Help with chimney draft

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drozenski

New Member
Aug 14, 2010
104
Rochester NY
Ok here's the story.

My house is here http://g.co/maps/b4hek

The left corner of my house faces directly north.

My wood stove dealer i believe keeps blowing smoke up my arse and im getting tired of getting smoke and Co2 in my home!

When ever i have a wind from the south east blowing to the west i get smoke in the house. No matter what i do. I had the fire going tonight totally roaring. 4 logs fully engulfed, stove top at 700, full air and the wind still blew smoke down my chimney and into my living room. I also crack a window in that side of the house. it helps a little but smoke still enters. I can watch the flames get really heavy, then go out, smoke pours though the air vent. Then when the gust dies down the fire kicks back in.

Heres my setup

Sierra 8000 Tec wood stove

Heated bulb. Prewarms the chimney and keeps it warm to help prevent downdrafts. The wood stove guy said this would solve my problem $380 bucks later and same issue.

3 feet to 90 degree elbow, 3 feet into wall,

25+ foot chimney

regular cap.

The chimney is not above my roof line. and sits on the east side of the home.

Should i get a special cap? Extend my chimney above the roof?

Any idea's?
 
Could be the chimney is too low. The google image does not show the chimney. Can you post a picture or two of that?
 
A picture would help.
From what I read, the 3 feet from the 90° into the wall is one of the biggest factor.
Try to shorten that distance & replace the 90° with 2 - 45°s.
Horizontal pipe is a choke to draft.
Put one 45° where it comes from the wall & the other one where it aligns to meet the stove connection .
Additionally I'd add to the chimney pipe to where is is above roof line 2 feet & no obstructions with in 10 feet.
http://www.northlineexpress.com/pipe-install-planning.asp

EDIT after I see the picture: When the wind blow over the roof line it is creating a high pressure area where the top of the chimney stops.
Another 3' should do it. (But may need 5' if the apex of the roof still causes wind to be turbulent at the cap)
Try 3 & see if that does it. (Insulated pipe, class A)
 
Sounds like the cat when running low it's not keeping the flue warm enough. SE wind blows up against that flue and the roof. There also could be competition for draft.

Is the stove in the basement? Is it vented into the tile liner of the cement block chimney? If so, do you know the side of the clay tile liner?

Picture added.
 

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Also make sure the stove pipe is double wall & all the joints are sealed good.
Air leaking into the pipe joints cools the exhaust & reduces draft.
But with it being wind driven, raising the chimney is a must.
Two 45° (double wall) with the joints sealed, from the stove to the chimney solved my draft issues.
 
BeGreen said:
Sounds like the cat when running low it's not keeping the flue warm enough. SE wind blows up against that flue and the roof. There also could be competition for draft.

Is the stove in the basement? Is it vented into the tile liner of the cement block chimney? If so, do you know the side of the clay tile liner?

Picture added.

Stove is not in the basement, i have a liner in the chimney. The cat was not engaged i was burning full out.
 
They sell vents that are designed to help out with wind issues, might be something to look into?
 
Not understanding how the smoke gets out of the stove if the door is shut and a fire going. One area I see that it may get in (due to chimney height) is those passive vents on your roof line. Your chimney sits below those vents and a southeast wind would blow right into them.
 
quote author="drozenski" date="1322037481"]
"Ok here's the story.
Heated bulb. Prewarms the chimney and keeps it warm to help prevent downdrafts. The wood stove guy said this would solve my problem $380 bucks later and same issue".[/quote]



I guess no one has seen this. and what is it?
 
Maybe you need to fix the house, not the chimney. As for carbon dioxide, it's pretty much everywhere and makes up the largest part of air.
 
Does the chimney have a clean out at the bottom? If so, is the door sealed well. Looking at the pictures it looks like the chimney goes down to the basement, is there another through wall thimble or cleanout down there? I'm betting that lower part of the chimney is so much colder than the upper part where the stove exhausts that it could be messing up the draft and sucking some smoke down through a leaky clean out or thimble.
 
LLigetfa said:
Maybe you need to fix the house, not the chimney. As for carbon dioxide, it's pretty much everywhere and makes up the largest part of air.

Carbon Manoxide, The stuff that kills people and sets off my detectors.
 
rwhite said:
Not understanding how the smoke gets out of the stove if the door is shut and a fire going. One area I see that it may get in (due to chimney height) is those passive vents on your roof line. Your chimney sits below those vents and a southeast wind would blow right into them.

I never thought of that, Thanks. That does make sense though why one time when the fire department came and checked out the issue their was alot of smoke in the attic.
 
Todd said:
Does the chimney have a clean out at the bottom? If so, is the door sealed well. Looking at the pictures it looks like the chimney goes down to the basement, is there another through wall thimble or cleanout down there? I'm betting that lower part of the chimney is so much colder than the upper part where the stove exhausts that it could be messing up the draft and sucking some smoke down through a leaky clean out or thimble.

The chimney has a door facing the garage. The chimney does not go all the way to the basement.

The door might be loose. Ill look at it today when im home. Normally after i clean it i put a brick up against it to make sure it says closed. Wife might have bumped it when she mowed the lawn.
 
AppalachianStan said:
quote author="drozenski" date="1322037481"]
"Ok here's the story.
Heated bulb. Prewarms the chimney and keeps it warm to help prevent downdrafts. The wood stove guy said this would solve my problem $380 bucks later and same issue".



I guess no one has seen this. and what is it?[/quote]

Its a small round pipe thing that sits directly above my stove. I plug it in prior to a fire and it gets hot on the inside. This inturn warms the chimney prior to a fire. It will also stay on if the flue gas's are not hot enough to aid them in their way up the chimney.

Once the gas's are hot enough the device has a thermomiter and turns off.
 
drozenski said:
Todd said:
Does the chimney have a clean out at the bottom? If so, is the door sealed well. Looking at the pictures it looks like the chimney goes down to the basement, is there another through wall thimble or cleanout down there? I'm betting that lower part of the chimney is so much colder than the upper part where the stove exhausts that it could be messing up the draft and sucking some smoke down through a leaky clean out or thimble.

The chimney has a door facing the garage. The chimney does not go all the way to the basement.

The door might be loose. Ill look at it today when im home. Normally after i clean it i put a brick up against it to make sure it says closed. Wife might have bumped it when she mowed the lawn.

Yeah, they can really screw up your draft if you don't have a good seal. I would stuff some insulation in there and silicone the door shut.
 
The key for me here is the chimney is on the North side and the wind comes from the south east when he gets the smoke, some wind currents blowing over the roof causing it, have seen it happen on other houses over the years.
 
I have an insert and the original masonry chimney was too short like yours. With my old stove a west wind would go up one side of the house and over the peak of the roof and cause a downdraft. The long term fix was when I got a new stove and installed a liner. I raised the chimney by about 3' and that eliminated the problem.

My temporary fix was to buy a wind directional cap, the type that moves with the wind so you never have a downdraft. You can see what they look like here, the galvanized cost a lot less. http://www.comfortgurus.com/product_info.php/products_id/10072
 
drozenski said:
LLigetfa said:
Maybe you need to fix the house, not the chimney. As for carbon dioxide, it's pretty much everywhere and makes up the largest part of air.

Carbon Manoxide, The stuff that kills people and sets off my detectors.

For the record (because hearth stuff is sort of science)....
CO2 is a trace gas; 0.03% of earth atmosphere.
CO is the "silent killer" that sets off common household alarms.
Nitrogen is the largest part of air (78%)
But....
...CO2 is in beer.
 
burleymike said:
I have an insert and the original masonry chimney was too short like yours. With my old stove a west wind would go up one side of the house and over the peak of the roof and cause a downdraft. The long term fix was when I got a new stove and installed a liner. I raised the chimney by about 3' and that eliminated the problem.

My temporary fix was to buy a wind directional cap, the type that moves with the wind so you never have a downdraft. You can see what they look like here, the galvanized cost a lot less. http://www.comfortgurus.com/product_info.php/products_id/10072


Thanks i just picked one up on sale with sipping for $40.00

Much cheaper than the 130 my dealer wanted.
 
drozenski said:
burleymike said:
I have an insert and the original masonry chimney was too short like yours. With my old stove a west wind would go up one side of the house and over the peak of the roof and cause a downdraft. The long term fix was when I got a new stove and installed a liner. I raised the chimney by about 3' and that eliminated the problem.

My temporary fix was to buy a wind directional cap, the type that moves with the wind so you never have a downdraft. You can see what they look like here, the galvanized cost a lot less. http://www.comfortgurus.com/product_info.php/products_id/10072


Thanks i just picked one up on sale with sipping for $40.00

Much cheaper than the 130 my dealer wanted.
Great-make sure you come back after it is on and a south east wind to tll us how it worked out.
 
granpajohn said:
For the record (because hearth stuff is sort of science)....
CO2 is a trace gas; 0.03% of earth atmosphere.
CO is the "silent killer" that sets off common household alarms.
Nitrogen is the largest part of air (78%)
But....
...CO2 is in beer.
Oops... my mistake on the percentage in the atmosphere.

I'm still confident that the house needs to be fixed. It has to be if it makes a better chimney than the chimney does. Draft inducers and wind vane caps are just bandaid fixes.
 
LLigetfa said:
granpajohn said:
For the record (because hearth stuff is sort of science)....
CO2 is a trace gas; 0.03% of earth atmosphere.
CO is the "silent killer" that sets off common household alarms.
Nitrogen is the largest part of air (78%)
But....
...CO2 is in beer.
Oops... my mistake on the percentage in the atmosphere.

I'm still confident that the house needs to be fixed. It has to be if it makes a better chimney than the chimney does. Draft inducers and wind vane caps are just bandaid fixes.
I first read about this happening many years ago and have seen it first hand, if you are getting a direct wind current fighting the draft I am not sure who' going to win. Look at the way the chimney is placed and the direction the wind is coming from, looks like a problem to me.
 
LLigetfa said:
As for carbon dioxide, it's pretty much everywhere and makes up the largest part of air.

? largest part of air ? Nitrogen would be the correct answer, followed by oxygen for all you quiz takers.... CO2 would get you kicked off the quiz show.

Edit >> Grandpa, you beat me!

? Block off plate ?

And in this case, I may have to think an OAK may be indicated.

And I could be wrong but most all of the detectors are sensing carbon monoxide, not CO2. And can you rule out any other burning appliances (furnace, gas stove) for the carbon monoxide?
 
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