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Posted on 11/17/2012 10:29:15 AM PST by jsh3180
I've been heating my home primarily with a wood burning stove for two years. A Napoleon 1400. In the past couple of weeks, I've been getting a smoke backdraft into the room when I open to load more logs. The wood is well seasoned, but I'm guessing I may have an obstruction in the air intake, preventing a proper draft. Anyone have a similar problem in the past and how best to deal with it? I have supplemental gas heat, but much prefer to use the wood stove. Thanks in advance!
I’ve been using a fireplace woodstove insert for about fifteen years, and usually burn a couple of cords a year in it.
One thing to have the sweep look for is if your chimney cap has a creosote build-up on the wire mesh of the cap. I’ve had that happen before.
Regardless, you do want to get your chimney swept every couple of years. It’s worth the peace of mind.
Here’s a couple of good site that tells you about wood heating.
http://www.woodheat.org/
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/creosote_from_wood_burning_causes_and_solutions
Good decision. A dirty chimney can result in a chimney fire.
Mine is a Country stove that is an insert in a fireplace. I have corriguated stainless inside the chimney and double walled insulated stainless on the outside. The insulated part really stops the creosote from condensing, but the spark arrestor gets buildup that can block things up and then I get smoke when I open the door and it does not burn well. I usually have to go up with a wire brush twice a year to clean off the spark arrestor.
You called?
FMCDH(BITS)
If the top of your chimney is lower than the peak of your home this can happen.
I don’t know if this has been mentioned yet. If you have a whole house fan(A fan that sucks air from inside the home and ejects it into the attic) don’t use it while burning wood in the woodstove. The fan will suck air down the chimney and into the house.
Yep. Your problem is not necessarily a clogged stovepipe. I have had a problem similar to yours every now and then during the past 30 years. Usually, it has something to do with the weather, ie., a lot of wind or screwy barometric pressure or something like that...
BTW, after going 3 or 4 years paying a sweep to come ream out my stovepipe I finally bought my own kit at Home Depot. It's basically a nylon (or wire) brush and a bunch of skinny, pole pieces that screw together one at a time as you feed the brush down the pipe. The kits are not expensive at all. Now I scoot up on the roof a few times each winter and ream out the pipe myself. It's easy and free; I can hardly imagine how much money I have saved over the decades, and I can clean my stovepipe whenever I think it needs it.
Good luck.
Problem solved! Spark arrestor screen at chimney top was gummed up. Cleaned and inspected down chimney. All is now well and fire is going great.
You can get a backdraft when you first light the stove, when the chimney pipe is cold—unless it’s still warm from the day before. But you shouldn’t get a backdraft when the stove is actually warm.
Possibly the intake vent or air circulation is blocked because you don’t do a daily cleanout of the old ashes—just the fluffy, powdery stuff.
But as already noted, a likelier cause is that the chimney needs cleaning out. I generally do mine once a year, after the heating season is over, although every other year may be enough, depending on the stovepipe and stove and the quality of the firewood.
You generally want to open the intake vent until the stove has gotten warmed up, and then you can close it a bit to adjust the amount of heat you get—or even close it all the way to keep it burning slowly overnight. That depends on the stove and the venting system, something you need to fool around with. And it’s a good idea to get one of those magnetic temperature indicators with a magnet on the back and stick it on the stove pipe, to warn you when the stove is getting too hot—or too cool.
OK. I had that problem when we first put the stove in, using an old stovepipe system we inherited from a former owner.
My son-in-law's brother cleaned the chimney for us, and found that the spark arrester screen was clogged with soot. That's common because the metal is coldest up at the top. We simply cut out the screen, since the stove pipe is three stories up and there are no woods or dry brush anywhere near the house if a stray spark ever manages to get near the ground--which I have never seen happen. No problems with clogging at the top since then.
Whether or not you want to do that depends on your own choice and judgment. Is there anything nearby that might get set on fire if an unusually large spark got out?
Oh, and I should mention that we have a metal roof. You might not want to do that if you have a cedar shake roof or something else that is easily flamable.
Chimney sweep. Yep, they are still around. Recommend having yours swept every year at least.
Hope you get your chimney cleaned yearly, creasote builds up inside and can start your house on fire..happened to one of my neighbors when I was on the farm...
We have oak and ash firewood split and stacked to last the next three years at our current burn rate.
The tree guys are due here Monday to take down two big black oaks that will provide wood for the year 2016-18...
We don’t have good wood like that here in the Colorado Rockies. We have pines and aspens. That is why I have to clean twice per winter. I use about 4-5 cords per year and that is what I have right now.
congratulations..I still recommend a thermometer for the flue if its exposed and if not for the top of the fire box.
Mine screws into the flue just above the collar on the stove, a Vermont Castings Vigilant or put it on the fire box as they have a magnet in them.
I was amazed and it showed me I ran the thing too cool and created more problems because of it.
PS:I have a bat or 2 squeeze into my cap each summer and I have a screen up there.
How cold was it oustide when this happened? If not cold enough it could just be that it isn’t drawing well.
Temp outside was approximately 38 degrees. Going down to mid 20’s tonight.
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