SMART FIREPLACES DON’T SMOKE
How we home owners love the smell of a real fireplace fire!
Our guests gather around the hearth drinks in hand, admiring our skill as we stack the logs, strike the
match and touch it to the bed of kindling. They stand hypnotized as the first flames lick up over the
logs and comment on the sweet hint of burning wood in the air.
Then disaster strikes. The aromatic smoke, so pleasant at first, starts to pour into the room. We run
around opening windows and doors while our guests flee coughing and hacking into the backyard. The dog
begins to howl, the canary topples from his perch, and through a chest high haze our significant other
glares at us with that look. You know the one, the storm warning. After you apologize profusely, what
do you do next?
Here’s a few DOs that may help.
First make sure that the fireplace damper (or the flue some call it) is open. You should have checked
that before the fire was lit. If you forgot, use a poker to push the damper handle open. Then soak a
towel and hang it across the top of fireplace screen and move the screen in tight to the fireplace. This
will make the fireplace opening smaller and easier to vent.
If you have glass doors on your fireplace, close them. This also cuts down the fireplace opening and
makes the chimney draw better. At this point your problem may be solved…at least temporarily.
And here’s some DON’TS:
Don’t dump water on the fire. The steam will only make the smoking worse.
Don’t drag flaming logs out of the fireplace and attempt to carry them outside. This may seem like
the heroic thing to do, but fireplace is the best place for burning wood, even if it’s smoking.
Don’t even think about using a fire extinguisher. The blast can blow faming embers back into the
room.
Finally, when the panic dies down and the air clears, consider this. You know that sweet smoky scent
that everyone commented so favorably on? That was your first warning. Fireplaces should never, ever,
smoke.
If you smell smoke, then your fireplace is a smoker, and with time this nasty habit will only get worse.
That being said, the causes of a smoking fireplace are few and surprisingly easy to fix. They all spring
from a single problem. The fireplace opening (height X width) is too big for the chimney to vent. Imagine
a big funnel with a tiny nozzle. If we pour liquid into the funnel too fast and it overflows the sides
before the nozzle (or the chimney in this case) can spit it out.
To fix this smoker we have to discover what is making the fireplace opening too big. Here’s a few
clues.
Is this a new problem, or did the fireplace always smoke?
If your fireplace was working fine until recently, then something is blocking the chimney. Branches or
vines may have grown over top of the chimney. I’ve found basket balls, two-by-fours, and beehives
blocking the chimney. I’ve even been attacked by an outraged peacock who dozed off in the updaft
of warm air (no fire) and got his fat butt stuck in the hole at the top. Peacocks are mean little peckers
when annoyed and my hands have the scars to prove it.
If you use your fireplace a lot, and it worked fine until recently, then the most likely cause is a buildup
of soot clogging the inside of the chimney and the spark arrestor screen covering the top. A screen is
a must, it keep the sparks in and the wildlife out, including pesky peacocks and invasion by rats and
racoons.
If your fireplace always smoked, even a little, then the problem is mostly structural. The fix could
be costly, but it’s usually not. The right fix will solve the problem permanently. You’ll
be able to enjoy your fireplace again, without opening all the windows or posting the Fire Department’s
number on the mantle next to the clock.
I’ve put together a simple step-by-step checklist with pictures and detailed explanations to help
you pinpoint the problem and how to fix it. (There are only four or five possibilities.) Email me at
chimneyjack@gmail.com and I’ll send you one, no charge. Also feel free to send me any other fireplace
questions you may have.
Until then remember, smart fireplaces don’t smoke.
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