My partner and I had a new Hearthstone Castleton model stove installed in March 2025. The installation is at an elevation of about 1000 feet off State Highway 11 in Pickens County, South Carolina. We followed the break-in instructions and then in December began using the stove on cold days. From the beginning, its been difficult to start fires and during the process, the flue draws poorly and smoke escapes into the house. By January 2026, starting the Castleton became easier and even routine but some smoke still accumulated in house during most start ups. After a general temperature warm up ( and therefore not using the Castleton) and being away from the house for a day, start up this morning was VERY difficult and VERY smokey. Prior to attempting to start a fire, the existing ash was very lightly sprayed with water mist to control dust and then the ash was scooped out of the stove. When attempting to start a fire, the Bypass handle is open and the air control is at high position (left). This morning there has been smoke escaping from the top of the stove and the interior is full of smoke. We are particularly concerned about the smoke escaping from the top of the stove. Start up has never been truly easy.
Smoke fills house
- Thread starter Starr_Hazard
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I've had the same stove for about 6 years and had the same problems at first.
I hate that everyone's go-to answer on this forum is that your wood is too wet. But your wood is probably too wet.
This stove works really well with top-down starts - try doing that. It sends all the early heat up the chimney to get your draft going. If you do a normal fire, the early heat is trying to warm up all the other wood, and it makes a lot more smoke.
When you first start the stove, you want the fire to burn very hot. This means more & drier kindling. If you split it smaller it will burn hotter & faster. The goal is to heat up the chimney.
If you're having trouble keeping the kindling burning with such a strong downdraft, try one of those fire starters. It's like wax & sawdust. You can buy or make them. It burns very hot for 5-10 minutes and can get the rest of your kindling going.
If you're new to stoves, I found there was a learning curve to managing fire in general (placing the wood, what sized pieces to use, strategic use of primary (bottom hole) vs. secondary (top tubes) air.
For smoke to come out the top of the stove, your downdraft must be very strong. That means something in your house is sucking air back down your chimney. You should open a door or window in the stove room. People say "crack a window" but I need to open the front door at least 12" to help at all. This is not a magic fix, but it helps.
Draft is weather dependent. Especially when a storm front comes in, I won't even bother starting a fire because there's just too much pressure coming into the house.
Draft is also dependent on the chimney installation & height. We had to get our new chimney rebuilt by a competent company because the original wasn't tall enough so the natural draft of the house (heat rises!) would overpower the chimney. You should post some pictures of your chimney install relative to the house/property/roof/trees, some guys on here might be able to tell if there's a chimney location problem. Hopefully not your problem, because it's expensive and annoying to fix.
Good luck figuring this out, I know it's very frustrating.
I hate that everyone's go-to answer on this forum is that your wood is too wet. But your wood is probably too wet.
This stove works really well with top-down starts - try doing that. It sends all the early heat up the chimney to get your draft going. If you do a normal fire, the early heat is trying to warm up all the other wood, and it makes a lot more smoke.
When you first start the stove, you want the fire to burn very hot. This means more & drier kindling. If you split it smaller it will burn hotter & faster. The goal is to heat up the chimney.
If you're having trouble keeping the kindling burning with such a strong downdraft, try one of those fire starters. It's like wax & sawdust. You can buy or make them. It burns very hot for 5-10 minutes and can get the rest of your kindling going.
If you're new to stoves, I found there was a learning curve to managing fire in general (placing the wood, what sized pieces to use, strategic use of primary (bottom hole) vs. secondary (top tubes) air.
For smoke to come out the top of the stove, your downdraft must be very strong. That means something in your house is sucking air back down your chimney. You should open a door or window in the stove room. People say "crack a window" but I need to open the front door at least 12" to help at all. This is not a magic fix, but it helps.
Draft is weather dependent. Especially when a storm front comes in, I won't even bother starting a fire because there's just too much pressure coming into the house.
Draft is also dependent on the chimney installation & height. We had to get our new chimney rebuilt by a competent company because the original wasn't tall enough so the natural draft of the house (heat rises!) would overpower the chimney. You should post some pictures of your chimney install relative to the house/property/roof/trees, some guys on here might be able to tell if there's a chimney location problem. Hopefully not your problem, because it's expensive and annoying to fix.
Good luck figuring this out, I know it's very frustrating.
Can you describe the stove setup? What floor is it on? How tall is the flue system? Is it 6" diameter all the way up to the cap? What is the outdoor temperature when this smokey start was worst?
The outdoor temp was about 45F. I'm not certain of the flue diameter but its constant through to the cap. The flue comes out of the top of the stove, then a 90 degree bend to go through the wall, then another 90 degree and straight to the cap. From the ground, the stove is on the 'second' floor and then 7-8 feet ( absolute guess) to the cap. We're experimenting with ways to warm the flue ( eg a candle) to see if that helps.
Definitely try opening a nearby window a bit and see if that helps improve draft. If so, the stove wants an outside air supply.
It could be that the flue system is too short. The two 90º turn slow down the flue gases quite a bit, especially if the horizontal run is long. They effectively reduce the flue system height by about 4 ft.
The recommended minimum chimney height for top of stove installation is 16 feet (4.9 m) off the floor or 13 feet 10 1/8 inches (4.3 m) from the top of the stove. For a double-90 turn flue, about 20 ft vertical height is the minimum. If access to the roof is safe and easy, as a test, you could try removing the cap and inserting a 3-4 ft length of inexpensive, 6" warm air duct to the top and see if that makes a notable improvement. If that works, add chimney pipe and brace it at the 5' level over the roof.
It could be that the flue system is too short. The two 90º turn slow down the flue gases quite a bit, especially if the horizontal run is long. They effectively reduce the flue system height by about 4 ft.
The recommended minimum chimney height for top of stove installation is 16 feet (4.9 m) off the floor or 13 feet 10 1/8 inches (4.3 m) from the top of the stove. For a double-90 turn flue, about 20 ft vertical height is the minimum. If access to the roof is safe and easy, as a test, you could try removing the cap and inserting a 3-4 ft length of inexpensive, 6" warm air duct to the top and see if that makes a notable improvement. If that works, add chimney pipe and brace it at the 5' level over the roof.
+ on all of the above. Most of us start fires with stove door open, and keep it open for, sometimes 5 mins, sometimes for 1/2 hr. It looks like you do the same. A couple of things that have caused me smoke issues; 1) any appliance operating that draws air, kitchen fan, wall heater. Both will pull air down the chimney. I need to keep my front door open 4 to 6” for about 5 mins. Door is 10’ from the wood stove. 2). Also, central heating/air when operating, has caused me issues. And I can’t say why. Turn them off during startup.
If it's only on a cold start up, and not when the flue is warm on a reload,. maybe you have to reverse the draft before.youn start the fire.
I have a propane torch that I use to light the splits on a cold start. I have had twice that a lot of smoke came out (different stove, similar set up with 90s).
I always run the torch pointing into the stove pipe for 20 seconds before I light the wood.
That creates warm gases going up, i.e. the draft going in the right direction rather than a column of cold air flowing down the flue into your stove and with the smoke into your room.
A candle may not be enough.
I have a propane torch that I use to light the splits on a cold start. I have had twice that a lot of smoke came out (different stove, similar set up with 90s).
I always run the torch pointing into the stove pipe for 20 seconds before I light the wood.
That creates warm gases going up, i.e. the draft going in the right direction rather than a column of cold air flowing down the flue into your stove and with the smoke into your room.
A candle may not be enough.
hair dryer works well also. make sure that top of your flue, the cap- which likely has screen on/in it, is not plugged up. That can happen rather quickly if your fuel is somewhat marginal. Top of flue should be at least 3ft higher than anything else in a 10' diameter from the flue. Another thought, if possible is to use 45 deg. turns instead of 90's. eliminates horizontal issues.
I like a propane torch. I got mine off Amazon. I no longer use it as my chimney is tall enough that i don't get smoke in the house.
OP, grab yourself one of these and blast it up the chimney for 90 seconds before lighting your stove.
We are trying to make certain that ash does not block the primary air entry hole but we are not at all clear where that air entry hole is located. Can anyone suggest where to look to clear any suspected blockage? Hearthstone Castleton wood burning stove
Replying here instead of that other old thread.
The Castleton's primary air is the bump-out in the bottom of cast iron frame for the stove door.
If you use a compact to look back at the lower center front lip, you'll see a 1/2" hole in the cast iron bump-out. That's where the air comes in.
Clogged primary wouldn't make your stove smoke. In my case, it caused the stove to smoulder/snuff out when I closed the bypass, but no smoke in the house.
40F is my usual weather cutoff, I won't consider starting the stove when it's that warm out. 20F is easy, 30F is fine. But it'll be different for every install.
I also tried the candle "trick". Completely useless. Propane torch sounds much better.
There's a recommendation of stuffing newspaper up the flue and lighting that to reverse the draft. I found that worked 9/10 times. I wouldn't recommend it except in an emergency. I'm pretty sure it clogs that catalysts due to their placement in this stove. Then you'll have a whole other problem.
I have the Castleton I also with the same problem, sort of. I don't have the ninties, just a straight shot up. I think my problem is I have 14' of chimney (worked great with the old Intrepid II). All the comments here seem to contain all the common points and should cover everything. Again, if your funace doesn't draw outside air, that can be a problem, bathroom fan, kitchen fan, dryer, and something my dealer brought up was outside temp too high. The draft problems on many of the new stoves can be strange. I tried starting a small fire to season the soapstone when new and in the low 60's (anxious to try it out) and it was a mess. Top down start and those little fire starter squares and start with small pieces of wood to start, not the big honkin' allnighters! And leave the door ajar an inch until it gets going. I'll have the dealer add 18-24" to the chimney when they run a brush down in May. I've always done it myself but at 79 it now looks like a LONG way to the ground!
These problems are more a function of your chimney than the stove. I have a Hearthstone Craftsbury which is essentially a Green Mountain 40 by another name. My draft is so strong I've never had any of these problems. Before selling the stove I would try to lengthen your chimney if you can.
Thanks Egbert for the advice. Strange that your draft and mine differ so much. From the woodstove to the outside top of the stove pipe is 24 feet, which I think is ample to create a good draft. Stove pipe extends four feet above the roof ridge.
Chimney height may not help if the stove is in a negative pressure zone. House sealing and construction, stove location, can all contribute to a confounding problem. This is most typical with basement installs, but can also be an issue if the stove is located in a one-story addition to a 2 story house or if there is an ERV that is incorrectly balanced. In the case of negative room pressure, it's often not the stove that is the issue. A test of the draft using a magnahelic should show the draft strength.
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