Trouble Shooting Chimneys and Fireplaces Excessive Up Drafting. Sometimes, too much updraft can be a bad thing. If you’re airtight woodstove is burning out of control, make sure the door and glass gaskets are making a good seal, and that the air control mechanism on the stove is operating properly. If all else fails, you might consider attempting to reduce the chimney updraft through mechanical means.
Universal Replacement Refractory Panel 24' high X 28'wide x 1' thick. If your current fireplace firebrick lining has cracks of 1/4' or more, you should replace the panels for safety reason. These replacement.
Having determined that the chimney is clean, make sure sufficient combustion air is being provided to the fire. As the chimney pulls air through a fireplace or woodstove, negative air pressure (a partial vacuum) can be created. Comment: installing a wood burning cook stove, need a small section of the hearth ripped out, the fireplace bricked in maybe, have the brick run all the way up to the ceiling with the chimney worked for it, and the wood stove. Your Guide To Wood Stoves. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), more than 140,000 woodburning-related fires, 280 deaths and 2,500 injuries occur each year. Some of the major causes of woodburning related. Woodburners from Sussex Woodstoves in Horsham, West Sussex, for the supply / sale, repair, delivery and fitting of good value, high quality, competitive wood and coal stoves in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Kent, UK. Sussex.
Down Drafting or Cross Drafting. Often, chimney draft failures are caused by wind, blowing down or across the top of the chimney. If the problem only occurs when the wind blows, replace your rain cap with a draft- inducing cap. These caps are designed to reverse the effects of wind- induced downdraft or cross draft. Draft inducing caps will not correct a downdraft caused by increased air density at the top of the chimney due to air inversion, or the type of chimney- top pressurization which can occur when the wind blows across the top of a cylinder formed by nearby tall trees, hills, or buildings that extend above and totally surround the chimney.
Flue Blockage. If the chimney is the proper size and still isn’t providing sufficient draft, the first thing to do is check the stovepipe and chimney flue for blockage: bird nests, fallen bricks, leaves, soccer balls etc. Make sure the flue is clean: it doesn’t take much soot or creosote buildup to reduce the flue diameter enough to interfere with proper draft. While you’re up there looking at the chimney, don’t forget to make sure the spark mesh in your chimney cap isn’t plugged with creosote or fly ash. If it is, clean it out and snip larger holes in the mesh to prevent a recurrence. Or save yourself some trouble and call us!!! Resistance From Below. Having determined that the chimney is clean, make sure sufficient combustion air is being provided to the fire.
As the chimney pulls air through a fireplace or woodstove, negative air pressure (a partial vacuum) can be created in the house, which fights against the chimney draft and can actually draw smoke back down the chimney. This problem has become so prevalent in today’s tightly constructed homes that we now require that an outside combustion air supply be provided di to all woodstove or fireplace installations.
Another problem, called The Stack Effect sometimes occurs in tall houses that leak large amounts of air in the upper stories: heated air rises, so the warm air inside the house wants to flow upstairs and escape through the leaks. In extreme examples, this can result in negative air pressure below that is stronger than the chimney updraft. If opening a door or window near the fireplace or woodstove eliminates the draft problem, the best solution is to provide combustion air directly into the firebox from outside.
If the design or location of the stove or fireplace doesn’t allow for this, a makeup air intake located in the nearest outside wall, is the next best solution. Mechanical Depressurization. Bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans; attic ventilation fans, clothes dryers, etc. Outside combustion air, tight fitted glass doors and good gaskets on your woodstove door can help solve this problem, as well as opening a window between the exhaust fan and the fire.
Furnace blower systems often cause negative pressurization in the house as well, as in cases where the return air intake isn’t perfectly balanced with the flow back into the house through the heat registers. To minimize room depressurization caused by a properly balanced forced air system, make sure all registers connected to the forced air system are open. Cold Flue Temperatures. The ambient updraft created by the drop in air pressure from the bottom to the top of a chimney is often not sufficient to exhaust the smoke from a wood fire.
In colder weather, for example, an unused flue can fill up with low temperature air, which can completely block the flow of smoke up the chimney. When this happens, any attempt to light a wood fire will result in a house full of smoke. To “”prime”” a cold chimney, line the back wall of the stove or fireplace with loose balls of newspaper and light them. Replace the newspaper and relight repeatedly until the hot paper exhaust pushes the cold air plug out of the chimney (you’ll see the smoke from the paper fire suddenly disappear up the flue when this happens).
Once an updraft is established, build a paper and kindling fire and add progressively larger pieces of firewood gradually as the flue continues to heat up and create the thermal updraft needed to exhaust the smoke from the wood fire. Masonry chimneys can be hard to prime, because masonry materials are terrible insulators: it would take a brick chimney with sidewalls 2. A masonry chimney bleeds precious heat away from the exhaust and transmits it through to the outside of the flue, slowing the thermal updraft (and promoting creosote formation). Masonry chimneys that extend up through the house stay warmer than those that are exposed to outside temperatures for their entire length, but all chimneys lose precious flue temperature above the roofline. Improper Flue Sizing.
Masonry fireplace flue sizing is determined by the size of the fireplace opening below. Masons traditionally calculate the size of fireplace flues using a “”rule of thumb”” that the cross sectional area of the masonry flue be at least 1/1. For example, an 8×1. If your fireplace smokes because the flue is too small, try temporarily reducing the size of the fireplace opening with pieces of sheet metal; if this works, use masonry materials to accomplish a permanent solution. Wood stove flue sizing is determined by the stove manufacturer for each model during the testing process.
In order for a woodstove chimney to do the best possible venting job, the flue opening must have exactly the same cross- sectional area as the vent opening on the appliance. If the chimney is too small, it may not have room for the volume of rising air the stove requires. If it is too big, it may draw too slowly for the appliance, and may never heat up enough to compensate.
For this reason, both flue under sizing and flue over sizing should be avoided. If your chimney is too small, replace either the chimney or the appliance. If your chimney is too big, install a masonry or stainless steel flue liner that has the same cross sectional area as the vent opening on the appliance. Improper Stovepipe Sizing or Configuration.
In order for the connector pipe (stovepipe) between a woodstove and the chimney to do the best possible job, it must be the same size as the vent collar on the stove. If the stovepipe is too small, it won’t handle the exhaust volume the test laboratory determined that the stove requires: if it is too big, the exhaust column exiting the flue collar will have to expand to fill the oversize pipe, slowing the flow.
Either condition can interfere with proper chimney updraft. Elbows and horizontal lengths in the connector pipe (stovepipe) can also interfere with chimney updraft, and should be avoided if possible. When a woodstove is installed in front of a fireplace or chimney, locate it as close to the chimney as its rear clearance listing allows, to minimize the horizontal length required to make the connection. When connecting a top- vent stove to a chimney located in the wall behind it, eliminate the 9. When a horizontal length must be used, install it with a slight upward tilt towards the chimney thimble (at least 1/4?
When venting into a manufactured chimney at the ceiling, locate the stove directly under the chimney so the pipe goes straight up. If you must offset the pipe, use 4. Keep your cozy fire.. Chimney fires don’t have to happen. Here are some ways to avoid them: Only use seasoned wood. Dryness is more important than hard wood versus soft wood considerations.
Build smaller, hotter fires that burn more completely and produce less smoke. Never burn cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, trash or Christmas trees. These items can spark a chimney fire.
Install stovepipe thermometers to help monitor flue temperatures where wood stoves are in use, so you can adjust burning practices as needed. Have the chimney inspected and cleaned on a regular basis.
What to do if you have a chimney fire. If you realize a chimney fire is occurring, follow these steps: Get everyone, including you, out of the house. Call the fire department. If you can do so without risk to yourself, these additional steps may help save your home. Remember, however, that you can replace your home, but you cannot replace lives: Put a flare type chimney fire extinguisher into the fireplace or wood stove.
Close the glass doors on the fireplace. Close the air inlets on the wood stove. Use a garden hose to spray down the roof (not the chimney) so the fire won’t spread to the rest of the structure. Monitor the exterior chimney temperature throughout the house for at least two or three hours after the fire is Signs that you've had a chimney fire. If chimney fires can occur without anyone being aware of them and damage from such fires can endanger a home and its occupants, how do you tell if you’ve experienced a chimney fire? Here are the signs a professional chimney sweep looks for: ‘Puffy’ creosote, with rainbow colored streaks that has expanded beyond creosote’s normal form.
Warped metal of the damper, metal smoke chamber, connector pipe or factory- built metal chimney. Cracked or collapsed flue tiles, or tiles with large chunks missing. Discolored and distorted rain cap. Creosote flakes and pieces found on the roof or ground. Roofing material damaged from hot creosote.
Cracks in exterior masonry. Evidence of smoke escaping through mortar joints of masonry or tile liners.
If you think a chimney fire has occurred, call us for a professional evaluation. If your suspicions are confirmed, we will be able to make recommendations about how to bring the system back into compliance with safety standards.