smoke not rising

[Paul Wheaton]

I tried to start a fire today and I thought I was going to kill everybody.

The smoke would not go up the chimney/pipe.

In fact, the smoke seemed determined to go down, down, down.

After one failed attempt I closed the door to the fireplace to have a think, and smoke started to come out of the pipe where it meets the stove. And that smoke acted like a liquid pouring onto the floor.

I'm stumped.

Shouldn't heat (smoke) rise?

[OzarkHmsteaders]

I'm guessing you have something in your flue,
maybe a birds nest or whatever,,
Is your damper working properly?
hope you get it figured out soon.
can you look up it and see light?

[Paul Wheaton]

I now have a good fire going and there is no smoke trouble.

I think it just took some time for things to warm up.

I'm guessing that the air in the chimney was really cold. So it "drained" out of the chimney and into the room. I just needed to warm it a bit first.

But it was the first time I ever experienced anything like that. And I've built a lot of fires in a lot of wood stoves. I am a bit new to this wood stove. And it is pretty fancy looking.

It is a metal stovepipe chimney. Maybe it is super insulated and the insides are cold from the outside at the top. Colder than the air inside the house.

[mamita]

the draft isn't working for you at all. it may be due to chimney height, or not a hot enough fire initially to get the cold air going UP. something is very wrong with your connection where the pipe meets the stove. I'm not much help really...just hoping you get it all worked out! we insulated our pipe in the chimney...some might say it was 'overkill', but it not only improves draft.....it reduces creosote (sp?) because there is no condensation. without proper draft...smoke doesn't rise at all. (ask me ...who started the fire last night a bit too puny...opened the door....smoke billowed in the house) lol I got that baby going good....smoke gone.

you'll get real advice soon from folks that truly know. hang in there.

[Bonnie L]

We have a QuadraFire & the first fire of the morning has to be VERY hot. Once the chimney is hot & drawing the heat can be turned down.

[Beeman]

How tight is your house? For air to go up the chimney it has to come from somewhere. Crack a nearby window and see what happens.

[SueInMichigan]

Sometimes I have that problem with my wood stove (no draw), so I take a sheet of newspaper, roll it loosely, light the end, and stick the lit end up the pipe. You can see the flame increase as it heats up the chimney and creates a "draw". You might give that a try next time!

[mamita]

speaking of air intake...we have a pipe to outside for air. (in our case it was easy. we put the piping down thru the existing fireplace ash pit. then cut a hole in the outer door, covered with mesh to keep critters out) the reason is what has been mentioned a bit. in our house, we're small and didn't want air taken from the space. it is a thought, as I remember my sis having a problem until she opened a window.

[bloogrssgrl]

Paul, you are right. It takes a little time for the chimney to warm up and create the proper draft.

[FreeRanger]

Your home is too tight.

Try starting the fire with a door or window nearby slightly open. Also check to make sure your water heater is NOT running at the time you are trying to start the fire. I know if my fan assisted water heater is running, I can not get the draft to start on the wood stove either. I pull the plug on the water heater fan.

My house is too tight, so I do open a door nearby.

[Paul Wheaton]

Ahhhhh! I think we had a bathroom fan running and the kitchen fan running. That may have contributed.

The house is pretty tight. Although the stove is supposed to get its air from outside.

[snoozy]

Occasionally I have the same problem -- I just open the door until the chimney starts drawing. Only takes a few minutes. I don't know why it works, but it does. Once it is drawing, you can close the door. Mine stove also has direct outside air, but still it sometimes will refuse to draw unless I do the open door thang.

[Tiffin]

We had to install a draft fan on our stove pipe because of the problem you are encountering. This is due to not having a straight pipe and having a 12/12 pitched roof. We have the outside pipe at regulation and even beyond but still the pipe is not above the roof per se. If it was it would be extremely tall and have to have more than one support. As it is we had to have a contractor install the pipe with a boom truck with a bucket. The biggest problem is when there is an east wind which hits the roof and then down the chimney, thus we have to turn on the draft fan. DH has to clean the chimney at least twice a year because of the two angles.

[MushCreek]

Off topic, but related. I have an old friend who does masonry work. He was working on a fireplace for a notorious dead beat. Sure enough, the guy didn't finish paying, but when he tried to use his new fireplace, smoke poured out into the room. He looked up and could see light clearly. He called my friend and began complaining loudly. My friend said he'd fix it once the bill was paid. The dead beat grudgingly paid the bill, and my friend went up on the roof and dropped a rock down the chimney, breaking the piece of GLASS that he had mortared in! I'd have loved to witnessed that.

[beaglebiz]

We "prime " our chimney by lighting a piece of kindling and holding it close to the flue, to drive the cold air out. the cold air is forcing the smoke into the room

[shellyr44]

We had that same problem last heating season and found out our chimmeny was not high enough. We installed another 36 inch piece and now have no problems.

[Ross]

Great answers!! Do check for obstructions that could direct wind into the chimney, adding height not only helps with that but lifts the point where the cold drops into the chimney when not in use. If it has a combustion air inlet and its not blocked, be sure its big enough.

[Cabin Fever]

As others have recommended, always start the draft by first burning a piece of crumbled newspaper near the point where the stovepipe exits the stove before starting your fire.

In homes that are "tight," it's always a good idea to crack a nearby window (about 1") while starting the fire. This is to equalize indoor and outdoor air pressures. Once the fire is going, you can close the window.

[Fae]

I have a Consolidated Dutchwest wood burning heater. We had the same problem and I called someone and ask what the problem was. They said to wad up a couple pieces of newspaper on top of the wood when I laid the fire. Light it after you light the kindling under the wood and then close the door and open the ash pan door a little. Worked like a charm for me. Now I always do that(even though you're not supposed to according to the manual).

[soulsurvivor]

We heat with an old Warm Morning. We have an outside brick, metal lined chimney with a safety cover on top of the chimney and an outside bottom door on the chimney to open for cleaning. The cover is to keep out the birds and also help with a huge problem we've always had with what we call down draft. We live in a valley where the prevailing winds can hit the top of our house.

When we moved here back in the early 80s, we had the chimney extended up past our roof line and the liner installed. Even with that, down draft on certain windy days can be a real problem for us. We have a damper on the inside pipe that helps some. We always light a fire using the layered paper, kindling, paper method, opening the bottom ash tray and pipe damper, and front door of our house to create a cross draft.

Once the fire is hot and the heavier wood is stacked in, we then close the bottom ash drawer and damper down the pipe. Usually, depending on the wind direction, we have to keep windows and doors of the house shut tight to keep the outside smoke from coming inside.

I don't know what's changed, but since about 2003 we've had an increasing number of days where the outside down draft happens, usually in association with a low pressure weather front moving in, but not always.