Smelly room days after fire

[Meddy]

I’ve recently had a brand new Regency cat wood stove insert installed. I’ve had five 20-30 minute “break-in” fires and one 4-hour fire that stayed within 500-750 degrees the entire time. The first fire consisted of kindling and a few pieces of not ideal lumber (redwood, pine, etc). Since then we’ve burned only newspaper, kindling and well seasoned (15%) almond wood. Now the room with the fireplace constantly smells like a barbecue, even after being aired out and having an air purifier running 24/7. Is it normal for there to be a lingering smoky smell days after a fire with this type of stove, or do you think there’s a problem?
Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

 

[begreen]

This might be the paint baking in. If so, the smell will diminish with each hot fire. Is the temperature mentioned stove top, flue, or cat temperature?

 

[30WCF]

Almond might smell good. I like when I burn hickory. It smells like my outdoor smoker if I get a little smoke to spill in.
Do you have a very tight house and appliances running that might be pulling air from the stove once the fire is out? Bathroom vents, HVAC, dryer…sounds like you have air coming down the pipe into the house when the stove is cold.

 

[Meddy]

Almond might smell good. I like when I burn hickory. It smells like my outdoor smoker if I get a little smoke to spill in.
Do you have a very tight house and appliances running that might be pulling air from the stove once the fire is out? Bathroom vents, HVAC, dryer…sounds like you have air coming down the pipe into the house when the stove is cold.

So, I had the kitchen fan and dryer off, but I had 2 fans in the windows plus the ceiling fan in the same room as the fireplace going during and after the fire. Perhaps that’s not a good idea since it might have essentially acted like appliances running. The thing is, I had the catalyst bypass closed and the glass door closed. Can smoke still come into the house when the stove is cold with these closed? And if so, should the smell dissipate after a few days of airing out and running the purifier?

 

[Meddy]

This might be the paint baking in. If so, the smell will diminish with each hot fire. Is the temperature mentioned stove top, flue, or cat temperature?

I hope so. Does paint baking smell like a barbecue? The temperature mentioned was the cat temperature.

 

[peakbagger]

In many cases, the flow of air up the chimney reverses when the stove goes out sucking air through the stove and back into the house. Sometimes that also can include carbon monoxide as the fire is going out. Its usually happens in modern energy efficient homes without household air to air heat exchangers, but it can can happen to older homes especially if its windy outside.

A trick to see if this is happening is put some plastic film like saran wrap over the opening you use to load wood into the stove and see if its sucking in towards the inside of the stove or balooning out into the house. Have someone turn on the kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans and see if it makes a difference. Many stoves have hidden air ports to make them burn cleaner and even though the loading door is closed and latched, the air from inside the stove may find its way into the house and give it a smoky smell.

 

[30WCF]

In many cases, the flow of air up the chimney reverses when the stove goes out sucking air through the stove and back into the house. Sometimes that also can include carbon monoxide as the fire is going out. Its usually happens in modern energy efficient homes without household air to air heat exchangers, but it can can happen to older homes especially if its windy outside.

A trick to see if this is happening is put some plastic film like saran wrap over the opening you use to load wood into the stove and see if its sucking in towards the inside of the stove or balooning out into the house. Have someone turn on the kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans and see if it makes a difference. Many stoves have hidden air ports to make them burn cleaner and even though the loading door is closed and latched, the air from inside the stove may find its way into the house and give it a smoky smell.

That’s more what I was pointing towards. A reversal on a cold stove.

 

[Meddy]

In many cases, the flow of air up the chimney reverses when the stove goes out sucking air through the stove and back into the house. Sometimes that also can include carbon monoxide as the fire is going out. Its usually happens in modern energy efficient homes without household air to air heat exchangers, but it can can happen to older homes especially if its windy outside.

A trick to see if this is happening is put some plastic film like saran wrap over the opening you use to load wood into the stove and see if its sucking in towards the inside of the stove or balooning out into the house. Have someone turn on the kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans and see if it makes a difference. Many stoves have hidden air ports to make them burn cleaner and even though the loading door is closed and latched, the air from inside the stove may find its way into the house and give it a smoky smell.

Thank you for this information. Our house is older (built in 1959). Would I put the Saran Wrap over door when the fire is going out?

 

[bholler]

Thank you for this information. Our house is older (built in 1959). Would I put the Saran Wrap over door when the fire is going out?

Was the fireplace properly cleaned before the insert was installed?

 

[Meddy]

Was the fireplace properly cleaned before the insert was installed?

The fireplace had not been used for years prior to installation of the wood stove. It looked clean inside. The fireplace used to have a gas insert but when we bought the house, the previous owner took the gas insert with them. The gas line was capped and we never smelled anything until we started burning with this wood stove.

 

[30WCF]

Is the gas line capped at the hearth, or removed and capped at the tank or wherever it was split off the main line?

 

[30WCF]

Don’t put plastic on the stove when it’s hot. I don’t think the door is leaking that bad. It’s likely coming back out the air intake. I don’t know where it is on that insert, but the stove has to breath air to burn. When it’s burning it sucks air in the intake and it goes out the chimney. When it’s cold, the air comes down the chimney and out the intake, bringing in the smell of burnt wood.

 

[Meddy]

Is the gas line capped at the hearth, or removed and capped at the tank or wherever it was split off the main line?

It’s capped at the point where it sticks out into the fireplace.

 

[30WCF]

It’s capped at the point where it sticks out into the fireplace.

I don’t know that I’m a fan of that, but I don’t know the rules.