Smoky house
I live in NW Washington. It rains a lot here, 69 inches so far this year, so
my firewood never gets real dry. Consequently, it produces a lot of smoke. Compounding the problem is the length of the chimney; the distance from the top of the stove to the top of the chimney above the roof is almost 25 feet. I clean the chimney at least once every year and sometimes twice. Opening the stove door almost always allows some smoke to escape unless the fire is really hot and often a really hot fire is not necessary. So I'm stuck with a smoky house. Is there some way (mechanical or otherwise) of creating a good draft when it's necessary to open the stove door? |
Smoky house
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Smoky house
wrote in message
... I live in NW Washington. It rains a lot here, 69 inches so far this year, so my firewood never gets real dry. Consequently, it produces a lot of smoke. Compounding the problem is the length of the chimney; the distance from the top of the stove to the top of the chimney above the roof is almost 25 feet. Simple cures: 1. Season firewood before you burn it, most easily done by stacking it (after splitting) on wood pallets (off the ground) under a rainproof roof, leaving the sides open to the wind (which dries firewood more than it dampens it.) Do not burn firewood until it is wholly dry to the touch and has developed drying cracks at both ends of each log. 2. You need a positive draught up he chimney. This is normally regulated by a trapdoor in the stove below the level of the fire. If your stove lacks this and you do not want to replace it, you could try extending the chimney a couple of feet higher. Be warned that genuinely airtight houses can inhibit the draught up the chimney. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
Smoky house
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Smoky house
On 10/23/2014 03:19 PM, Oren wrote:
On Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:56:59 -0700 (PDT), wrote: snip ecessary to open the stove door? Do you stack the wood on a rack, keep it off the ground and cover it with a tarpaulin while it seasons? That enhances moisture removal so it burns more efficiently, less smoke, and better BTU. Absolutely right also: Do you have a flat stone chimney cap? I've seen at least one house where it was just at such a height as to cause positive pressure under it if the wind was coming from a certain position. All they had to do was raise it a bit to solve the problem |
Smoky house
On 10/23/2014 4:41 PM, dpb wrote:
Generally the problem is that now houses are insulated and sealed so tightly you don't have enough air in leakage to get a good draft established. To check this hypothesis, open a window in the room w/ the stove a crack and see if the issue isn't resolve...if so, then you have to decide which is the lesser evil... :) I'd have worded that "Open a window near the wood stove a minute before opening the stove. See if there is less smoke that leaks out." If that helps, you may wish to run a pipe from out doors to right behind your stove, to let "combustion air" in. - .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
Smoky house
On 10/23/2014 4:53 PM, philo wrote:
Do you stack the wood on a rack, keep it off the ground and cover it with a tarpaulin while it seasons? That enhances moisture removal so it burns more efficiently, less smoke, and better BTU. Absolutely right I've seen people stock a fire box inside the house, near the wood stove. The heat from the stove helps dry the wood, and also slightly humidify the house. - .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
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Smoky house
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Smoky house
On 10/23/14, 6:30 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 10/23/2014 4:53 PM, philo wrote: Do you stack the wood on a rack, keep it off the ground and cover it with a tarpaulin while it seasons? That enhances moisture removal so it burns more efficiently, less smoke, and better BTU. Absolutely right I've seen people stock a fire box inside the house, near the wood stove. The heat from the stove helps dry the wood, and also slightly humidify the house. I've done that. Depending on the wood you choose, you can fill the house with the fragrance of your choice. It wouldn't work nowadays. Somebody walks by, his cell phone rings, there's a spark, and all that dry wood goes up in flames! ;) |
Smoky house
On Thursday, October 23, 2014 3:30:24 PM UTC-7, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 10/23/2014 4:53 PM, philo wrote: Do you stack the wood on a rack, keep it off the ground and cover it with a tarpaulin while it seasons? That enhances moisture removal so it burns more efficiently, less smoke, and better BTU. Absolutely right I've seen people stock a fire box inside the house, near the wood stove. The heat from the stove helps dry the wood, and also slightly humidify the house. Air for the stove is brought in through a 3" pipe from outside the house. The top of the chimney is about a foot above the highest part of the roof. The wood I burn is stacked in a covered shed open on three sides, off the ground, for about a year or longer. Your suggestion of stacking wood inside the house is a good one. I do that to some extent but I don't have room for very much wood. |
Smoky house
On 10/24/2014 6:05 PM, J Burns wrote:
I've seen people stock a fire box inside the house, near the wood stove. The heat from the stove helps dry the wood, and also slightly humidify the house. I've done that. Depending on the wood you choose, you can fill the house with the fragrance of your choice. It wouldn't work nowadays. Somebody walks by, his cell phone rings, there's a spark, and all that dry wood goes up in flames! ;) You're so right! And all those exploding boilers, and propane trucks, and oh, gosh, it's so terrible. - .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
Smoky house
On 10/24/2014 06:05 PM, J Burns wrote:
[snip] Somebody walks by, his cell phone rings, there's a spark, and all that dry wood goes up in flames! ;) Exactly! The pilot of the Hindenburg got a call on his cell and we all know what happened next. Oh, the humanity! |
Smoky house
On 10/25/2014 9:11 AM, Brock O'Bama wrote:
On 10/24/2014 06:05 PM, J Burns wrote: [snip] Somebody walks by, his cell phone rings, there's a spark, and all that dry wood goes up in flames! ;) Exactly! The pilot of the Hindenburg got a call on his cell and we all know what happened next. Oh, the humanity! "I'll be home soon, honey. I'm just pulling into the GAS station.... " - .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
Smoky house
On 10/25/2014 09:16 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 10/25/2014 9:11 AM, Brock O'Bama wrote: On 10/24/2014 06:05 PM, J Burns wrote: [snip] Somebody walks by, his cell phone rings, there's a spark, and all that dry wood goes up in flames! ;) Exactly! The pilot of the Hindenburg got a call on his cell and we all know what happened next. Oh, the humanity! "I'll be home soon, honey. I'm just pulling into the GAS station.... " Would you mind stopping at the grocery store on the way home? I'm in the mood for Shish Kabob Flambe. |
Smoky house
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Smoky house
gonjah wrote:
Out of curiosity: How high does the chimney extent above the roof where it comes out of the roof? My thought is the chimney *might* not be exposed to enough cold air. We used to get smoke in the house when it wasn't cold enough outside to get the chimney cold enough to create a good draft. Apologies if you've already addressed this. I haven't read all of the responses. I guess another question could be: How cold is it outside when you fire up your fireplace? Is it blustery cold or just cool outside? I could only use my wood burning stove when it was really cold. Otherwise it would smoke up the place, but my chimney was only about 4 feet above the roof line. On *really* cold nights it worked fine. But it wouldn't get really cold until late November. I wouldn't think of using it in October. CAn you explain to me why having a cold upper chimney would increase the draft? I can understand whay having cold air outside might, but it seems that a cold chimney itself would just cool the exhaust, and lessen the draft, since the draft is produced by the lesser density of HOT gasses. |
Smoky house
J Burns wrote:
On 10/23/14, 4:19 PM, Oren wrote: On Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:56:59 -0700 (PDT), wrote: I live in NW Washington. It rains a lot here, 69 inches so far this year, so my firewood never gets real dry. Consequently, it produces a lot of smoke. Compounding the problem is the length of the chimney; the distance from the top of the stove to the top of the chimney above the roof is almost 25 feet. I clean the chimney at least once every year and sometimes twice. Opening the stove door almost always allows some smoke to escape unless the fire is really hot and often a really hot fire is not necessary. So I'm stuck with a smoky house. Is there some way (mechanical or otherwise) of creating a good draft when it's necessary to open the stove door? Do you stack the wood on a rack, keep it off the ground and cover it with a tarpaulin while it seasons? That enhances moisture removal so it burns more efficiently, less smoke, and better BTU. If it's under an overhang on the sunny side of a building, the sun and wind can help drying. If on two or three occasions when you reach into the wood pile, you get a little bite and don't know what it was, take care. The fourth time, the copperhead may run out of patience. Copperheads are not a major problem in NW Washington. OP, you do have some kind of cover over the wood to prevent direct rainfall on it, don't you? I built a frame with corrugated metal over mine and my wood gets very dry here in Seattle. |
Smoky house
On Sat, 25 Oct 2014 11:33:47 -0400, J Burns
wrote: On 10/23/14, 4:19 PM, Oren wrote: On Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:56:59 -0700 (PDT), wrote: I live in NW Washington. It rains a lot here, 69 inches so far this year, so my firewood never gets real dry. Consequently, it produces a lot of smoke. Compounding the problem is the length of the chimney; the distance from the top of the stove to the top of the chimney above the roof is almost 25 feet. I clean the chimney at least once every year and sometimes twice. Opening the stove door almost always allows some smoke to escape unless the fire is really hot and often a really hot fire is not necessary. So I'm stuck with a smoky house. Is there some way (mechanical or otherwise) of creating a good draft when it's necessary to open the stove door? Do you stack the wood on a rack, keep it off the ground and cover it with a tarpaulin while it seasons? That enhances moisture removal so it burns more efficiently, less smoke, and better BTU. If it's under an overhang on the sunny side of a building, the sun and wind can help drying. If on two or three occasions when you reach into the wood pile, you get a little bite and don't know what it was, take care. The fourth time, the copperhead may run out of patience. We don't burn wood now, but I do have Black Widow spiders. You can bring in termites and other critters from fire wood. I burned Maple while in the Adirondack Mts. of NY. I'd bring some seasoned wood into the basement so it would dry further, removed from the rack outside, and allowed some more drying out. OP never mentioned what wood he burns. |
Smoky house
On 10/25/2014 1:32 PM, Bob F wrote:
gonjah wrote: Out of curiosity: How high does the chimney extent above the roof where it comes out of the roof? My thought is the chimney *might* not be exposed to enough cold air. We used to get smoke in the house when it wasn't cold enough outside to get the chimney cold enough to create a good draft. Apologies if you've already addressed this. I haven't read all of the responses. I guess another question could be: How cold is it outside when you fire up your fireplace? Is it blustery cold or just cool outside? I could only use my wood burning stove when it was really cold. Otherwise it would smoke up the place, but my chimney was only about 4 feet above the roof line. On *really* cold nights it worked fine. But it wouldn't get really cold until late November. I wouldn't think of using it in October. CAn you explain to me why having a cold upper chimney would increase the draft? I can understand whay having cold air outside might, but it seems that a cold chimney itself would just cool the exhaust, and lessen the draft, since the draft is produced by the lesser density of HOT gasses. Probly not and make any since. I know it was recommended I have about 4' more chimney exposed. But I only had the one section. It worked but it had to be cold outside. A wood stove chimney isn't the same as a trad fireplace. It comes like: http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Majest...FeQRMwodTmwAgw I'm not sure what the OP has. Not following the rest of the thread. Maybe someone can bail me out, least I be the fool. |
Smoky house
On 10/25/2014 9:36 AM, Brock O'Bama wrote:
[snip] Somebody walks by, his cell phone rings, there's a spark, and all that dry wood goes up in flames! ;) Exactly! The pilot of the Hindenburg got a call on his cell and we all know what happened next. Oh, the humanity! "I'll be home soon, honey. I'm just pulling into the GAS station.... " Would you mind stopping at the grocery store on the way home? I'm in the mood for Shish Kabob Flambe. The English are coming over. Get some sterno pots for the tea setup. -- .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
Smoky house
In ,
gonjah typed: On 10/24/2014 5:19 PM, wrote: Air for the stove is brought in through a 3" pipe from outside the house. The top of the chimney is about a foot above the highest part of the roof. . . . , Out of curiosity: How high does the chimney extent above the roof where it comes out of the roof? My thought is the chimney *might* not be exposed to enough cold air. We used to get smoke in the house when it wasn't cold enough outside to get the chimney cold enough to create a good draft. Apologies if you've already addressed this. I haven't read all of the responses. I guess another question could be: How cold is it outside when you fire up your fireplace? Is it blustery cold or just cool outside? I could only use my wood burning stove when it was really cold. Otherwise it would smoke up the place, but my chimney was only about 4 feet above the roof line. On *really* cold nights it worked fine. But it wouldn't get really cold until late November. I wouldn't think of using it in October. I am fairly certain that the code regarding the height of the chimney is determined, in part, by the type of roof (sloped or flat) and how far the top of the chimney is "HORIZONTALLY" from the nearest point on the roof or a wall or other obstruction. Basically, I think that if the top of the chimney is above the top of the roof line, it is supposed to be at least 2 feet above the top of the roof line. This also assumes that there is no wall or side of a building within about 10 feet of the chimney. For a sloped roof, where the top of the chimney is not above the top of the roof line, the HORIZONTAL distance from the top of the chimney to the roof is supposed to be at least 10 feet (again assuming that there is no additional wall or side of a building near the chimney). There are exceptions for chimneys where the only fuel being used from the furnace and/or hot water heater below is natural gas and the chimney itself that is coming through the roof made of what they call "B-vent". One concept is to prevent a "down draft" down into the chimney caused by wind across the roof. And, I think that another concept is to have the chimney be such that it is somewhat insulated from the outside cold air (which is one role of B-vent) so the gases remain hot enough to continue to rise up and out of the chimney and without causing water condensation inside the chimney. |
Smoky house
On Sat, 25 Oct 2014 11:32:21 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote: CAn you explain to me why having a cold upper chimney would increase the draft? I can understand whay having cold air outside might, but it seems that a cold chimney itself would just cool the exhaust, and lessen the draft, since the draft is produced by the lesser density of HOT gasses. I'd start the draft with a wad on burning newspaper... YMMV. |
Smoky house
"gonjah" wrote in message ... On 10/25/2014 1:32 PM, Bob F wrote: gonjah wrote: Out of curiosity: How high does the chimney extent above the roof where it comes out of the roof? My thought is the chimney *might* not be exposed to enough cold air. We used to get smoke in the house when it wasn't cold enough outside to get the chimney cold enough to create a good draft. Apologies if you've already addressed this. I haven't read all of the responses. I guess another question could be: How cold is it outside when you fire up your fireplace? Is it blustery cold or just cool outside? I could only use my wood burning stove when it was really cold. Otherwise it would smoke up the place, but my chimney was only about 4 feet above the roof line. On *really* cold nights it worked fine. But it wouldn't get really cold until late November. I wouldn't think of using it in October. CAn you explain to me why having a cold upper chimney would increase the draft? I can understand whay having cold air outside might, but it seems that a cold chimney itself would just cool the exhaust, and lessen the draft, since the draft is produced by the lesser density of HOT gasses. Probly not and make any since. I know it was recommended I have about 4' more chimney exposed. But I only had the one section. It worked but it had to be cold outside. A wood stove chimney isn't the same as a trad fireplace. It comes like: http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Majest...FeQRMwodTmwAgw I'm not sure what the OP has. Not following the rest of the thread. Maybe someone can bail me out, least I be the fool. You never want a cold chimney, period. The change in draft is normal with changes in the weather. That hot column of air rising out of the chimney will rise faster in cold air than in warm air. And the hotter that column of air is the better the draft. When it's warm out the fire is laid low so the air column is cool. When the weather cools the stove is cranked up so the exhaust is hotter. Simple as that. "A hot house has a clean chimney" |
Smoky house
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Smoky house
On 10/26/2014 7:56 AM, J Burns wrote:
It was a proven method, but he claimed it would restrict the draft. I read years ago, that scientists proved that a humming bird (or was it bumble bee) could not fly. It's proven method, but technology says it's not possible. No convincing some people, after scientists say * Ebola is hard to catch * Freon and carbon dioxide lead to global warming * Weak dollar is good for the US economy * The rich are under taxed * Ethanol in gasoline is good for the nation * Butter is not healthy, switch to margarine * Chesterfields cure throat scratch - .. Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .. |
Smoky house
On 10/25/2014 6:37 PM, Phil Kangas wrote:
"gonjah" wrote in message ... On 10/25/2014 1:32 PM, Bob F wrote: gonjah wrote: Out of curiosity: How high does the chimney extent above the roof where it comes out of the roof? My thought is the chimney *might* not be exposed to enough cold air. We used to get smoke in the house when it wasn't cold enough outside to get the chimney cold enough to create a good draft. Apologies if you've already addressed this. I haven't read all of the responses. I guess another question could be: How cold is it outside when you fire up your fireplace? Is it blustery cold or just cool outside? I could only use my wood burning stove when it was really cold. Otherwise it would smoke up the place, but my chimney was only about 4 feet above the roof line. On *really* cold nights it worked fine. But it wouldn't get really cold until late November. I wouldn't think of using it in October. CAn you explain to me why having a cold upper chimney would increase the draft? I can understand whay having cold air outside might, but it seems that a cold chimney itself would just cool the exhaust, and lessen the draft, since the draft is produced by the lesser density of HOT gasses. Probly not and make any since. I know it was recommended I have about 4' more chimney exposed. But I only had the one section. It worked but it had to be cold outside. A wood stove chimney isn't the same as a trad fireplace. It comes like: http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Majest...FeQRMwodTmwAgw I'm not sure what the OP has. Not following the rest of the thread. Maybe someone can bail me out, least I be the fool. You never want a cold chimney, period. The change in draft is normal with changes in the weather. That hot column of air rising out of the chimney will rise faster in cold air than in warm air. And the hotter that column of air is the better the draft. When it's warm out the fire is laid low so the air column is cool. When the weather cools the stove is cranked up so the exhaust is hotter. Simple as that. "A hot house has a clean chimney" I wasn't advocating a cold chimney. That was Bob F that brought that up. I didn't address that part of his question because "I don't know". To be honest, I don't know why it was recommended I have 4 more feet extended on my wood stove chimney. My questions were more out of curiosity. All I said was the chimney worked better on cold nights. |
Smoky house
"gonjah" wrote in message ... On 10/25/2014 6:37 PM, Phil Kangas wrote: I wasn't advocating a cold chimney. That was Bob F that brought that up. I didn't address that part of his question because "I don't know". To be honest, I don't know why it was recommended I have 4 more feet extended on my wood stove chimney. My questions were more out of curiosity. All I said was the chimney worked better on cold nights. Maybe you ran the fire hotter on the cold nights to keep the house as warm and had the draft opened up more. --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com |
Smoky house
On 10/26/2014 9:18 AM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"gonjah" wrote in message ... On 10/25/2014 6:37 PM, Phil Kangas wrote: I wasn't advocating a cold chimney. That was Bob F that brought that up. I didn't address that part of his question because "I don't know". To be honest, I don't know why it was recommended I have 4 more feet extended on my wood stove chimney. My questions were more out of curiosity. All I said was the chimney worked better on cold nights. Maybe you ran the fire hotter on the cold nights to keep the house as warm and had the draft opened up more. --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com It may have been I just needed more chimney and *I thought* it was we needed more exposed chimney. As I recall we had about 16' of chimney. Maybe the recommended amount was 20'. |
Smoky house
On 10/26/2014 10:05 AM, gonjah wrote:
I didn't address that part of his question because "I don't know". To be honest, I don't know why it was recommended I have 4 more feet extended on my wood stove chimney. My questions were more out of curiosity. All I said was the chimney worked better on cold nights. You need more for at least one of two reasons 1. better draft 2. Code. I forget the rule, but the chimney must be X feet avove anything within X feet of it. OK, I looked it up https://www.englanderstoves.com/help...tove/10-2.html 2 feet above anything within 10 feet. |
Smoky house
In ,
Ed Pawlowski typed: On 10/26/2014 10:05 AM, gonjah wrote: I didn't address that part of his question because "I don't know". To be honest, I don't know why it was recommended I have 4 more feet extended on my wood stove chimney. My questions were more out of curiosity. All I said was the chimney worked better on cold nights. You need more for at least one of two reasons 1. better draft 2. Code. I forget the rule, but the chimney must be X feet above anything within X feet of it. OK, I looked it up https://www.englanderstoves.com/help...tove/10-2.html 2 feet above anything within 10 feet. I agree. That is basically what I was trying to explain in my earlier post for gonjah. But the link that you provided explains it better. Gonjah is wondering why someone suggested adding 4 more feet to the existing chimney, and my guess is that the extra 4 feet would bring the chimney into code and prevent down drafts by placing the top of the chimney at least 2 feet higher that anything within 10 feet of the chimney. |
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