New insert, smell of smoke in house

[phlite]

Hi,

Just got a new insert, Jotul Rockland 550! Loving the warmth so far! Seems to get smoke smell in the house quite often however. I believe it's doing it mostly when I have the air flow in the "shutdown" position. I realize that it smokes more in this position. Any thoughts on this smoke smell? The smell seems to happen between loads. I realize a bit of smoke is possible while loading. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Swedishchef]

Hey Phlite.

Welcome to the forums!

What is your setup? Is the chimney inside or outside of the home? A few more details would be nice.

If you have smoke spillage on reloads, your draft may not be strong enough. However, there are several other possibilities. As I mentioned, more details would be needed and I am certain the "experts" of this forum can chip in and give you advice.

Andrew

 

[phlite]

The chimney, masonry I believe, is inside the home I suppose (goes up through the attic). Need any other details? This is my first experience at burning to heat my house soley. Thanks guys!

 

[begreen]

How many fires have you had in the insert and how large a fire each time?

 

[Swedishchef]

Is there a liner in the chimney? Is the smell only when you open the door between loads? Is the wood VERY DRY (seasoned)? What kind of wood?

Andrew

 

[bogydave]

I have had the same issues with smoke odor in the house when burning on low (no) air setting.
(what I call the "smolder mode").
Different weather conditions effect it also.

Now I build smaller fires (less wood) this time of the year & burn hotter with a mid range setting on the T-stat. (Blaze King)
I have a long external metal flu, & it don't draft well when the cat is working on the lower T-stat settings.
I can lay my hand on the pipe leaving the stove after it's been in the smolder mode for a few hours.
(Too efficient??) More like , "learning curve" I think.

My theory is; not enough heat up the stack to keep it warm enough to draft properly.
When winter sets in, I burn a full load on midrange settings & all is good.

Try smaller amounts of wood on a higher setting, Let it burn down to just hot coals, turn the stove to "high" for 5 minutes
or so to get a good draft established before opening the door & adding wood.

I've learned to add wood quickly too, get it laid by the stove, open, load quick, close the door.
It helped in my situation. Now I only smoke up when I get impatient of forget to open the bypass.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hi,

Just got a new insert, Jotul Rockland 550! Loving the warmth so far! Seems to get smoke smell in the house quite often however. I believe it's doing it mostly when I have the air flow in the "shutdown" position. I realize that it smokes more in this position. Any thoughts on this smoke smell? The smell seems to happen between loads. I realize a bit of smoke is possible while loading. Thanks a bunch!

Welcome to the forum phlite.


Not sure on your insert but is the shutdown position completely closed? If so, perhaps you just need to open that draft a tad more. The fire needs oxygen (draft) and the chimney also needs some heat to help draw that smoke up and out. If the smoke doesn't go out the chimney, it has to go somewhere. In the house is a poor place for that smoke though. Good luck.

 

[phlite]

BeGreen: We did the break in period, 4 small fires with increasing size. Now we just let it rip. After the break-in period we've had the insert running almost non stop.

Swedishchef: Yes, there is a 6in SS flex pipe I believe. No, the smell seemed to be evident without opening the door, probably a good hour or two after having the door open last. The wood is pinion, probably not as seasoned as it could be. The wood was cut only a month ago, but from very dead trees

bogydave: Yes, I'm thinking the conditions were just right outside in combination with being on "smolder mode". Thanks for the tips, I'll try that.

Backwoods Savage: Thanks, yes sounds like I need to open the air control lever a bit. I had it in the fully closed position, though I thought this is not exactly closed, just the lowest air setting. I suppose that could be it hehe!

 

[begreen]

If the stove paint has been burned in, there should be no smoke smell in the house. None. If there is, there is a leak or a negative draft. One thing you could do is open a nearby window about an inch and see if the fire perks up. If it does, there could be negative pressure in the room.

If however it doesn't and there is smoke coming from the hot stove (out of the flue cap) and inside the wood is smoldering, this sounds like not so dry wood and a fire that needs more air. Try opening up the air to the point where there are lazy flames, but not smoke above the wood.

 

[breathebeast]

Someone replied to my earlier thread (about building a heart) about another source for the smell of smoke after an insert was placed - might be worth checking out reply #9 on this thread: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/60775/

good luck, let us know if you solve it!

 

[oconnor]

Question to clarify - are you seeing smoke in the firebox when you smell smoke in the house? If so, you are smoldering the fire and need to give more air, otherwise you will likely creosote line your chimney in no time. It could be backdrafting out of the stove.

It is also possible that the smoke is reentering the house thru air leaks in the building envelope - when you smell smoke in the house, do you also smell smoke outside? If so, more air is again the solution until good dry wood is available.

Remember, if you can smell smoke, so can your neighbor. No one likes to go outside when the neighbor is smoking out his chimney. :coolhmm:

 

[lsirois]

My chimney has two flues and my problem was smoke coming back down the flue used for the propane water tank (reverse draft) when starting a fire in the fireplace. The house smelled like smoke, but the smoke itself was barely noticeable. It doesn't take much smoke coming in to create quite a stink. If you have multiple flues, check them out. My solution was to extend the wood stove flue a bit when my wood insert was installed. Warming up the water tank flue also solved the problem, but I wasn't going to keep that up every time I wanted to start a fire. It was especially a problem during the shoulder seasons.

 

[phlite]

Thanks for your replies! Sorry for the delay in my reply! I think I've tracked down where the smoke smell is coming from. I've attached a pic. In the pic you can see where the vents for the blower on the fireplace are. Also, you can see in the vent if you look carefully where the SS tubing is running up to the chimney. Well, if you put your nose up to the vent, you can smell the smoke. I'm pretty positive this is where it's coming from. Normal?

So what does that mean? Does it mean the top cap thingy isn't sealed right and smoke is coming down the chimney, outside of the tubing? Or a leak somewhere? Should I just block off the vents? I would guess that maybe I should have a leak looked at? Other then a bit of smoke smell here and there, this thing is heating NICELY! We are down in the low teens and are keeping the house above 70.

 

[phlite]

forgot the pic!!