Nothing can ruin a perfect evening in front of the fireplace more than a smoked up room. Many home owners with fireplaces or woodstoves have to deal with smoke problems but you don’t have to if you understand the causes of the problem. You can nearly eliminate fireplace and woodstove smoke by following these suggestion and performing routine chimney maintenance.

If you smell smoke, chances are your fireplace or wood burning stove is not working properly. A gentle waft of smoke isn’t unusual but too much smoke in the room is simply air pollution that can be harmful and could be deadly.

If your fireplace or wood burning stove is installed properly and working as it should you can enjoy the comfort of their heat and ambience without the smoke. In addition to having your fireplace or wood burning stove in proper working condition, you should use the right type of wood and insure that it is seasoned wood. If the wood is too green it contains high moisture content which causes smoke.

In many cases fireplace problems associated with smoke is caused by poor system design of your fireplace or woodstove. What typically happens is that a low flue draft and low flue temperatures are serious problems that can cause them to smoke. If your fireplace has a long single walled flue pipe or woodstove stove pipe the excessive heat will be produced prior to the gas reaching the chimney. A ninety degree flue pipe can also cause a smoke problem caused by the reduced or no gas flow at all. If your chimney goes up the outside wall there is a good chance that a weak draft is created. If this is the case you would need a different installation so the gasses are able to escape which will force the smoke outside.

Another common problem is that the house has negative pressure. In modern construction most building codes result in a near airtight house which for the most part is a good thing. An airtight home is easier to heat due to less air leakage but for the higher volume exhaust required for burning a fireplace or wood burning stove is inhibited because the house is too airtight. The house will develop a negative pressure when compared to air on the outside. The negative pressure reduces the chimney draft causing a poor exhaust of the gas and smoke. If the problem is too severe smoke is drawn back down the chimney to the inside of the house.

Another reason for fireplace smoke in the house is from a smoldering fire. This is caused by the fire not having enough air so it smolders rather than burns. If the exhaust temperature is too low then a sufficient draft cannot be produced by the flue. Opening the fireplace doors when a fire is smoldering will only aggravate the problem, causing smoke to filter into the home. Even if you closed the doors during a smoldering fire it may not be enough to stop the flow of smoke.

Most of the smoke inside the house can be reduced or even eliminated by using an outside air supply duct. This will allow the fireplace to get air from outside the house which counteracts any negative pressure caused by an airtight house. An outside air duct will greatly reduce if not eliminate fireplace and wood stove smoke in the house.

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