SMOKING WOOD-BURNING FIREPLACE

I really like the smell of smoke when you enter the room with the wood fireplace. On my last seminar, provided by Pillars to Post, I have learned that the proper working wood fireplace should not smell at all and should not be smoking. According to Pillars to Post If the fireplace smokes when it’s operating, it’s not designed properly or there is something in the house that is causing the fireplace to smoke. They suggest some inexpensive solutions to smoking fireplace (however, they do insist on the expert advice). 

- First solution would be to add glass doors. Adding glass doors to reduce back-drafting and smoking requires glass doors that can be closed when the fire is lit. Glass doors help in two ways. They reduce the effective fireplace opening size and they reduce the volume of air going up the chimney. These both improve the fireplace draw.

- Second solution is to decrease the fireplace opening. Experts have a few tricks they can use such as adding a metal hood across the top of the fireplace that reduces the opening size or adding a row of fire-brick to the hearth.

- Third Solution is to extend the chimney, since taller chimney draws better. There are some tricks here too. Rather than extending a masonry chimney, you may be able to get away with adding a flue extender. A flue extender is a metal clamp on extension. This might get you an extra half a foot to a foot and it may make all the difference.

- And a final solution is for you to convert to gas fireplace - most house insurance companies prefer this option. These fireplaces will direct vent out the wall of the house and you don’t need a chimney at all.