Hello hearth.com and fellow members! I am new to owning a fireplace / stove, and could use some help please! I recently bought a house that has a Country Flames Catalytic insert on the fireplace. I believe it is the BBF or O2 model (the manual that was left says it covers both oven models). I read the manual to learn how to use it, and I think I am using it correctly. I used it 3 times so far and it seemed to work pretty well. In each case, I started a fire, let the oven get up to about 400 or 500 degrees, then I shut the damper and it heated up, and eventually warmed up my living room nicely. However, last night I set out to do the same thing, and within a few minutes after lighting it smoke began to pour out of the two bottom vents, into my living room! The damper was of course open, as it should be. I opened the stove door to take a look inside, and a ton of smoke poured out, so i quickly shut the door. I tried turning on the blower fan, and I also opened my windows in the living room in order to air out the room. I then tried shutting the damper and the vents, in the hope that it would put out the fire. The fire seemed to burn out, but smoke still slowly seeped into my living room through the vents for about 2 hours, even with the vents closed. The house got really smelly - it was not fun! I opened the damper again, hoping the smoke would go through the chimney. I was really worried about my family breathing this smoke in. Eventually I snuffed the fire out completely (with a few glasses of water) and everything died down and it stopped smoking. Does anyone have any thoughts of why this might have happened? I thought the oven was sealed from doing this sort of thing. I can tell you that I did not clean out the oven from the prior 3 fires, and there was a bunch of ash and debris in there. Could that have caused the problem? I am going to clean it all out and try it again. But I am really worried about this smoking again into my house. Any insight would be appreciated. thanks!
Help! New fireplace user. Smoking oven question.
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Was the chimney cold? Or was there a Fire previous to this one (any coals left?)??
My guess is you had a cold.chimney and didnt get it warm to get the draft going the right way and air was reversed down your chimney.
All new EPA stoves have air vents that you cant control. Thats probably where a lot of your smoke was coming from.
My guess is you had a cold.chimney and didnt get it warm to get the draft going the right way and air was reversed down your chimney.
All new EPA stoves have air vents that you cant control. Thats probably where a lot of your smoke was coming from.
SteveKG
Minister of Fire
What maybe happened is that, yes, the chimney was cold. The cold, dense column of air in the chimney began to flow down and into the stove and room as soon as you opened a damper. Then when you started the fire, it kept on rolling and pushed smoke along with it. I have experienced this a few times over the years. The solution is to get the warm indoor air moving thru the stove and up the chimney first. The way that works for me is to leave the stove unlit for a while, get it all ready to light, vents/etc. all open, then do not light it for a while. I can actually feel the cold air flowing out of the stove when this is going to be a problem. 99% of the time, it is not a problem [for me].
You can test whether the flue/chimney is ready by lighting a piece of newspaper and holding putting it into the stove or holding it up near the flue...if ready, the paper smoke will be drawn up the chimney ok. If not, you will get it back in the room, but only the smoke from a small paper fire. I have read on this forum that some people have to use a hair dryer or some other heat source to get the air moving up the chimney prior to lighting the fire. I have never had to do this, in my house.
You can test whether the flue/chimney is ready by lighting a piece of newspaper and holding putting it into the stove or holding it up near the flue...if ready, the paper smoke will be drawn up the chimney ok. If not, you will get it back in the room, but only the smoke from a small paper fire. I have read on this forum that some people have to use a hair dryer or some other heat source to get the air moving up the chimney prior to lighting the fire. I have never had to do this, in my house.
SlyFerret
Minister of Fire
I've heard some of the guys here suggest using a hair dryer or paint stripper hot air gun to get some warm air going up the chimney to warm up the system and get the draft going.
I was going to ask if any bathroom vents, clothes dryers, or kitchen exhaust fans were runing, but if negative pressure from a powered vent was the problem, opening the window would have helped.
-SF
I was going to ask if any bathroom vents, clothes dryers, or kitchen exhaust fans were runing, but if negative pressure from a powered vent was the problem, opening the window would have helped.
-SF
Thanks! I had a chimney sweep company come and just make sure nothing was plugged or blocked somewhere. They inspected the chimney and detected no problems in terms of build up or blockages or anything (although to be honest the guy did not appear to be an expert on the catalytic oven itself). He did not thoroughly clean or inspect the insert in my opinion but he did say that everything looked looked fine when he did the 12 point inspection. His opinion was that I perhaps caught a downdraft of air coming down the chimney and he gave me some tips for lighting and checking it in the future, as some of you suggest here. He also suggested that I do not close the damper all the way once the oven heats up, but leave it open slightly.
On another note, I did spend $250 with him to remove and replace a rusted chimney cap and repair & seal the flashing, which all appeared to have some issues. He also said that the crown needs to be repaired and cemented and both this chimney and my furnace chimney needs to be water proofed as some of the brick is starting to peel and crumble, but this was much more expensive quote ($800) and I held off for now until I get more opinions.
If anyone has any further thoughts about any of this, I'd appreciate it! I guess I will try the newspaper method next time first, and make sure smoke is going up the chimney.
On another note, I did spend $250 with him to remove and replace a rusted chimney cap and repair & seal the flashing, which all appeared to have some issues. He also said that the crown needs to be repaired and cemented and both this chimney and my furnace chimney needs to be water proofed as some of the brick is starting to peel and crumble, but this was much more expensive quote ($800) and I held off for now until I get more opinions.
If anyone has any further thoughts about any of this, I'd appreciate it! I guess I will try the newspaper method next time first, and make sure smoke is going up the chimney.
Slyferret - I don't think any exhaust fans were going, but I will keep that in mind as well. thanks! How about the furnace? I still had my regular heat on in the house. Could that also cause the problem? I usually shut it off once the oven gets going.
Using Super Cedars or putting a few pieces of newspaper on top of your kindling, will create a lot of heat all at once. Which should start the draft going in the right direction
I have found that Super Cedars (firestater) work great for heating the flue. The light off fast and burn hot for awhile. Also almost no need for kindling with Super Cedars. A few smaller splits and a Half a Cedar work great.
Hope you get it figured out. Once you get the flue warm, it will continue to draw. Just gotta get it there.
I have found that Super Cedars (firestater) work great for heating the flue. The light off fast and burn hot for awhile. Also almost no need for kindling with Super Cedars. A few smaller splits and a Half a Cedar work great.
Hope you get it figured out. Once you get the flue warm, it will continue to draw. Just gotta get it there.
mellow
Resident Stove Connoisseur
Do you have a stainless steel liner going from the insert to the crown? Sounds like you have a slammer install.
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