HOLY SMOKE!!

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40below

New Member
Jul 10, 2013
4
Fairbanks AK
So my wood stove dumps smoke into my room almost everytime I try to load it. For what ever reason it has just started this. Could it be my chimney pipe not being installed in a chase? It drafts very well when warmed up. But the temperatures are dropping fast.
 
Likely a combination of a cold chimney and negative pressure inside the house. That is, air rises in a house and tends to exert a pull on any openings (like your stove)....

If possible, open those air controls fully a few minutes before you have to load and get some heat going up the chimney.
 
Thanks. I will try that. I did just go through the house and latch all of the windows. I am planing on building a chase. This may make me do it sooner than later. Thanks for the reply!
 
Bathroom exhaust fans, clothes dryers, or any other sort of exhaust fan can cause negative draft and "pull" the smoke from the stove. Check that. Also, instead of swinging the door the whole way open, try just to crack it a little bit for 30 seconds or so and then open it more to reload. "Prime" the flue before you start the fire by rolling up a piece of newspaper, lighting it, and holding it inside the stove. That gets the draft going in the right direction more often than not.
 
^^^^
That seems to work for me too. When starting my fire, I usually get my kindling setup, light it quick and hold one piece of newspaper in front of the flue inside the stove. It sucks the flame into the flue and then I close the door. I don't ever get any smoke inside the house that way. If I don't do that when everything is cold, sometimes I would get some smoke coming out of the stove.
 
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