There is nothing worse than coming in after a hard day and when you finally get a decent fire going, all you get is smoke coming back into the room. 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. 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.
5) Chimney Not Built To Proper Dimensions-Many times the fireplace opening is too large or too tall, especially in relation to the chimney flue size. This can give smoke a choice of going up the chimney or coming into the room. The solution could be adding a metal smoke guard to the top of the fireplace opening, since it shrinks the size of the opening. Also, many two-sided fireplaces have inherent smoking problems due to their sensitivity to air drafts in the house. In this case you might think about installing glass doors. 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.Always use the smooth galvanized steel pipe or aluminum pipe for your venting rather than the plastic flex hose. It�s much less susceptible to temperature change and it also lasts much longer. You might also be surprised to discover it costs very little more and it is just as easy to install as the flex hose.If you follow these steps you�ll not have to worry about your dyer venting causing damage to your condo. You�ll driver will function optimally and you won�t be faced with fixing damage caused by condensation.Always try to reduce the number of bends as much as possible. The fewer number of bends you have the less problems that will occur because your air flow will be better. Always make sure that the length of your vent pipe run meets the specifications of the dryer. Many limit the length of the run.Insulate the outside of the entire venting system and tape all the seams with heating tape or duct tape also works well. The heat tape is designed to work only on steel or aluminum piping because of the special adhesive.You can start by insulating the entire dryer hose right from the dyer to the vent. Use Styrofoam or other types of foam insulation. In fact there is pre-cut insulation that id designed specifically for dryer hose. This will ensure that the piping does not become colder and produce condensation.7) The House Is Near a Canyon or Hillside� If the house is next to a canyon, hillside or slope, it can have smoking problems due to wind currents and downdrafts. The air is pushed down the chimney into the room. Many times a specially designed chimney wind cap will resolve this problem since the top part of it turns like a weather vane and the cap�s backside creates a barrier in the way of the wind.The "On-demand controlled systems provide silence, efficiency and savings on installation and energy.To stop condensation from occurring the pipe needs to be kept warm and there are some simple steps you can undertake to ensure you don�t have condensation problems.8) Central Heating System� If the heater is on, you will lose the draw from the chimney which will cause a smoking problem. 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. Do not run the heater when the fireplace is in use!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. Sometimes it�s necessary to raise the grate with bricks to help. This gets more air under the grate for better circulation and it also raises the height of the fire.
These at least hit the highlights of what could be the problem when dealing with that annoying 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 Sweep in your area and put him to work figuring it out. Good Luck!
Author: Rick Pocock
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