Smokey House

[Boozie]

I did not reload my stove last evening. I knew it was going to be warmer today. I had one split piece of wood in there. I thought that it would go out overnight. I had the bypass damper open and the primary air controls open. (it is so different from a regular fireplace ...... wood left in a fireplace with the damper open would have burned out)

I had errands to run today. When I came back this afternoon there was a smokey smell when I opened the door. I called the store where I got the store and he said to close the primary air controls and leave the bypass damper open. I opened doors (thank goodness it wasn't as cold as it had been) and turned on fans including my attic fan, upstairs. Then I realized the smell was getting worse. I went downstairs and smoke was coming from the fireplace. When I opened the door there was a small portion of the split that was still "smoldering".

How do I avoid this in the future, or is a smokey house something you have to live with?

 

[Hanko]

Lets see now, you turned on the attic fan, Am I right? With the door open on the wood stove correct? Im at a loss for words. I think Id go down to the store where I bought that thing, and kick that guy right in the ass

 

[Hanko]

No seriously guy, what you did is sure to fill the house up with smoke. Any negative pressure will pull smoke out of the air intake on the stove in to the house. That probably was you problem to began with. A weak fire with poor draft, maybe you have a tight house, and being short on combustion air will do what your describing. Dont know your set up, chimney height, wood condition and general do's and dont's. Try getting a good hot fire going before closing any bypass or damper. Getting a smell of smoke on occasion in part of the game, but it shouldn't be excessive. I see your new to this, but dont worry, you will figure it out, good luck and dont turn the attic fan on anymore when your running the wood stove

 

[Jags]

Just complete the burn cycle as normal. Stopping one in the middle is...ummm...futile. At the end of the cycle, open your primary air full open to burn the last bits. By the time the stack is cool, the wood should be consumed. Noting left to smoke.

Don't use your whole house fan. You are creating a negative pressure situation that will make up air anyplace it can. Including pulling it down your stack. :sick:

 

[kenny chaos]

Put out a nice ham on the counter before you leave next time. No problemos.

 

[Boozie]

I love this site ..... lots of good advice. I can see now that using the attic fan was a definite no-no. I've had room air cleaners going overnight, but I can still smell the smoke. It's supposed to be warmer this weekend. Hopefully, I can open the windows and air this place out.

Thank you for all the good advice.

Babs, aka "Boozie" (nickname my grandpa gave me)

 

[Boozie]

Lets see now, you turned on the attic fan, Am I right? With the door open on the wood stove correct? Im at a loss for words. I think Id go down to the store where I bought that thing, and kick that guy right in the ass

No, I didn't have the door open on the wood stove.

 

[Jags]

Lets see now, you turned on the attic fan, Am I right? With the door open on the wood stove correct? Im at a loss for words. I think Id go down to the store where I bought that thing, and kick that guy right in the ass

No, I didn't have the door open on the wood stove.

Not to poke a sleeping badger - but it will still pull air through the primary air intake on the stove if you create a neg pressure situation (just clarifying).

 

[3fordasho]

I love this site ..... lots of good advice. I can see now that using the attic fan was a definite no-no.

Yep, I don't even need to turn on the attic fan, just opening the access door will turn the whole house into a better chimney than my wood stove flue. Tried starting a fire with that situation once.. smoke rolled out the air intake and generally didn't work so well.
Only made that mistake once...

 

[Boozie]

Lets see now, you turned on the attic fan, Am I right? With the door open on the wood stove correct? Im at a loss for words. I think Id go down to the store where I bought that thing, and kick that guy right in the ass

No, I didn't have the door open on the wood stove.

Not to poke a sleeping badger - but it will still pull air through the primary air intake on the stove if you create a neg pressure situation (just clarifying).

Not to worry about "poking a sleeping badger" ..... I need all the help I can get, reiterated or not.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I love this site ..... lots of good advice. I can see now that using the attic fan was a definite no-no. I've had room air cleaners going overnight, but I can still smell the smoke. It's supposed to be warmer this weekend. Hopefully, I can open the windows and air this place out.

Thank you for all the good advice.

Babs, aka "Boozie" (nickname my grandpa gave me)

Boozie, light some candles to get rid of the smoke smell.

 

[Mad Tom]

I have a big range hood over my cook stove. I can't start a fire with that going. Made that mistake once.

 

[LLigetfa]

How do I avoid this in the future, or is a smokey house something you have to live with?

Everyone is so focused on the big attic fan faux pas that nobody is addressing the original problem that precipitated you turning on said fan.

When the fire in the stove died down to just a smolder, you lost the draft and due to reasons yet unknown, the draw on the flue stalled. The attic fan only exacerbated the flue stall with a full fledged reversal. When the flue stalls, small amounts of smoke can leak out through cracks in the stove or gaps in the joints of the smoke pipe. Quite possibly there was already some pressure deficit in the home and this deficit needs to be addressed.

As for a slight smoke smell, that is something most wood burners just get used to. Simply the act of opening the stove door will expose the inside of the door to the room and impart some smell to it. Even the business end of the poker can scent up the room somewhat.

 

[Boozie]

How do I avoid this in the future, or is a smokey house something you have to live with?

Everyone is so focused on the big attic fan faux pas that nobody is addressing the original problem that precipitated you turning on said fan.

When the fire in the stove died down to just a smolder, you lost the draft and due to reasons yet unknown, the draw on the flue stalled. The attic fan only exacerbated the flue stall with a full fledged reversal. When the flue stalls, small amounts of smoke can leak out through cracks in the stove or gaps in the joints of the smoke pipe. Quite possibly there was already some pressure deficit in the home and this deficit needs to be addressed.

As for a slight smoke smell, that is something most wood burners just get used to. Simply the act of opening the stove door will expose the inside of the door to the room and impart some smell to it. Even the business end of the poker can scent up the room somewhat.

What happens when I want to use my attic fan in the spring/summer/fall seasons? Am I going to be pulling odors from the stove throughout the house again? What is procedure to "shut the stove down" after winter use?

You say there was possibly a pressure deficit in the house that needs to be addressed. Where do I start with this?

 

[Boozie]

Boozie, light some candles to get rid of the smoke smell.[/quote]

Thanks for the good suggestion, it has helped. Now my house smells like lavendar, Christmas, sugar cookies, hazelnuts, and vanilla.

 

[LLigetfa]

What happens when I want to use my attic fan in the spring/summer/fall seasons? Am I going to be pulling odors from the stove throughout the house again? What is procedure to "shut the stove down" after winter use?

Unfortunately most modern stoves don't have any provision to completely close them off. Maybe some other Buck Stove Model 91
Insert owners can chime in with suggestions or perhaps your dealer can. If it has a well sealed dedicated OAK option, you might consider that. I could find no reference to such though.

As a last recourse, there are inflatable dampers you can stick in the flue. Is there a liner in the flue?

You say there was possibly a pressure deficit in the house that needs to be addressed. Where do I start with this?

The first clue is to observe how the flue behaves on startup. If it takes effort to get the draft moving, then the chimney needs closer scrutiny. If it is an exterior masonry chimney, it may have a propensity to stall or even reverse.

The house needs to be evaluated as a source of the pressure deficit. If there is warm air leaking out through the attic or upper floor windows, plumbing stacks, etc. the house may be a better stack than the chimney. This is known as stack effect. If you open a window near the stove a crack and air rushes in, you have a pressure deficit.

Seal up points of air egress and allow for more fresh air in.

 

[Boozie]

What happens when I want to use my attic fan in the spring/summer/fall seasons? Am I going to be pulling odors from the stove throughout the house again? What is procedure to "shut the stove down" after winter use?

Unfortunately most modern stoves don't have any provision to completely close them off. Maybe some other Buck Stove Model 91
Insert owners can chime in with suggestions or perhaps your dealer can. If it has a well sealed dedicated OAK option, you might consider that. I could find no reference to such though.

As a last recourse, there are inflatable dampers you can stick in the flue. Is there a liner in the flue?

You say there was possibly a pressure deficit in the house that needs to be addressed. Where do I start with this?

The first clue is to observe how the flue behaves on startup. If it takes effort to get the draft moving, then the chimney needs closer scrutiny. If it is an exterior masonry chimney, it may have a propensity to stall or even reverse.

The house needs to be evaluated as a source of the pressure deficit. If there is warm air leaking out through the attic or upper floor windows, plumbing stacks, etc. the house may be a better stack than the chimney. This is known as stack effect. If you open a window near the stove a crack and air rushes in, you have a pressure deficit.

Seal up points of air egress and allow for more fresh air in.

The house is a walk-out basement. The fireplace/stove is in the downstairs family room. The chimney is an outside wall. Their is a masonry/brick chimney, but poorly built (as we observed when all the brick came off the house during mine subsidence repairs). I had 8" stainless steel pipe inserted as I didn't trust the chimney. The back half of the basement is unfinished and no heat ducts to that half.

When the guys installed the pipe and the guy down below lit a paper, the guy up above said it had great draft. I'm thinking that the problem was caused by leaving the primary air controls open. I have/had been so confused about those controls. And, I was getting different info from different persons when I called.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Boozie, light some candles to get rid of the smoke smell.

Thanks for the good suggestion, it has helped. Now my house smells like lavendar, Christmas, sugar cookies, hazelnuts, and vanilla. [/quote]

Well, that is much better than smelling the smoke! :lol:

 

[firefighterjake]

Boozie, light some candles to get rid of the smoke smell.

Thanks for the good suggestion, it has helped. Now my house smells like lavendar, Christmas, sugar cookies, hazelnuts, and vanilla. [/quote]

I think I'm getting a hankering for sugar cookies . . . and a vanilla milkshake.