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

Mike, I have a similar problem with my fireplace on the ground floor.
I don't have an answer "for sure" but I have a suspicion. I think when
the air is significantly colder outside than inside it's takes awhile
for the fire to get hot enough to push the smoke out the chimney. It's
easier for the smoke to flow out into the warmer room. My brother has
had the same problem and told me to open a window and the draft will
take the smoke right out the chimney! I haven't trid it yet but it
worked for him and its worth recommending to you as a possible solution
- let me know if it works! (I'm going to try it too)

Steve


mike wrote:
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

Wood burning fireplaces need a good draft. You say that this happens
intermittantly. Does it have anything to do with the colder it is
outside, the more likely it happens?

I would suggest getting a good draft. Before starting the fire, place
some newspaper ontop of the wood and light. This should be enough heat
to go up the flue and create a draft. Than light the wood starter.

I never was a fan of those wood starters. I always used good wood
kindling for starting fires.

mike wrote:
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

i have this same problem when the heat pump is on and the fan is
blowing when i try to light the wood furnace!

On 7 Jan 2005 06:17:27 -0800, "BlueTubs"
blurted forth:

"Mike, I have a similar problem with my fireplace on the ground floor.
"I don't have an answer "for sure" but I have a suspicion. I think
when
"the air is significantly colder outside than inside it's takes awhile
"for the fire to get hot enough to push the smoke out the chimney.
It's
"easier for the smoke to flow out into the warmer room. My brother
has
"had the same problem and told me to open a window and the draft will
"take the smoke right out the chimney! I haven't trid it yet but it
"worked for him and its worth recommending to you as a possible
solution
"- let me know if it works! (I'm going to try it too)
"
"Steve
"
"
"mike wrote:
" 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

-------------------------
Remove NO SPAM to Reply!
Add yar where NO SPAM was!

On 6 Jan 2005 20:10:42 -0800, someone wrote:

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.

Keep track of the conditions of the every now and then. Only when
very cold, only when an east wind, only when the exhaust fan in the
kitchen or bath is on, the furnace is going, etc. Only when the 2nd
floor window is open. Whatever.

The woodstove needs draft and SOMETHING is interfering, but you need
to do some more work to find out WHAT. My pet suspect is other things
that may be also sucking air OUT of the house - replacement air needs
to come in from somewhere and unles you have this accounted for, it
could result in your backdraft. However others are fond of the
"chimney full of icy cold air" theory.

Good luck. Get it narrowed down some. Make sure you have a positive
draft with some crumpled paper before you light the main event.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

I did notice that although it was not that cold, it was incredibly
foggy. This means that the outside air was significantly more humid
than the inside air which would make it much heavier. This could have
the same effect as cold air. Also I noticed that the fan intake for
the HVAC is only a few feet from the woodburning stove and that it was
on. This could be the same problem that "yar" is having.

Tonight I will try again, this time with a window open, the furnace
off, and no fire starter (kindling only).

Thanks for your responses!

This sympton, if it occurs only during the first 5-10 minutes of your
fireburning, is often caused by the fact that the flue has not warmed up
enough yet. Just burning a piece of paper in your fireplace would not be
enough to warm the flue. When this happens next, try to open a window or
door in the same room, let the fireplace burn for up to about ten minutes,
and then you should be able to close the window or door.

In my fireplace which is very well-built and is designed very well,
sometimes it will start smoking after first lighting the fire. When I open
a glass sliding door in the same room, you can literally see the smoke stop
drifting into the room and start drafting up the flue. This happens in as
little as 15-20 seconds. I then leave the door open for about 10 minutes,
and then slide it fully shut, and the fire is ok.

Good Luck !!

--james--

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