There Is Nothing Worse Than Coming

1) Dirty or Obstructed Chimney- Have the chimney inspected and swept by a Certified Chimney Sweep so that the chimney can be checked for any obstructions such as a bird's nest or tree branches, or your kid's missing volley ball. It burns the eyes and lungs, and you wind up having to open windows and doors to let the cold air in to air the room out.4) Fire Grate Placement- The fire grate is where you place your wood in the firebox and should be placed as far back in the firebox as possible, preferably right against the backwall in order to create a good draw.2) Closed Damper- Before starting a fire, always check to make sure that the damper is completely open. The air is pushed down the chimney into the room. Then you can light the fire and ideally should have a good draw. To minimize the smoking problem, crack open a window or door (preferably at the same level as the fireplace) in the room. Also, some types of prefabricated "paper wrapped" logs can be prone to smoking. It should be kept dry and protected from the rain. This is because the central air furnace is so strong that even if the air intake vent for the central heating system is not in the same room as the fireplace, it will suck the outside air down the chimney and will cause the fireplace to smoke when the fire is going. One more thing, if the chimney does not have adequate height, you may need to extend the height of the chimney to improve the draw. This gets more air under the grate for better circulation and it also raises the height of the fire. If you're not sure, shine a flashlight up the chimney to see if the metal damper plate is open or closed.Many of the common smoking problems deal with the fact that a fire needs to be supplied with a large amount of make up air as one of its three primary elements, as well as needing to have an adequate opening through the chimney to the outside in order to exhaust out the smoke and gases so that they don't come back into the room.These at least hit the highlights of what could be the problem when dealing with that annoying smoking problem. That smell gets into all of the fabrics in the house as well as in your clothes, and it seems to take forever to get rid of it. Below is a list of the top ten possible reasons and their solutions as to why you're having that smoking problem.3) Fuel- Cut firewood must be aged a minimum of one year. Do not run the heater when the fireplace is in use!9) Air Pressure Difference- Because houses are built much tighter than they used to be, the air pressure inside the house can be different than outside the house and this will not allow for a proper draw of air through the flue as well as the fire not receiving adequate make up air. Keep those trees trimmed! With the 2nd story problem, the solution will likely be to raise the chimney height, but in some cases the wind cap might help instead.8) Central Heating System- If the heater is on, you will lose the draw from the chimney which will cause a smoking problem. There are other possible reasons for this problem, so if following the corrective actions presented here don't take care of it, the best advice I could give would be to contact a CSIA Certified Chimney.