Hi, I've just installed a regency h2100 hearth heater, and it seems whenever I start a fire after leaving the unit sit for a few days, upon start up smoke spews from every possible hole on the thing instead of going up the chimney... Any ideas of a solution?
Smoking hearth heater
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Greetings. How was this installed, with a full liner connected or a short stub of pipe? Can you describe the chimney and flue setup, height? inside throat dimensions? exterior or interior chimney?
hummm without knowing more I would suggest 'establishing a draft' first.
OK so your stove has been static for a few days. You prepare the pile of kindling then loosely ball up some clean burning newspapers, light them up and when one about to go throw in another. While the flames may be small they'll be vigorous enough to start a good draw just about the time the pile of kindling is catching fire.
If you don't have a good draft there's a good chance you'll have smoke issues provided the flue isn't plugged...that's another issue entirely. Good luck.
OK so your stove has been static for a few days. You prepare the pile of kindling then loosely ball up some clean burning newspapers, light them up and when one about to go throw in another. While the flames may be small they'll be vigorous enough to start a good draw just about the time the pile of kindling is catching fire.
If you don't have a good draft there's a good chance you'll have smoke issues provided the flue isn't plugged...that's another issue entirely. Good luck.
Wad up a piece of newspaper & jam it up on the baffle.
Prepare your fire as normal.
Light the paper on the baffle first. You'll HEAR the draft start.
Light the fire...
Prepare your fire as normal.
Light the paper on the baffle first. You'll HEAR the draft start.
Light the fire...
Yeah I figured that I would have to reverse the draft, but I was hoping to not have to do that, I will try that tonight and see what happens. Also, my baffle insulation was torn in three pieces before it was installed, could that be a cause of smoke?
Reverse the draft . . .
Short term and wicked easy solution: Open a window nearby and try lighting the fire. Make sure all vents are not running in the house.
Short term and relatively easy solution: Pre-warm the stove and flue by using newspaper/kindling or even a propane torch to warm things up a bit and get the draft established.
Long term solution: Add another length of chimney.
Of course before you do any of these things you should double-check that the stove pipe has the proper rise and is clean . . . and the chimney is clean.
Insulation . . . as long as the insulation forms a nice blanket I would not worry about it too much . . . but if there are gaps I would replace it . . . at least that is what I would do personally.
Short term and wicked easy solution: Open a window nearby and try lighting the fire. Make sure all vents are not running in the house.
Short term and relatively easy solution: Pre-warm the stove and flue by using newspaper/kindling or even a propane torch to warm things up a bit and get the draft established.
Long term solution: Add another length of chimney.
Of course before you do any of these things you should double-check that the stove pipe has the proper rise and is clean . . . and the chimney is clean.
Insulation . . . as long as the insulation forms a nice blanket I would not worry about it too much . . . but if there are gaps I would replace it . . . at least that is what I would do personally.
Without knowing how this stove is connected and to what, it's hard to say why the reverse draft or the appropriate remedy.
No insult intended, since you mentioned that this is a new stove, are you sure you have the draft control completely open?
And does the stove perform well if and when you do get it fired up?
And does the stove perform well if and when you do get it fired up?
You definitely have a draft issue. You can learn a bit about negative pressure and draft on this link (broken link removed to http://www.drolet.ca/answer.aspx?Id=69)
Other possible causes and solutions can be:
1- Your stove is new and thin smoke is coming out of the surface of the unit.
Solution : This is normal when your stove is new and has never been used. The paint needs to be "cured". You need to heat your stove two or three of times before the curing process is completed. Simply open a window in the room where the stove is located. The amount of smoke produced by the curing process should be very limited.
2- The chimney in under negative pressure, which causes a smoking problem. (Consult the drawings under the question "What do the words draft and negative pressure mean?").
Solution#1 : The chimney may simply be too cold. Light-up a small quantity of newspaper in the stove, as close as possible to the flue outlet. Leave the door slightly ajar. This small fire will slowly heat-up the chimney, until it is hot enough to create a normal draft inside the exhaust system. If needed, slowly increase the quantity of newspaper. When you realize that smoke is being evacuated normally through the exhaust system, you can build a normal fire. If you have a Class A insulated chimney that climbs along the outside wall of your house, it is possible to cover it up in order to protect it from the wind and the cold. A covered chimney will heat-up faster.
Solution #2 : Negative pressure may be caused by air-moving devices, such as a range hood, a bathroom fan, or an air exchanger. Check if smoking problems occur when those devices are working. If it is the case, make sure you turn them off when you use your stove. Otherwise, you need to make sure that the air leaving the room is replaced by air from outside the house. For instance, you can open a window slightly (by one or two inches). Ideally, the source of fresh air should be located as close as possible to the stove.
Solution #3 : Negative pressure may be caused by wind, due to the interference from a nearby structure. In order to eliminate such interference, the extremity of your chimney should be at least two feet higher than any structure (such as a big tree or a building) located within ten feet of your chimney. Furthermore, you must make sure that the extremity of your chimney is at least two feet higher than the highest point on your roof. Otherwise, the roof of your house itself may cause an interference with your chimney.
Regards,
Other possible causes and solutions can be:
1- Your stove is new and thin smoke is coming out of the surface of the unit.
Solution : This is normal when your stove is new and has never been used. The paint needs to be "cured". You need to heat your stove two or three of times before the curing process is completed. Simply open a window in the room where the stove is located. The amount of smoke produced by the curing process should be very limited.
2- The chimney in under negative pressure, which causes a smoking problem. (Consult the drawings under the question "What do the words draft and negative pressure mean?").
Solution#1 : The chimney may simply be too cold. Light-up a small quantity of newspaper in the stove, as close as possible to the flue outlet. Leave the door slightly ajar. This small fire will slowly heat-up the chimney, until it is hot enough to create a normal draft inside the exhaust system. If needed, slowly increase the quantity of newspaper. When you realize that smoke is being evacuated normally through the exhaust system, you can build a normal fire. If you have a Class A insulated chimney that climbs along the outside wall of your house, it is possible to cover it up in order to protect it from the wind and the cold. A covered chimney will heat-up faster.
Solution #2 : Negative pressure may be caused by air-moving devices, such as a range hood, a bathroom fan, or an air exchanger. Check if smoking problems occur when those devices are working. If it is the case, make sure you turn them off when you use your stove. Otherwise, you need to make sure that the air leaving the room is replaced by air from outside the house. For instance, you can open a window slightly (by one or two inches). Ideally, the source of fresh air should be located as close as possible to the stove.
Solution #3 : Negative pressure may be caused by wind, due to the interference from a nearby structure. In order to eliminate such interference, the extremity of your chimney should be at least two feet higher than any structure (such as a big tree or a building) located within ten feet of your chimney. Furthermore, you must make sure that the extremity of your chimney is at least two feet higher than the highest point on your roof. Otherwise, the roof of your house itself may cause an interference with your chimney.
Regards,
It's installed by forming an almost 90 degree with the manufacturers recommended flex pipe inside my flue, and goes about 20 ft to well above my roof line, I started a fire today by putting paper on the baffle but it still took quite a bit to reverse it and once again had a smoked filled room, I think I'm just going to buy a small propane torch to reverse the draft from now on... Better than having a smoky room
Try a super cedar to start your fire. Let it burn for a minute and get burning well before adding wood.. Those things burn with NO smoke.
Jason
Jason
Claytron said:
It could be if one of the pieces is shoved to the back of the baffle & into the exhaust stream.
That insulation is supposed to lie flat with the metal weights on it.
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