Smoke smell in the house

[wendell]

Last night I turned down the air too soon on my stove (trying to get to bed) and about 30 minutes later started getting a strong smoke smell on the first floor. Went down to the basement (smoke smell was less) and turned the air flow up on the stove and went outside to check the chimney. Everything was fine and within a few minutes the smoke smell subsided.

My stove is vented to a SS liner through my internal chimney. (House is two stories.) I had a few occasions of a slight smoke smell last fall but the stove has worked great and has good draft.

It had rained here yesterday but had cleared off by last night and was quite windy.

Any idea what happened?

 

[savageactor7]

Could have been a freak down draft...if it continues its most likely a partly plugged chimney or cap.

 

[wendell]

What I thought was odd was the smell was stronger on the first floor. Since the liner is continuous, it certainly couldn't be a leak there (liner is 1 year old). It is too windy today to get on the roof but the screen on the cap is clear.

 

[edthedawg]

I had some muggy, warmer days in fall where I got smoke smell in my attic space - seems I was drawing it in thru the ridge venting in the vicinity of the chimney. Smoke came out of chimney and the warm, muggy air gave it nowhere to go but to drape down the sides, linger near the house, and (since I don't have an OAK) was pulled right back in. You say the smoke smell was less down on the floor w/ the stove, stronger up higher - could be the same thing?

Can you get fresh air to the stove without creating a downdraft / depressurization problem in the basement?

Could your windy weather have been blowing smoke right at some rooftop vent you have? perhaps a bath or dryer exhaust? or just an attic fresh-air exhaust vent?

 

[wendell]

We do have ridge venting so that is a possibility but the smell was also pretty slight on the second story so if that was the case, I would think it would have been stronger up there. I don't know where the range hood is vented to (or if it even is) but I guess that could be a possibility also.

 

[LeonMSPT]

Close the window over the sink... should stop it.

Really... I sometimes crack a window and the only time I've ever smelled smoke was when things inverted or a gust of wind caught it just right and blew it down between the house and the next building over.

What I thought was odd was the smell was stronger on the first floor. Since the liner is continuous, it certainly couldn't be a leak there (liner is 1 year old). It is too windy today to get on the roof but the screen on the cap is clear.