Why does my house smell smokey?

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Fred ... yes the opening in behind the stove is acting as the passage way for air changes in and out ...(reason for the door movent) seal' er up can't afford drafts with that new stove... good luck stay in touch
 
2ez, I had additional 3 foot stack put on the outside chimney today. Even though temps in Michigan are mild I fired my stove up. I placed 3 splits in my stove and got my stove temps up to 350. I know that I could of fired her up into the 400s' but it is just way to warm outside. I would have burned me and the family out of the house today. I just wanted to see how the additional section of stack would work and I am very pleased with increased draw/draft.

As for fireplace behind stove I thought that additional air coming through vents would be a plus? So what you are saying, outside air coming in through vents is creating negative pressure and that is going to effect performance of stove?

Thanks

Fredo
 
I can see you now, on a 12' step ladder on the roof cleaning the chimney :bug:
Hope it solved the problem.
 
bodgydave,

Oh no, this guy doesn't get on 12 foot ladders to clean chimneys. That is the next mission I have to brain storm, cleaning my chimney. There is the Soot-Eater that attaches to a drill and I have seen the video illustrate how it works. I hope that this thing does what it says it does because I am leaving the ladder hung in the garage and using gadget to clean my chimney.

By the way, the additional 3 foot stack did the trick. Dennis nailed it once again along with all the other guys here at Hearth!

Thanks


Fredo
 
Mine is around 10 ft from my roof. I just clean it from the bottom. No freaking way I'd put a ladder on the roof to get up there. 6/12 pitch, just steep enough to make be nerous walking on it.
 
Fredo said:
bodgydave,

Oh no, this guy doesn't get on 12 foot ladders to clean chimneys. That is the next mission I have to brain storm, cleaning my chimney. There is the Soot-Eater that attaches to a drill and I have seen the video illustrate how it works. I hope that this thing does what it says it does because I am leaving the ladder hung in the garage and using gadget to clean my chimney.

By the way, the additional 3 foot stack did the trick. Dennis nailed it once again along with all the other guys here at Hearth!

Thanks


Fredo

Been thinking about a more flexible rod so I could clean from the bottom. The top 2 - 4 feet seem to be the only dirty section & it came off with one brush pass today.
Drop a rope down & pull it thru might be easier for me when the roof is snowy/slippery like today.
Have a helper on the ground to pull it down thru & throw it back up. Then no rods to wrestle with.
Still need to remove the cap & clean it now & then.
Dirtiest part of my system is the cap. Darn little bolt & nut on the clamp with cold hands is tricky.
Need a better/easier clamp.
 
My neighbor next door is always inventing things. He has invented some crafty little gadgets. I am going to ask him to think of something that would make it easier to clean my chimney.

Last year he engineered a a cleaning tool that attaches to a shop vac. He made it to fit under appliances that are hard to reach and clean under such as refridgerator. He even attached a mini flashlight to it so you can see all the dust bunnies that are hiding. I gave it a whirl and it worked really well.

When he comes up with his idea and builds me my new handy, dandy, chimney sweep tool, I will post it on Hearth for sure.

So with that being said, I know my good neighbor will figure something out to make my chimney experience a lil easier. Remember, this fella climbs no 12 foot ladders to get to a chimney stack? :bug:
 
Fredo ... back to the fireplace behind the stove....it appears to be acting in 2 ways...first on a normal (mild to no wind) day it's opening is actually balancing the air pressure inside to the outside preventing the negative pressure very much the same way opening a door or window would do for your home....however... second - it could be that on windy days the wind is blowing over or across the vent of that fireplace and pulling air form the home much like how a drinking straw works and this you are seeing in your home with the movement of interior doors as the wind is blowing. so it will be a good thing to seal it up. watch the performance of the stove if the house becomes too tight you may need to supply OS air to the unit to support combustion... only you know this as you compare the burns before and after sealing the fireplace
 
2ez, thanks for that information concerning fireplace. Yesterday installer came out and installed an additional 3 feet of chimney stack. What a huge difference in my stoves performance. I have no problems with firing my stove up to its peak operating temps of 300 and 450 now.

I can even hear the wind turbulance at the top of my stack within my stove now. My stack rises around 2 foot above top of my roof and it really draws well from inside my stove.

Now I am working on having splits of oak and ash delivered so I can get a head start on next season, God Willing.

Thanks again
Fredo
 
Thought I would add a funny story (stupid moment here). I kept smelling smoke after I installed my insert. I went to the basement, it was there. Went to the kitchen smelled smoke there. Everywhere I went in the house I smelled it. Bout the time I sat down here to pose the question the smell seemed stronger. It was on my hands and clothes from starting the fire. I was chasing myself around the house.
 
rwhite,

That is pretty funny and yes I know about the smoke smell on hands and clothes. I get that also but I like it. It reminds me of a nice, burning bonfire.

The day that smoky smell was in my house was from my stack outside not being high enough. Now that I have added additional 3 feet things are really toasty in the house, minus the strong smell of smoke of course. Sweet... ;-)
 
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