Smokey fire problems

[keiron77]

We have recently restored an inglenook fire, added a basket, back and canopy but the room fills with smoke. A registry plate has been added and sealed with fire cement but it makes no difference.

Does anybody know what else I can try? The chimney has been swept and it has a wide clear run to the top. I tested it during the day on Sunday and the smoke is coming out of the pot as expected, but the room also fills up.

Here is a link to a pdf that I have also sent our sweep (the bits were all bought and fitted after he swept the chimney). Since making the pdf I have since blocked the bread oven vent, but this makes no difference.

http://www.3turnpikecottages.co.uk/fire.pdf

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We were so happy when we discovered the fire, and it's a huge let down to not use it without our eyes stinging!

 

[bower1]

Did you just try it on one day? Because on Saturday our woodburner, which has been fine for months, filled the lounge with smoke. So it may work better in different weather conditions.

I've not got an open fire, but I found that once it had got hot, it was fine. I've had very occasional problems like this with all the fires I've had in different houses.

Also, make sure you have adequate ventilation, particularly as you light it. If it is smoky with one window open, try opening one on the other side of the house.

 

[keiron77]

I have tried it on a few days/evenings and it's always the same.

I have lit it with no windows open in the room, but the living room leads to the kitchen which then leads to our dining room (both with no doors).

This is my first fire, do you suggest that I open say the kitchen window for a while when lighting it? I haven't done this because my (inexperienced) instinct is to keep the cold out when lighting a fire.

From my pdf do the sizes and distances all look about right to you?

 

[Mark]

what happens at the register plate ? Is it lined? How big is the hole in the plate? and the size of the chimney ? Is it a restriction opening into a cavity?

I would say that you should open the window. It will help get air moving. up the chimney. Windows closed - cold air comes down the chimney. Window open it is much easier for cold air to come in the window which helps get air movin g up the chimney.

Try burning some crumpled newspaper or firelighter first, that can help get warm air moving in the right direction without producing loads of smoke. then light the fire.

 

[keiron77]

The registry plate is made from 10mm fireboard edged with fire rope and fire cement bolted to a steel frame. The canopy atthe top is 20" x 12". The chimney is as wide as the fireplace 172" x 30" and goes in gradually then closes tighter nearer the top of the house. Before the registry plate was added I could probably get halfway up the chimney if I needed to.

 

[Flyfisher]

It sounds like the chimney is too large. It probably never warms up properly and the fire gases can cool down well before exiting the chimney resulting in turbulence.

This article might help.

 

[keiron77]

Thanks for that Flyfisher - I will read it later today. I have glanced over it quickly and I see that on pdf page 5 (marked as 6) it says the fireplace surround opening should be 22" from the basket, mine is 26" - could this be where the smoke is escaping also? It shouldn't be too hard for me to lower the canopy by 4".

 

[Mark]

I agree with Flyfisher.

You have a canopy going to a smallish opening, above which is a huge cavity of cold air. Inglenooks would originally have had big fires in them, you are trying to run a small fire in a large fireplace. I would suggest that you line the chimney with a big liner - ask your sweep for advice maybe 10" ?

If you don't want to put a liner in (although it should be dead easy in a fireplace that size) you could try boxing off part of the bottom of the chimney with the fireproof board so that you don't have such a big cavity - in effect making a liner out of fireboard.

 

[keiron77]

Should the liner go right up to the pots or could I run it up part of the way? I might try and do this myself - I'll see what the sweep thinks.

 

[Mark]

right to the top would be best. Partial lining is possible - given that your sweep has presumably assessed the state of the chimney and its only an open fire. Think about how you make sure that soot etc is not collecting and that you can clean the flue properly

 

[Zac]

We had issues with our inglenook (open fire), room/s filling with smoke as you describe. Our problem was the parget lining had broken down allowing smoke to seep through brickwork. Previous owner had tried to fill cracks but this failed. Tell tale signs were soot stains on the brickwork as the chimney went up through the house. We ended up fully lining the chimney which has resolved prob's.

 

[Flyfisher]

It shouldn't be too hard for me to lower the canopy by 4".

If it's really easy to do then it might be worth a try but I don't think I'd get my hopes up. A full lining might sound OTT but it's much more likely to solve the problem completely.

Either that, or open everything up and have a really huge fire to make the chimney work :wink:

 

[Mark]

Either that, or open everything up and have a really huge fire to make the chimney work :wink:

So, start dropping hints to the Mrs that you'd like a forest for xmas

 

[David Angel]

I recently moved into a house with an open fire. After lighting I had exactly the same problem, smoke everywhere. I believe this was because the opening was too high. HOWEVER, I then added a multifuel stove (best thing I ever did!). Strangely, to start with I just added a stove pipe with NO liner and the stove still smoked out of the front with the door open. The second I added a liner it started to draw incredibly well. You can get liners quite cheap (wood burning only is even cheaper) from the likes of http://www.fluestore.com etc. I had ridiculous quotes to get it done.

Good luck.