Down draft problem

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shood

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Feb 15, 2011
9
Champlain Islands VT
I have a 2005 Hearthstone Heritage and this is the first year burning it and has not had any real issues with it. Sometimes it has difficulty making draft when cold but after letting the stove pipe (6" excel metal) warm up the stove runs great.

So yesterday the outside air temp was approx 40F, wind blowing at 20mph, we had the stove going the previous night. In the am I put in 2 logs and got it ripping hot, burned for maybe 2 hours and was getting ready to leave for a few hours. Put in one log and let it burn for maybe 10 minutes and shut it down as I've done many times. This was about 9am. At 1:30pm I came back to the house to find only what I can explain as the stove burning in reverse. Sucking air down the chimney and all the smoke coming out the air intake, out the cracks in the stove pipe, out anywhere it could escape. Every room in the house was completely filled with smoke, so filled that it was hard to see through it. Here are a few questions I have.

Is the most extreme downdraft issue anyone heard of?

Would a Vacu-Stack cap solve this from happening again?

Should I have the stove inspected by the local stove shop?

How can I get the smell out of the house?

Thanks.

Scott
 
That sounds awful. Did you ever experience anything like this with the Jotul 8?

You have negative draft, the question is why? Describe the flue setup on the stove. How is it connected, what floor is it on? Was a window or attic vent upstairs open? Is there any exhaust system that might have come on?

Contact your local fire dept. about smoke smell cleaning. It sounds like you may want it professionally done. They may have contractors for reference.
 
There are several ways of getting rid of the smoke smell but for this, I too would suggest calling the fire department. Other than that, the ozone thing and also lighting candles in every room. However, be very careful with the candles. Make sure you sit them inside a large cake pan or something similar lest one tip over as you do not want a fire besides what you already have. But candles do very well in getting rid of smoke and smoke smell. Vanilla extract will also help some with the smell. Good luck. Now it is a matter of finding out the cause of this so it does not happen again.
 
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We had some issues with drafting after insulation was put in and thought it was negative pressure at first. When I opened windows it made no difference at all and then in high wind it dawned on me that the flame was woofing out and coming back very fast. So I ordered a vacu stack and to our delight it drafts absalutly perfect now. Our first issue was to much draft and we installed a damper which fixed that but it only seems to happen when it is below 20 f outside. We live on a high point in our town and have very strange draft issues with the new stove but I can say with certainty the vacu stack has all but eliminated the downdraft issues. As for the to much draft in the real cold we have yet to see. The issue I believe is caused by a near by tree and building to the house. Every body has a slightly different setup and draft in your case I think it sounds like negative pressure. You can tell if it is negative pressure sometimes by putting an incense stick by the air intake if it blows away from the stove that is a good indication of negative pressure. The easiest way to tell however is open a window while you burn that will equalize the pressure and you should draft properly.

Pete
 
Sorry for the delay, the old forum used to email when a reply was added. I uploaded a photo from when I installed the stove in the fall.
P1000377.JPG
My set-up from the stove up is as follows - stove is located in the LR on the first floor:
Stove to Excel stove adaptor for 6" dual wall stove pipe. Pipe lengths in order are 12" to a 5" dampner to back to back 30's (to get offset needed) then up 40 inches to the chimney in the ceiling. The chimney is 6" Excel insulated stainless. This goes from the ceiling support straight up thru the second floor ceiling to the attic. In the attic the chimney this: above the floor to a 30 elbow, 9 ft, to second 30 elbow then vertical thru the roof. If I remember the cap is at least 3ft above the peak.
P1000666.JPG

Here are a few pics of the roof which is 12/12 pitch facing southwest.
Front of house view:
P1000667.JPG

Rear of house view:
P1000668.JPG

The old Jotul 8 puffed smoke several time in the 4 years we used it, but it seemed to only occur if it was very cold outside and no wind and was in no way like this, just a quick blast. The Jotul was connected witht the same set-up as the Heritage. The Heritage, other than what I stated originally about its draft, has not done this until the other day.

I hope I've given enough details to all. Thanks for any input you may have,

Scott
 
shood said:
Sorry for the delay, the old forum used to email when a reply was added. I uploaded a photo from when I installed the stove in the fall.

Scott
Click to expand...


Scott, you need to reset this in your control panel. Everyone had to do this when the new forum started. You might also have to set your time. Just look to see what time your post is. Seems like mine was off by about 10 hours but just simply reset it and also click on the email so you will get the notificiations.
 
Thats a pretty extreem case of constant downdrafting (hire a pro installer), smoke damage in a house is a very real and serious thing (it is covered by most homeowners insurance policy's), they would pay for a cleaning crew to come out and clean every inch of every wall, ceiling and floor and if you had any clothes they would pay to have them cleaned or replaced.
 
When the weather warms, I don't shut the primary down more than half way. Also a bathroom fan or clothes dryer running will pull smoke from a weak fire.
 
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