2nd floor draft question.

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MagdalenaP

Burning Hunk
Nov 10, 2018
239
Tilbury, ON
Our wood stove is on our main floor. We also have a basement.

We have a 2 staircases going to our 2nd floor (bedrooms) with doors, that we keep closed during the day.

Today we are having major wind gusts. (We had one storm where the draft reversed and billowed smoke into the house, trying to prevent that today) I am keeping the stove running hot, to keep the draft going up.

If I open those doors, will that HELP with the chimney draft? Or hinder?

Thank you in advance.
 
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Our wood stove is on our main floor. We also have a basement.

We have a 2 staircases with doors, that we keep closed during the day.

Today we are having major wind gusts. (We had one storm where the draft reversed and billowed smoke into the house, trying to prevent that today) I am keeping the stove running hot, to keep the draft going up.

If I open those doors, will that HELP with the chimney draft? Or hinder?

Thank you in advance.
Good question. I don't know, open 1 and see what happens.
 
Definitely not going to try right now and cause smoke to come in....the winds are supposed to pick up.

Here's one thing (note, wood stove is in between the two stair cases but about 15ft to the side): One stair case is on the windward side, and the door is being more "pushed out" so to say...the wind is for sure coming in that way. The other stair case is on the leeward side, and that door is being "sucked in".

So I'm assuming, the more cold air you have coming towards the stove, the better the draft...so open the windward side, right?
 
Definitely not going to try right now and cause smoke to come in....the winds are supposed to pick up.

Here's one thing (note, wood stove is in between the two stair cases but about 15ft to the side): One stair case is on the windward side, and the door is being more "pushed out" so to say...the wind is for sure coming in that way. The other stair case is on the leeward side, and that door is being "sucked in".

So I'm assuming, the more cold air you have coming towards the stove, the better the draft...so open the windward side, right?
Yeah the up wind side is the one to try for sure.
 
Our wood stove is on our main floor. We also have a basement.

We have a 2 staircases going to our 2nd floor (bedrooms) with doors, that we keep closed during the day.

Today we are having major wind gusts. (We had one storm where the draft reversed and billowed smoke into the house, trying to prevent that today) I am keeping the stove running hot, to keep the draft going up.

If I open those doors, will that HELP with the chimney draft? Or hinder?

Thank you in advance.
Poor sealing windows or doors on the 2nd floor can lower the pressure on the first floor. It may make no difference if the windows are tight and there are no vents, attic door, or attic hatch in the 2nd floor ceiling.
 
Leakage on the floor above can cause pressure to drop in the floor below. At a certain point, the lower floor pressure can go negative.