Fireplace That Burn Wood

[Nyboy]

When you used your wood burning fireplace, does your house and clothes smell of smoke?

 

[Smart Red]

Nope, not at all. We built the house with two masonry fireplaces that have outside-air to the burning chamber, a cap over the fire brick filled with pipes to carry the warmed air out to the room, fans to blow that warm air around and glass doors to keep the fire and smoke inside the unit. No smell of smoke, except for outside, and no smell of wood burning in the house.

The real trick was outside air. No warmed air from the heated house is pulled into the firebox to feed O2 to the fire so no drafts and it allows for a closed unit so no smell.

 

[seedcorn]

IF you smell smoke, something is wrong. All fumes should go up chimney.

Either you or trained person should clean out flue and chimney at least once per year. I did flue 2-4X per burning year.

 

[canesisters]

Years ago I lived in an OLD house that heated the entire downstairs with a leaky wood stove in a HUGE fireplace. I would hang clothes up inside the fireplace to dry... and then would spend the day smelling like I had been at a bonfire.

 

[journey11]

I pick up a little smokey smell when I add wood to the fire (we have a wood burning furnace, a closed unit). But if it is smelling like that throughout the house, your chimney isn't drafting properly, meaning it needs cleaning. That could mean carbon monoxide backing up into the house too. Do you have a CO detector? If cleaning doesn't fix the problem, it may be a structural problem, possibly not built correctly. We had to have ours modified when we first moved here because whoever built it didn't follow the correct specs. You'll need a professional to come out and clean/inspect it either way, at least initially until the problem is resolved.

 

[Nyboy]

Had wood burning switched to gas, thinking about switching back to wood. But was wondering about smell. Chimmey has liner was cleaned last year, was told in good shape.

 

[catjac1975]

Doesn't sound good. Did a pro check it out? You can get a little smoke backup in the wind but it should not be a regular thing.

 

[journey11]

Had wood burning switched to gas, thinking about switching back to wood. But was wondering about smell. Chimmey has liner was cleaned last year, was told in good shape.

Is it an open fireplace or a woodstove with a door that closes? You can expect a little smoke when you feed the fire, but it shouldn't be coming through the house.

Ours has one too many elbows, slowing the smoke down going to the chimney. When we bought the house, the elbow joining the chimney was not fully connected, causing it to suck in cold air at that point. And for the height of our chimney, at 40' tall, the smoke was cooling before it exited the top, causing creosote build-up about midway. It smoked back really badly that first winter we tried to use it. We had a licensed inspector come work on it and they wrapped the metal liner with ceramic wool to help hold in the heat, fixed the disconnected elbow where air was getting in and told us to make sure we burned it good and hot to prevent a smouldering fire which adds to creosote build up. Nothing can be done about the extra elbow since the unit is located in the basement, but that was ok, just not the best. So it could be a number of things if your smoke isn't rising up and out of the chimney fast enough. The diameter of the pipe matters too, based on what kind of stove it is and how long the chimney is (although I don't know specs for that). All that stuff the professional should be able to tell you if they know their stuff. Wood should be good and seasoned too. Green (wet) wood will smoke more and make more creosote. A moisture meter is handy to have, like this one. I don't take anyone's word for it if it is supposed to be seasoned. It should read 20% or less.

I love having wood heat, much toastier than anything else, but it sure is a lot of work. It costs less though to stay nice and warm and it's nice to not have to watch the thermostat!

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

no smoke smell here except when opening the door to feed it. clothes tend to smell of wood when i've been bringing in some to burn though!

 

[Jared77]

We have a wood burning fire place. The traditional wire mesh front glass doors crackling fire etc type. Unless I don't pay attention and let a piece of wood poke out that isn't under the chimney we rarely have a serious smoke smell.

You can walk in and know ones burning, but it's not like you have to clear a room. I've made much bigger plumes of smoke cooking than I've ever made using the fireplace