If your flue generally stays hot 24/7 then even if you have conditions that may cause a downdraft, you wouldn't know it because it's pretty hard to overcome the up draft of a hot flue. Makes it a little harder to figure out what happened, but you may want to consider a few other things that affect draft.
I do have a 3 foot section of chimney that I can add. It just already looks ridiculous with the 8 feet sticking up out of the roof. This is the first time this has ever happened so i dont know if it's draft related or the super windy conditions were to blame.
Is it bad that I checked out the truck before I even noticed the chimney?
Yeah, don't open the door and give a chimney fire more oxygen!
I start cutting the air a bit as the top-down gets burning, otherwise flames will get sucked up the flue and overheat the pipe in a hurry.
OK, I thought maybe it was too warm out and draft was weak, but Joe says 36* so I suspect maybe the wind had something to do with poor draft. Joe, is the top of the chimney below the top of the roof? Is it possible that the wind was roaring over the roof ridge, then swooping back down, creating downward pressure on the top of the chimney? Or maybe the same effect caused by taller trees near the house?
It might have the added benefit of raising the top of the chimney above the roof line, if the wind was causing downward pressure on the chimney.
3......2......1......we have lift-off!
Eyesocket, what's with the trees?? I didn't think there were any in NM....is the river right behind your house?
Near my sister's in Socorro there are trees along the Rio Grande, especially at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, but they are sparse once you get away from the river. For me, going out there is almost like going to a different planet.In the land we have a river plus irrigation. lot of water
Near my sister's in Socorro, there are trees along the Rio Grande, especially at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, but they are sparse once you get away from the river. For me, going out there is almost like going to a different planet.
If there are any flames and the bypass is open it is absolutely possible the stove nor the chimney needs to be hot to have a chimney fire. You only need and ember or flames to get into that pipe and light off creosote deposits and you have a chimney fire.To be clear in this case it does not sound like he did have a chimney fire. But to say that if you clean your chimney at the beginning of the season and you burn dry wood there is no risk of a chimney fire is just wrong.
Well, 36 isn't exactly warm, but it isn't cold, either. I don't know if the "competing for draft" theory has been mentioned either. An exhaust fan, furnace running or a number of other things could tip the scales in the other direction, if draft was marginal to begin with.
