fireplace smokes
We have installed a 42” wood burning fire box in a metal building house. We spray foamed the walls and ceilings with 5” of open cell foam. The house is really tight. We also installed a fresh air vent on the side of the fire box. The chimney is a 8” double wall metal chimney stack approximately 15’ tall and is at least 2’ above the roof 10’ horizontally. When we open the door it helps some but still continues to blow smoke into the house. We are frustrated with the situation, any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
Responses
It sounds like you have done your installation according to code. I believe that raising the chimney a couple feet may help, but more than likely you are getting a downdraft and a vacustack, downdraft cap should help with that. If your house is too tight, when you open the window or door near the fireplace and it helps, you may want to consider installing a scuddle fresh air intake in the utility room to help equalize pressures when using your fireplace.
Try entering “smoky fireplaces” in the search box at the top right of this page, next to the magnifying glass. Chimneys.com has a lot of information on this topic.
It sounds like you did a lot of renovations to your home. Apart from the insulation, did you add any other features—such as bathroom vents or stove hood? Those can also rob the wood burning appliance of the air it needs. So can adding an addition to the home (especially a single story addition to a two story home). Long story short, there can be many factors that can inhibit draft—the best recommendation is to have a professional sweep inspect the system. The worse case scenario would be to install an electrically driven fan, such as an Exhausto, to the top of the stack.
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