Fire Place Issues

[cyrus buelton]

Ok, so I live in a condo and have a fireplace. It doesn't draw the best. Usually have to crack the sliding door when lighting fire to get it to go up chimney, but once draw is established, all is well.

We burned a fire all day yesterday and let it die down before bed, but still burning a bit. We closed the glass doors (they are not air tight) like we always do. We have done this method 100+ times.

Well, at 430a our far alarm is going off and our house is filled with smoke. No, we didn't shut the flu.

Somehow the draft reversed and the smoke came into the house.


Where is the issue in our fire place???

[angler]

When was the last time you had it swept?  If it draws poorly, it will choke with creosote more quickly.

How tall is your chimney relative to surrounding structures?  If it isn't the tallest thing around, it will not draw right.  Is there a tree taller than it nearby or the peak of another roof taller than it nearby?

[swampduc]

I've been told that I need to have my chimney swept every 1-2 yrs, depending on frequency of use. Given that ya'll live  lot farther north, I'd guess you use yours more than I do mine (10 times/yr, maybe). You'd be amazed how much stuff comes out of there.

[cyrus buelton]

It was cleaned about 4 years ago, but rarely used.

It only had one 4x4 set of real wood burned through it.

I used to use those easy burn logs. I also burn creasote cleaning logs every month


It has always drawn poorly, even after it was cleaned.



however, a good cleaning might be a good idea.




There are some trees about equal height around.

[swampduc]

I was told the easy burn logs clog the chimney much faster than wood. I've got no experience with the cleaning logs.

[cyrus buelton]

time to call a chimney sweep

[Grampa]

dont forget to shake hands with the guy

[Grampa]

Mary Poppins - Chim Chimney [AMV]

[angler]

Check out http://chimneysweeponline.com/hodraft.htm for more information.

[ducatiz]

90% of fireplace draw issues are simply lack of heat in the flue.

flues work by convection.  no heat = no draw.

heat up your flue before starting a big fire.  if you have a butane torch, that's the quickest way.

starter log is good too, not the big ones but hte little ones.  let it burn by itself for about 10-15 min and heat up the flue.

alternatively, you can make a torch out of a roll of newspaper.  light the end and hold it up in the flue for as long as you can.

seriously, junior.  it's just convection. every fireplace does what you are describing when they are cold.

[The Architect]

It is time to clean the flue.

You need a fresh air vent.  Is the fireplace located on an outside wall?  If so you can easily drill a hole in the back of the fireplace, add a louver to the outside and add a vent on the inside that you can open and close.  You can pick those up at any masonry supply shop.  They come in all shapes and sizes.  It sounds like you have a tight condo which is a good thing when it comes to fuel consumption. 

Before starting a fire open the vent.  When starting the fire you'll probably still need to open a window.  Once lit you can close the glass doors.  The vent should keep the flow moving.  The vents come in all shapes and sizes.  The size and quantity should be determined by the size of your firebox.

http://www.maconline.org/tech/design/fireplace1/efireplace/efireplace2/efireplace2.html 

They show the vent at the front which is very difficult with an existing fireplace.  We have had success with the vent located in the back of the fire box.

The flue could be undersized too?

[mitt]

My fireplace always has the cold hearth problem in the winter, where a reverse draft happens on cold days.  I need to get options to correct it though, since it makes our room pretty cold w/o a fire.

After reading a little about it, it sounds like 98% of fireplaces are designed for cost instead of performance, and their size, location, and height are usually not optimal for good performance.

mitt

[herm]

buy a wood stove.
a fire place has got to be the single least efficient way to heat with wood. on top of that, when your flu is drawing properly, not only is it sucking all the hot gasses out of the room, but all of the warmth as well.

[ducatiz]

My fireplace always has the cold hearth problem in the winter, where a reverse draft happens on cold days.  I need to get options to correct it though, since it makes our room pretty cold w/o a fire.

After reading a little about it, it sounds like 98% of fireplaces are designed for cost instead of performance, and their size, location, and height are usually not optimal for good performance.

mitt

absolutely.. we had ours looked at and zero problems with the flue, box, etc.. just that the entire thing is on the outside of the house (and the cold side too).. we will eventually put an insert into the downstairs fireplace.  the inserts we looked at are great looking and with a full load will burn 6-8 hours and put out about 40-50,000 btus heating.  the good ones are super heat efficient, losing only 5-10% of heat whereas a typical hearth will lose 30-60% of heat. 

inserts burn like an oven, enclosed and the modern ones will control air flow to raise or lower the burn.  pretty neat stuff.  we figured it would take over about 2/3rds the heating on our house.  considering we have about 10 years of firewood sitting in the back yard, it isn't an issue.

[mitt]

absolutely.. we had ours looked at and zero problems with the flue, box, etc.. just that the entire thing is on the outside of the house (and the cold side too).. we will eventually put an insert into the downstairs fireplace.  the inserts we looked at are great looking and with a full load will burn 6-8 hours and put out about 40-50,000 btus heating.  the good ones are super heat efficient, losing only 5-10% of heat whereas a typical hearth will lose 30-60% of heat. 

inserts burn like an oven, enclosed and the modern ones will control air flow to raise or lower the burn.  pretty neat stuff.  we figured it would take over about 2/3rds the heating on our house.  considering we have about 10 years of firewood sitting in the back yard, it isn't an issue.

Ours is sort of an old school insert - very crude and no doors.  I will get some estimates on a modern one this winter.  What did you find for costs?

mitt