Woke in the night to smoky/creosote smell

[birky]

We have been using a wood stove for several years now but only during the day. Last night was the 3rd night I loaded it up, closed the damper down, and let it burn through the night. I woke up about 2 am and could smell creosote and what seemed like a smoky smell throughout the house. What did I change from the previous nights that would have caused this? I am using Alder firewood that has been split.

Thanks

 

[autoimage]

its not the wood, you cut the air back too much and as the chiminey cooled it condensed inside and caused moisture to build and make like a creosote soup. ive done it before thinking i would get a longer burn time. just give it more air and let it burn a little hotter

 

[gtsawyer]

Sounds like a backdraft brought the smell into the house.

Basement stove?

 

[gtsawyer]

It's not the creosote condensation that causes the smelly house.

When the chimney cools to a lower temperature than the rest of your house, the house itself out-draws the chimney, pulling air down the chimney and into your house. You can think of it in this way: If you have two chimneys connected at the bottom, the warmer chimney will out draw the cooler chimney, sucking air down the cooler chimney and exhausting air out the top of the warmer chimney.

A couple of solution:
1) keep the fire hotter. This means it may not burn all night, but hey. It will also have the added benefit of reducing your creosote build up, which I guarantee is happening if you're burning with the damper way down.
2) crack a window in the same room as the stove.

 

[gtsawyer]

Another thought: A better insulated chimney may keep it warmer for longer, and better maintain the draft.

I'll also add another caution: although unrelated to the back-draft, your burning habits may be causing a fire hazard in the chimney. You have all the right conditions: cool chimney, restricted combustion air, with the creosote smell confirming build-up.

I strongly suggest getting the chimney looked at by a chimney sweep.

 

[Mac88]

No one mentioned monitoring the stack temperature. If you have one of those magnetic stack thermometers, they're not always accurate, sometimes not even close. We have one, but spot check occasionally with a hand-held digital thermometer. As I recall, 300 degrees at the stack base is minimum.

 

[birky]

Thanks for the quick replies. I would agree that I just closed the air down too much. It must have been dumb luck the first two nights. I did consciously dampen it more to try to make the wood last longer.

The stove is on the second story of our house. The chimney goes through the ceiling and attic and out of the roof. We have had our chimney inspected and cleaned. How much creosote would build up after one night of poor burning habit?

Thanks

 

[aaronmach1]

No one mentioned monitoring the stack temperature. If you have one of those magnetic stack thermometers, they're not always accurate, sometimes not even close. We have one, but spot check occasionally with a hand-held digital thermometer. As I recall, 300 degrees at the stack base is minimum.

yes they say minimum 300deg.to prevent creosote buildup. do you have a maximum?

 

[gtsawyer]

Thanks for the quick replies. I would agree that I just closed the air down too much. It must have been dumb luck the first two nights. I did consciously dampen it more to try to make the wood last longer.

The stove is on the second story of our house. The chimney goes through the ceiling and attic and out of the roof. We have had our chimney inspected and cleaned. How much creosote would build up after one night of poor burning habit?

Thanks

One night isn't going to be an issue. Burn a little hotter (I like the stack thermometer suggestion).

"Go, my son, and sin no more"

 

[Mac88]

yes they say minimum 300deg.to prevent creosote buildup. do you have a maximum?

I think it's around 550-600. We don't let ours run that hot, but it gets close when we first fire it. The magnetic thermometer is slow to react, so I'm comfortable using the hand held digital unit.

 

[laynes69]

Just remember when using a magnetic thermometer on single wall flue pipe, the internal temperature is usually around twice that.

 

[Mac88]

Just remember when using a magnetic thermometer on single wall flue pipe, the internal temperature is usually around twice that.

I believe that 300 degree minimum is measured at the base of the stack or top of the stove griddle. I would recommend everyone follow their stove's manufacturers directions. We run about 4' of single wall to the ceiling firestop, double wall the rest of the way to the roof. At normal burn the double wall is warm to the touch where it passes through the 2nd story closet.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

We have been using a wood stove for several years now but only during the day. Last night was the 3rd night I loaded it up, closed the damper down, and let it burn through the night. I woke up about 2 am and could smell creosote and what seemed like a smoky smell throughout the house. What did I change from the previous nights that would have caused this? I am using Alder firewood that has been split.

Thanks

Do you have a Carbon Monoxide detector in your home? If not, you should go buy one ASAP. I think most of them go off at 10-15ppm of CO, which honestly isn't much but it definitely lets you know something isn't right.

Be safe!

 

[darkbyrd]

Burn hotter, and don't dampen down for the night until you have all the wood good and charred. I had the same problem. Hotter fires and getting a good fire going before bed solved the problem.

Check that chimney!

 

[Sandhill Crane]

Is your stove set up to allow outside air piped to it, rather than drawing inside air for combustion? If your house is very tight that would be a good option to increase draw.

 

[PA Plumber]

Good replies...

Even if the stack temp. reaches the desired level, the firebox should have some time to warm up too.

I like a hot fire (at least 550 deg F) for a mininum of an hour before shutting things down for the night.
If there is a large bed of coals, I don't worry about the stack temp quite as much before shutting down.

Our stove, a Pacific Energy Summit, has a draft only and does not close all the way to zero air flow.
No damper on the flue pipe above the stove.

 

[slowp]

I doubt that this is your problem but if your house is new, a whole house fan will cause smoke to sneak out of the stove if it is not burning hot. I even try to remember to turn the fan off if I have to open the stove door while fan is on. Sometimes, even the fan over the range will draw smoke out if I don't have the fire going well.

My stove has outside air vented to it.