Probably your chimney is cold, and the smoke isn't going up the chimney.

When my parents had a fireplace, we used to have to hold a big piece of news
paper up the chimney and light it (and then carefully pull it down and stuff
it under the grate). This would heat the chimney, and start the warm air
up-draft. You may have to do something similar with your chimney.

--

Christopher A. Young
This space intentionally left blank
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"mike" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi. I have a woodburning stove in my basement and I usually have no
problems at all with it. But every now and then, when I light it,
within five minutes it creates a large amount of smoke into the house.
I have to put out the fire. I am using a synthetic "fire starter".
Does anyone know what could be causing this intermittant problem?
Thanks,
Mike