Smoke smell

[Kwhelan]

I have a house which is 1 year old with a new wood/oil combinational furnace in the basement. Base is complete minus the furnace room which I store my wood. I do have a HRV as well in another room. Double wall insulated Chimney is up to spec with excellent draft which is about 3 ft over the peak of the house. The Problem I am having is once the wood is lite I am getting a smell of smoke in my house after about 15 minutes. It only gets worse the longer and warmer the house gets. The smell gets so strong it sticks to my clothing. Note the outside temperature is roughly 0 degrees. I have return air in the main living area and the basement as the house is a bungalow with an 8ft basement. Anyone experience something like this. Looking to try and source my problem. Thanks

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Is the smell stronger in any 1 place? Does it start in the area around the stove and then spread around the house? How does the fire burn? Does it smoulder?

 

[begreen]

Do you smell anything when running on oil?

 

[Kwhelan]

Is the smell stronger in any 1 place? Does it start in the area around the stove and then spread around the house? How does the fire burn? Does it smoulder?

In certain rooms up stairs seem stronger but I think it is because they are smaller like my front porch and bathroom. The werid thing is there is no smell in or around the furnace Room which just has a door separating it from the rest of the basement. The fire does smoulder once the desired heat is reach and the thermostat close the drafter. But the smell starts quickly after the fire is lite and the blower kicks in.

 

[Kwhelan]

Do you smell anything when running on oil?

Don’t have a smell from the oil.

 

[john26]

I had a similar situation with a woodchuck wood/coal furnace I was getting a smoke smell upstairs but not down stairs where the furnace was located. I quit using the furnace and later removed it to sell my house when I moved it I noticed the inside of the duct work was discolored upon further inspection I notice the secondary heat exchanger was cracked where it was welded to the box. Best I remember the smell was strongest at start up before the chimney would heat up and draft well and the circulation blower had not started yet.

 

[Kwhelan]

I had a similar situation with a woodchuck wood/coal furnace I was getting a smoke smell upstairs but not down stairs where the furnace was located. I quit using the furnace and later removed it to sell my house when I moved it I noticed the inside of the duct work was discolored upon further inspection I notice the secondary heat exchanger was cracked where it was welded to the box. Best I remember the smell was strongest at start up before the chimney would heat up and draft well and the circulation blower had not started yet.

This is practically brand new furnace. From what myself and the technician can see there is no cracks in the heat exchanger. And the smoke is in the entire house just not the furnace room

 

[moresnow]

Where is the fresh air intake for the HRV system?

Can you completely turn the HRV system off a hour before lighting the next wood batch? Look at the diagram below and use your imagination. Worth a shot for a easy test.

 

[john26]

Mine was in the entire Main floor of the house the smell was coming out of my floor registers

 

[Kwhelan]

Where is the fresh air intake for the HRV system?

Can you completely turn the HRV system off a hour before lighting the next wood batch? Look at the diagram below and use your imagination. Worth a shot for a easy test.

View attachment 266989

That’s the werid part I get the smell even if the hrv unit is on or off.

 

[begreen]

Concern about a cracked or broken weld in the heat exchanger was why I asked if there was any smell when the furnace was burning oil.

Is there a return register in the basement? Is it near the furnace? If so, have you tried --temporarily -- blocking it off?

 

[moresnow]

Where is the HRV fresh air intake compared to the chimney termination? If its anywhere remotely close to the chimney can you bag it/seal it for a test.

On occasion there will be someone with a masonry chimney with multiple flue's that is experiencing smoke returning into the house. While one flue is being used for burning wood a adjacent idle flue will suck smoke back indoors. Negative pressure in the house can cause strange things. Sounds like your smoke issue is widespread. Ducted perhaps.
Spitballing as it seems odd that you would have a issue/failure with the brand new appliance itself or vent sys. Guess anything is certainly possible!

Maybe I am out to lunch? @begreen

 

[begreen]

If there are multiple flues in the chimney and they terminate at the same height, that is something worth considering, but one thing at a time. First I want to know if the hvac is creating a negative pressure zone in the area of the furnace. We had one like that last year.

 

[moresnow]

Was that the oil furnace and CO issue?

 

[Kwhelan]

Concern about a cracked or broken weld in the heat exchanger was why I asked if there was any smell when the furnace was burning oil.

Is there a return register in the basement? Is it near the furnace? If so, have you tried --temporarily -- blocking it off?

There is one in the basement and I did block it off thinking it may be causing negative pressure. Still getting the smell.