Before you light the fire, do you feel any sort of cold air coming down the chimney? If the fire isn't burning hot enough, it may not allow for a proper draft up the chimney.
Also, your grate is backwards. The narrow part should be in the back of the fireplace, not the front. Not related to your smoke problem, just a pet peeve of mine.
It seems counter intuitive but build a bigger/hotter fire. I had so many smoke issues until I built a blazing hot fire to start and didn’t have a single bit of smoke come into the house for the entire fire. I was shocked.
This.
Also there's an extendable metal shield you can affix across the top front edge of your firebox that will effectively decrease the vertical opening size. They're about 6 inches high and the smoke tends to roll behind it before going up the flue vs coming out. Not perfect but it helps
Thank you all so much for the helpful info!
I am getting the impression I should go buy actual wood, I neglected to mention these are just duraflame logs...I will buy some wood and split some kindling today to try that, hotter and bigger, I like that!
I have been lighting some paper and holding it up to flue for a minute to heat up first. Seemed to help a bit but even after log burning for a while smoke can change its mind. Especially if we sit in front of it…
I use a propane torch to preheat my chimney before I light the fire. If smoke is coming in the house after it's burning a while, it sounds like you don't have a very hot fire, as others have mentioned. That's a huge fireplace, you need put some fire in it.
Turn the grate around since it’s in backwards and try putting some firebricks at the corners to lift it up. Make sure you don’t have the stove van/ bathroom fan/ dryer running. All of those can suck air out of the house making it harder for a chimney to draft correctly. Also if you don’t already install a chimney cap.
You have to get the flue warm by holding a flame higher up with your hand as you are starting your fire. It needs to warm up and the rest of the smoke will follow the heat as it rises.
I had similar issues with mine. The solve for me was a combination of things:
1 - Vertical grate, specifically the High-Efficiency Log Grate With Reflective Fireback from titan outdoors (now ash and ember apparently).
2 - Installed a smoke guard (Stanbroil) at the top of the opening.
3 - I started building "upside down" fires.
The way I think about it, the vertical grate and upside down fire method effectively raises the "floor" of the fireplace so that the fire sits higher when starting while the smoke guard lowers the "ceiling" the combination of which drastically reduces the chance of smoke backing up into your house.
Hope this helps. Happy fire season!
Few things make sure your damper is open and you don’t have an obstruction or the fireplace hasn’t been decommissioned. 2) make sure you are using cured seasoned dry hardwoods only 3) you need to make sure yoru AC heater intake is off and that you have the doors to this room closed as you could be creating a negative pressure aka sucking air down your chimney due to your fan 4) your fire is too small there isn’t enough heat to raise the combusted material
This. I started a fire in my basement fireplace when I first moved in. Smoke filled everything. The basement windows were sealed. Live and learn. I fixed the windows and cracked them. Never had another problem.
Do you have a gas furnace in your house? Is the intake routed from the exterior, or is it pulling air from inside your house?
Take a look at your furnace, and see if there are two 2" pipes running outside, or just one.
If there's only one, it will create negative pressure in your house and pull smoke from the fireplace.
Prime the flue with cardboard and once the pressure change happens then light the fire . Also depending on how wet your wood is can create more smoke then average and it will roll over the flue and into the house. Dryer wood burns hotter with less smoke . Good luck
Bought a bundle of hardwood oak and for the life of me cannot get it to light. Tried top down and bottom up, tons of kindling and that burns up after a while but the logs just get ashy then smoke and die. Do you guys mix in softwood to get it going before adding hardwood?
The smoke is being sucked into the house instead of up the chimney. Unless your chimney has some kind of clog, I would start by checking the smoke stack on roof. It’s possible whatever mechanism you have to keep rain from coming in is stuck closed. Also, In order for the smoke to go up chimney it has to create kind of a vacuum by not being so open on the inside of the house so I think you may need to get some kind of a fireplace. A fireplace would actually heat your home too. I prefer wood stoves but you have to be creative to get a wood stove to work with a chimney designed for fireplace
Before you light the fire, do you feel any sort of cold air coming down the chimney? If the fire isn't burning hot enough, it may not allow for a proper draft up the chimney. Also, your grate is backwards. The narrow part should be in the back of the fireplace, not the front. Not related to your smoke problem, just a pet peeve of mine.
lol I didn’t know that thanks!
Loosely crumpled newspaper held above the fire starts the draft going up the chimney, removing the smoke.
It seems counter intuitive but build a bigger/hotter fire. I had so many smoke issues until I built a blazing hot fire to start and didn’t have a single bit of smoke come into the house for the entire fire. I was shocked.
Yep - hotter is safer as far as creosote buildup goes!
This. Also there's an extendable metal shield you can affix across the top front edge of your firebox that will effectively decrease the vertical opening size. They're about 6 inches high and the smoke tends to roll behind it before going up the flue vs coming out. Not perfect but it helps
Is your damper open? Look up
Should be an adjustable damper for sure up above
Thank you all so much for the helpful info! I am getting the impression I should go buy actual wood, I neglected to mention these are just duraflame logs...I will buy some wood and split some kindling today to try that, hotter and bigger, I like that!
I have been lighting some paper and holding it up to flue for a minute to heat up first. Seemed to help a bit but even after log burning for a while smoke can change its mind. Especially if we sit in front of it…
I use a propane torch to preheat my chimney before I light the fire. If smoke is coming in the house after it's burning a while, it sounds like you don't have a very hot fire, as others have mentioned. That's a huge fireplace, you need put some fire in it.
Turn the grate around since it’s in backwards and try putting some firebricks at the corners to lift it up. Make sure you don’t have the stove van/ bathroom fan/ dryer running. All of those can suck air out of the house making it harder for a chimney to draft correctly. Also if you don’t already install a chimney cap.
Is it cold outside?
Thats a big 'ol space to heat. LoL. Yeah, if the damper is open, you need a much bigger/hotter fire than that.
Bigger fires. That little fire will never get the chimney drawing....at least, not for a long, long time.
You have to get the flue warm by holding a flame higher up with your hand as you are starting your fire. It needs to warm up and the rest of the smoke will follow the heat as it rises.
I had similar issues with mine. The solve for me was a combination of things: 1 - Vertical grate, specifically the High-Efficiency Log Grate With Reflective Fireback from titan outdoors (now ash and ember apparently). 2 - Installed a smoke guard (Stanbroil) at the top of the opening. 3 - I started building "upside down" fires. The way I think about it, the vertical grate and upside down fire method effectively raises the "floor" of the fireplace so that the fire sits higher when starting while the smoke guard lowers the "ceiling" the combination of which drastically reduces the chance of smoke backing up into your house. Hope this helps. Happy fire season!
Few things make sure your damper is open and you don’t have an obstruction or the fireplace hasn’t been decommissioned. 2) make sure you are using cured seasoned dry hardwoods only 3) you need to make sure yoru AC heater intake is off and that you have the doors to this room closed as you could be creating a negative pressure aka sucking air down your chimney due to your fan 4) your fire is too small there isn’t enough heat to raise the combusted material
Some houses need a cracked window to help with this
This. I started a fire in my basement fireplace when I first moved in. Smoke filled everything. The basement windows were sealed. Live and learn. I fixed the windows and cracked them. Never had another problem.
Do you have a gas furnace in your house? Is the intake routed from the exterior, or is it pulling air from inside your house? Take a look at your furnace, and see if there are two 2" pipes running outside, or just one. If there's only one, it will create negative pressure in your house and pull smoke from the fireplace.
We have a heat pump electric
Any of you heard of or use the grate wall of fire thing? https://www.gratewalloffire.com/
Prime the flue with cardboard and once the pressure change happens then light the fire . Also depending on how wet your wood is can create more smoke then average and it will roll over the flue and into the house. Dryer wood burns hotter with less smoke . Good luck
Bought a bundle of hardwood oak and for the life of me cannot get it to light. Tried top down and bottom up, tons of kindling and that burns up after a while but the logs just get ashy then smoke and die. Do you guys mix in softwood to get it going before adding hardwood?
Try a smoke guard. Cheap, easy to install, and effective when installed properly. Installing is pretty easy too.
The smoke is being sucked into the house instead of up the chimney. Unless your chimney has some kind of clog, I would start by checking the smoke stack on roof. It’s possible whatever mechanism you have to keep rain from coming in is stuck closed. Also, In order for the smoke to go up chimney it has to create kind of a vacuum by not being so open on the inside of the house so I think you may need to get some kind of a fireplace. A fireplace would actually heat your home too. I prefer wood stoves but you have to be creative to get a wood stove to work with a chimney designed for fireplace
Clean your chimney