Help me -smoke smell/draft/cold air

[Firewoman]

We moved into a 1940 cape cod 2 years ago and this season my husband decided he wanted to use the wood burning fireplace which is on our main level with an exterior wall chimney.
We had the fireplace inspected and have had some minor work done to the crown and flue tiles. We also recently had the fireplace flue raised up above the furnace flue. We are having a sealing damper placed this week as well, and had the chimney swept.

We are having an issue with a very strong fire smell after the fire is over and a little bit during.
After researching we are opening a window halfway near the fireplace when a fire is burning as well as turning off the furnace so we don't have the air being pulled back into the house during the fire. However, it's freezing outside (the reason for wanting a fire in the first place) and opening a window and no heat on means the house is freezing. Which in my view, negates the reason for having a fire in the first place. It's nice to look at, but I'm so cold it's miserable. But if we keep everything closed up we have the smoky bacon smell in the small house and it's so pervasive.
What can we do to deal with this? Is there a middle ground that will prevent smell and keep our house cozy during a fire? I'm just over it but my husband really wants to have fires. He is already doing an upside down fire and also starting small and slow. Help!

 

[begreen]

There are a number of possible reasons for the smell that make it hard to tell from afar. It could be a too short or undersized chimney. It could be a poor fireplace design, it could be a flawed chimney with cracks in which creosote has soaked in. It could be local geography and poor chimney location or it could be the fireplace needs an outside air source. To sort this all out it may take a local chimney expert or certified sweep to investigate.

If the fireplace design or flue size is at fault, one option might be to install an insert. This would allow fire burning with a nice fire view, but with a closed door, keeping fumes out of the house. The insert would need a properly sized and insulated liner to perform correctly and chimney height may affect selection if the chimney is under 16ft tall.

 

[weatherguy]

That's why a lot of us put wood stoves in our fireplace, we can actually heat the house. Most fireplaces are not designed to net gain heat, usually it's a net loss.

 

[jatoxico]

Yes many little things could be going on. An exterior chimney (like mine) tends to stay cool and not draft as well. Also your 1940's house may nt be insulated/sealed very well. So if any warm air in the house rises upstairs then escapes the house may try to make up that pressure difference by pulling air down the chimney.

As already mentioned fireplaces are not very efficient and can operate at a net loss. You feel warm from the radiant heat when you're sitting in front of it but in fact a huge volume of conditioned (warm) air is being sucked up and out. You can put some glass doors to minimize some of loss which may help with the smoke issue too but the best solution would be an insert or stove in that fireplace.

 

[Attaboy]

I believe you need to get your fireplace and exterior chimney inspected by a knowledgeable competent stove and fireplace retailer or WETT technician to really find out what is going on, this will identify any problems and also give you peace of mind, and yes this will costs you some $$. These old fireplaces and exterior chimneys are notorious for their inefficiency and inherent problems some of which you are presently having, they waste your heat, your $$ and offer you nothing more than sleepless nights when you live with these problems.

Personally I would convert it to use a wood stove placed directly on the hearth itself if possible or an insert as my second choice/option, now you will really save $$ on heating your home and enjoy it again.