Smoke filled room?

[darktower007]

Hey folks
So I have a BK Ashford 25. This evening I loaded it up full, opened the bypass and air flow then lit my starter log. The door was cracked but then smoke started spilling in the room. Then it filled the box and REALLY started to fill the room. It was 43 degrees out when I lit the fire. Anyone know what I did wrong? My chimney is 25 feet tall. Zero wind today.


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[begreen]

Check the cap to see if it is plugging up first. If not it could be reversed draft.

Is the stove in the basement? Was anything running at the time that exhausts strongly like a clothes dryer, kitchen or bath exhaust fan?

What is being used as a "starter log"?

 

[webby3650]

You were having a reverse draft situation. Most common in a basement, but not always. Use more newspaper to ensure you’ve got a draft established before you light the ready to go fire.

 

[ValleyCottageSplitter]

@darktower007 What was the stove/cat temperature when you reloaded? If it's really cold, I use a hairdryer up the flue for a few seconds and the flow will reverse pretty quickly. Then if I'm starting a new load I'll have a ball of newspaper in the bypass and light it right after I remove the hairdryer. Others use a heat gun or blow torch.

Otherwise your chimney should be drafting way better than mine at 25ft (a straight up 6" liner?). I'd assume it could be creosote buildup or some other blockage.

I do a very small crack, less than 1/2". That is plenty. If more, it could spill smoke. That's pretty warm and much easier to spill smoke...

 

[ShawnLiNY]

As above reverse drafting , you need to preheat the chimney especially when you don’t have a large temperature difference between indoor and outdoor . You can use a heat gun or hair dryer for 2-3 min on flue pipe . Or put a single sheet of newsprint up high in firebox near baffle or flue exhaust than light

 

[darktower007]

Thanks for the tips! I’ll try them out.


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[kraco14]

My stove is in the basement and with cold starts, I always have to pre heat the chimney or I will get a lot of smoke in the house. I place the end of a hair dryer in the air intake housing on the back of my stove and let it run for a few minutes.