I've been noticing that sometimes there's little white whisps coming from the chimney top and other days it's much more. Tonight I loaded up my boiler when I kicked the fan on I noticed a big plume of white "smoke" coming from the chimney. Its a pretty foggy night tonight so I'm wondering if that's part of it or not. The "smoke" in question seems to rise from the chimney then the cloud grows in size the further from the chimney it gets. Is this smoke or stream? It's always pure white in color.
Is it smoke or stream out of the chimney?
- Thread starter warno
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
If it is white and rises. Steam. Dark and falls. Smoke.
The humidity in the air the heater pulls in has to go somewhere.
The humidity in the air the heater pulls in has to go somewhere.
maple1
Minister of Fire
It just seemed last night when I reloaded that there was big clouds rising from the chimney it would stayed intact for a pretty good distance. How far will steam travel from the chimney top before breaking up?
I've seen steady streams of steam for over a 100 feet. Like mentioned, smoke will drop. Also smell is an indicator for me, I know when there's incomplete combustion.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
The local power plant will have huge clouds coming off their cooling towers sometimes...500-1000' high? Looks like a big wall cloud coming in from a distance.
You will get pretty big steam trails sometimes when the humidity/temp is just right. And that seems to happen pretty commonly on a foggy/cold(ish) day
OK that's good. I was worried about my neighbors complaining about it. Once the fresh load of wood gets going there is no smell so that's why I was under the impression that it was water vapor, but I thought I'd ask about it.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
Well, neighbors may still complain. Anything that they can see "has to be" smoke, especially from a OWB. I hear people complaining about all that "smoke" (steam) from that local power plant (coal fired) that I mentioned before. They think it needs to be shut down ASAP...too dirty! Low information voters...
Reality is that you very rarely can see any actual smoke from their stack
Reality is that you very rarely can see any actual smoke from their stack
I saw a video on YouTube where a guy took a torch and held it above the chimney and it was lighting off the gases escaping. I tried this and it simply put the torch out. Which again led me to believe the water vapor theory.
Thanks for all the input everyone.
Thanks for all the input everyone.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
I still remember the days when we screwed a spark plug in the side of the tail pipe of the old 51 Mercury, hooked it up to a magneto and scared the hell out of people with the flames shooting 2 feet behind the car.
That's a little video I just took. It's about 12 degrees outside and feels alittle damp. There was a little but of snow on the wood I put in. I'm guessing that it is water vapor. It never comes down but it travels a long way.
What do you guys think? Smoke or steam?
Very wet wood with a lot of air. My guess. I see why you are concerned, I would be too. Bet the neighbors aren't happy.
The moisture in the wood was between 20% - 22% but there was a little snow on it. By "little" I mean I knocked the pieces together until everything that would fall off did. So, water vapor wouldn't travel like that when the boiler fan was running with a fresh fire in the box?
I have noticed a few things with my unit...when the firebox is up to temp I can throw just about anything in there and nothing comes out the chimney..The only smoke times are on start up, cold mostly, what I do now is start the warm up slow, I don't pack the firebox right out of the gate. This takes a little more time but wanting to avoid any complaints, it's worth it..
The reason I'm thinking it may have been the moisture in the air is because the natural gas furnace flue pipe in the house was doing the same thing in comparison. Along with everyone else's flue pipes around me that night. This is the first time that a cloud like that has formed since I have been running this year. There have been other times where it would plume up but not quite like that.
So is it at all possible if conditions are just right for water vapor to carry any distance?
So is it at all possible if conditions are just right for water vapor to carry any distance?
Yes I have observed several instances when it took longer for the steam to dissipate depending on the temperature and humidity but I don't recall ever seeing it in that intensity. .....Wrong ***** I don't want to throw a scare into you, but I had a pretty good cloud when my Wood Gun sprung a leak in the firebox.
- Status
Similar threads
