high wind back draft!

[kevinmerchant]

Really windy last night and this morning. I'm getting some smoke back into the house on high gust. I just reloaded the stove and got a face full of flame. :bug:
Normally my draft is really good. Last night I thought it might be because I put some big splits on small bed of coals which smoked for about 10 min before lighting.
But this morning I have a roaring fire and its still happening. This is the first time Ive gotten down draft during any fire in the this stove/chimney. Is this normal during high wind gusts.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Same here. I was able to burn last night on high... superheating the flue. But I think the furnace will be on today.

With my setup it happens when the wind comes from just the right direction... over the house. It doesn't always happen when the wind comes over the house. It must be the angle it hits forces the wind up and then down.

Matt

 

[albertj03]

I was just going to post asking about the effect of high winds on a stove. My issue appears to be the exact opposite of yours though. It seems like the wind is increasing my draft and sucking the air right up through the stove like crazy when there is a big gust of wind. I thought that maybe it's happening because the wind is blowing through the openings at the top of the chimney and pulling the air right up as it gusts through. I shut my air flow right off and seems the help some what.

 

[devinsdad]

I seem to have a super draft today too. Usually I can rake the coals in the a.m. and toss in some wood but there were very very little coals and I had to smile alittle and use a SC and kindling..I guess I'll be cutting Sunday instead of today too

 

[Backwoods Savage]

A lot depends on the surrounding area. If you have hills and/or trees or even high buildings it can cause swirling winds. That means the wind can change direction and even roll; that is, picture wind blowing over a row of high trees. It will actually turn back so that near ground level, even though you may have a west wind, it will feel more like an east wind because the air has curled over. Picture wind as you would water in a creek or river. Some areas the water moves slowly but pinch it into a small area and that water moves faster. You will also usually find some areas that have swirls like whirlpools.

If you can picture all this happening (I perhaps did not word it too good) with water and wind they you understand why you might get some downdrafting. So when you want to open the fire door, it is especially important to open the draft full for a few minutes before opening the door. Then open the door just a crack and wait a few seconds before opening it the rest of the way.

It is funny that we used to get some of that effect with our old stove but have yet to have it happen with our newer stove.

 

[kevinmerchant]

Yup, I also would get "super draft" on some of the gusts. No matter how hot the draft was (very hot) the 50mph plus gust hitting just right would cause a little puff back. It was kinda neat to watch. The fire box would go from tones of flame to pitch black, fill with smoke, then PUFF :zip:

 

[burnt2perfection]

If you have a spark arrestor screen on your chimney and you have been burning wood that is not quite "ideal" it can plug up with cresote and cause this. It happened to me.