For 10 years we had an old cookstove in our kitchen, burning day and night with no draft issues. It burned hot and fast, and we got tired of rebuilding the fire every time we walked away for 30 mins.
We recently purchased an Intrepid 1 and replaced the cookstove with it. We were very pleased with it for 3 weeks. The burn time was longer, there were coals to restart the fire in the morning, and the house was generally warmer all the time. The other night we woke up to a strong woodsmoke smell in the house. Since that time, any time we close the baffle in the back of the stove, we get smoke puffing out around the top door/griddle opening. It hadn't done that for the first 3 weeks. It is enough that it fills the house, and we have decided we can't use the stove until we figure out the problem.
Our chimney is single wall stovepipe straight up to the ceiling, where it transitions to insulated chimney pipe through the floor, walls and roof of the second floor.
After reading through the forum, my suspicion was that we had clogged the chimney cap. We have been filling up the wood box, and closing everything down tightly before bed so that it lasts until morning, which I'm now realizing may not have been the best idea. We have a steep metal roof, so I can't get close enough to inspect it, but I can see through from one side to the other from the ground, so I know it is not completely clogged.
So I have 3 questions to start with:
1. How much clogging of the cap would cause these symptoms? If it only takes a little bit of clogging to make a difference, than I still suspect this is the problem.
2. What else could cause the issue?
3. When is the proper time to close the baffle, and for how long? It works fine when the baffle is open, but it cuts down the burn time significantly.
Thanks in advance for your help and knowledge. I can answer any other questions that might help narrow it down before I call in a pro.
We recently purchased an Intrepid 1 and replaced the cookstove with it. We were very pleased with it for 3 weeks. The burn time was longer, there were coals to restart the fire in the morning, and the house was generally warmer all the time. The other night we woke up to a strong woodsmoke smell in the house. Since that time, any time we close the baffle in the back of the stove, we get smoke puffing out around the top door/griddle opening. It hadn't done that for the first 3 weeks. It is enough that it fills the house, and we have decided we can't use the stove until we figure out the problem.
Our chimney is single wall stovepipe straight up to the ceiling, where it transitions to insulated chimney pipe through the floor, walls and roof of the second floor.
After reading through the forum, my suspicion was that we had clogged the chimney cap. We have been filling up the wood box, and closing everything down tightly before bed so that it lasts until morning, which I'm now realizing may not have been the best idea. We have a steep metal roof, so I can't get close enough to inspect it, but I can see through from one side to the other from the ground, so I know it is not completely clogged.
So I have 3 questions to start with:
1. How much clogging of the cap would cause these symptoms? If it only takes a little bit of clogging to make a difference, than I still suspect this is the problem.
2. What else could cause the issue?
3. When is the proper time to close the baffle, and for how long? It works fine when the baffle is open, but it cuts down the burn time significantly.
Thanks in advance for your help and knowledge. I can answer any other questions that might help narrow it down before I call in a pro.
