I recently got a new wood burning stove professionally installed. The stove is a regency, and works great, but when I don’t have a fire burning in it and the stove is cold, the entire house smells of smoke. It gets worse if the weather outside is really cold. I have cleaned all of the ashes out and it helped a little, but the smell is still very strong. I got the new stove and chimney pipe inside the house, because this was happening with the old stove. The old stove came with the house when I bought it, and had been through a flood, and was very very old, so I hoped if I updated it would solve the problem. I have a gas furnace, so this is not my primary source of heat, but I would like to be able to use it without the entire house and all of my clothing stink. Does anyone know why this happens or how to fix it? Thanks!
Smoke smell in house after stove is cold
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Most likely you have a down draft once the chimney cools. The first things to do are make sure your gaskets are good and to close any air in takes.
Expect to get asked about the brand of stove, total chimney length, stove location etc..
It would be a pita, but a 100 watt bulb burning in the fire box when the fire was out might be enough to counteract the down draft.
Expect to get asked about the brand of stove, total chimney length, stove location etc..
It would be a pita, but a 100 watt bulb burning in the fire box when the fire was out might be enough to counteract the down draft.
jetsam
Minister of Fire
Your gas furnace/dryer/exhaust fans/range hood/etc are pulling air through the stove's flue.
I would probably look into providing the room that the gas furnace is in with outside air (crack a window, or put a piece of PVC with a warm air trap through the wall), and see if that resolves the issue.
You can also put a damper inline with the stove's flue and shut it when the stove is cold, which might help the smell- but it's not addressing the problem directly.
If you want to get fancy and fix it the right way, look into getting a HRV or ERV.
Also get a CO alarm ASAP and put it in the stove room- you are at risk until you address the air pressure issue. The bad time for that is after the load has burned down and the flue is cooling, but you have coals left. The warmer it is outside, the easier it is for the furnace to reverse your draft.
I would probably look into providing the room that the gas furnace is in with outside air (crack a window, or put a piece of PVC with a warm air trap through the wall), and see if that resolves the issue.
You can also put a damper inline with the stove's flue and shut it when the stove is cold, which might help the smell- but it's not addressing the problem directly.
If you want to get fancy and fix it the right way, look into getting a HRV or ERV.
Also get a CO alarm ASAP and put it in the stove room- you are at risk until you address the air pressure issue. The bad time for that is after the load has burned down and the flue is cooling, but you have coals left. The warmer it is outside, the easier it is for the furnace to reverse your draft.
Your gas furnace/dryer/exhaust fans/range hood/etc are pulling air through the stove's flue.
Quite possible, but not necesarily the whole story.
I sold a house in 2017 that would down draft depending on weather conditions. I did not live in the house. Maybe once a month I would do a load of laundry, the heat was resistant ceiling heat, and there were no fans of any kind running when I was not there. In cold weather, there would be a down draft. A small piece of tissue held at the stove exit would flutter inward. It was an exterior masonry chimney, about 25' tall with the stove in the basement.
Had I been running a furnace etc. I am sure the problem would have been amplified, but the down draft existed of and by itself under certain conditions. If I wanted to start a fire on a cold winter day, I would light a piece of newspaper and hold it near the stove exit to reverse the draft. You could watch the draft change directions by watching the directions the flame fluttered. I just plugged the exit with a was of paper until I wanted a fire.
That is why I expected people to question the type and length of chimney, the location of the stove etc. . With an insulated chimney running straight up from a stove on the upper floor, jetsam is most likely 100% correct.
Quite possible, but not necesarily the whole story.
I sold a house in 2017 that would down draft depending on weather conditions. I did not live in the house. Maybe once a month I would do a load of laundry, the heat was resistant ceiling heat, and there were no fans of any kind running when I was not there. In cold weather, there would be a down draft. A small piece of tissue held at the stove exit would flutter inward. It was an exterior masonry chimney, about 25' tall with the stove in the basement.
Had I been running a furnace etc. I am sure the problem would have been amplified, but the down draft existed of and by itself under certain conditions. If I wanted to start a fire on a cold winter day, I would light a piece of newspaper and hold it near the stove exit to reverse the draft. You could watch the draft change directions by watching the directions the flame fluttered. I just plugged the exit with a was of paper until I wanted a fire.
That is why I expected people to question the type and length of chimney, the location of the stove etc. . With an insulated chimney running straight up from a stove on the upper floor, jetsam is most likely 100% correct.
Right. A house is a chimney of sorts, with warm air escaping from the top of the house and cool air being drawn in below the "neutral pressure plane." With a basement stove, cool air can be drawn down the flue when enough warm air is escaping upstairs.
It was even happening at my MIL's house through a fireplace on the main floor. As I recall, it happened more in the spring. I guess the house and outside was relatively cool, but the large attic space would heat up when the sun started hitting the roof, creating the "stack effect."
What you can do to remedy the situation is to seal as many upstairs air leaks as you can; Attic access, windows and doors, ceiling lights...anything up there that can leak warm air to the outside.
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