommorow.
(a little southern lingo there)

I'm feelin a bit under the weather,
so I'm gonna retire for the night.

Thanks again.

Kevin

 

[mga]

wow...i found one. this is the Arvin heatstream. i bought one like this about 20 years ago, and i tell ya it is well worth the money. with some air tight doors and a nice firebox, this thing throws a ton of heat.

i thought they went out of business......


http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Arvin-Heat-...9874018QQihZ013QQcategoryZ41987QQcmdZViewItem

 

[ScottWojo]

I'm feelin a bit under the weather,

I hope its not the smoke, or Carbon Monoxide.

Hope you feel better,
Scott.

 

[kuhndog]

Had the same trouble with my log home I built in '88 (must be the year).I have wood stove on 1st floor and oil/wood combo furnace in basement.I made one flue 5 inches taller then the other,and ran a screened covered 1 1/4 in. air line (supply) into house and splitting it with a 1/2 " line to each unit.In basement since I had old forged windows I also removed a little weatherstrip I had used.We only have trouble now when we run dryer but fixed that by cracking a window.Tried a chimney cover but lost draft.Removed it and every-things great.