Major issue with wood-stove - Need advice!

[MossflowerWoods]

Once again I'm the n00b and most likely doing something wrong, but here goes.

I have a huge wood-stove in the basement the prior owners deceased hubby built. I've used it back in May to dry up the basement after flooding in a rain storm, and I've been using it for a few weeks since cold nights started. The prior owners allegedly used it to heat the entire house, as the heat pump was only installed in 2007, and they lived here since early 90's. I believe there was also electric baseboard heat at some time in the past.

I have a list of issues I need advice on, but the scary ones are first...

I live alone except when my daughters are here for visitation very other weekend and a few hours on a weekday. I cannot keep the fire going 24x7, and if I did the basement get so hot it is too hot to use (the big screen and some of the kids bigger toys etc. are down there, plus tons of "storage".

So I let the fire go out when I know I'm not gonna be home, when it is not gonna be cold enough, etc. I ran it early in the week due to my kids were visiting for Thanksgiving (my turn) but I let it go out Friday. Well Saturday evening at friends turned into everybody coming to my house to use the basement for impromptu college kids gathering... I ran home and lit the fire, and I managed to burn a smaller fire, of pretty good wood, and kept the basement comfy while all the kids were using it. But I let it go out (well I thought it was going out) Sunday morning I stopped adding wood... I left for the afternoon to shop and hang with my friends.

Last night I cam home to a bitter stinky house, and the wood stove had teeny tiny embers glowing under a mostly unburned log, and it was smoking out around the loading door. I tried to scatter the embers and let the fire actually go out finally...

The basement smelled terrible, I opened the one tiny window, and opened the screen-door window... But there was no wind to move the air. I opened windows in the unfinished attic, opened the attic door, opened all windows on the main floor I could, turned off the heat pump, and then I ran to Lowe's and bought a Kidde carbon monoxide detector and a metal bucket for cleaning out the ashes.

When I got home with the CO detector, I had zero reading on the main floor (phew) and initially zero reading in the basement. I started closing the windows etc. in the attic and main floor, but I left the tiny window open in the basement.

I went to bed, slept nervously and fitfully, with the CO detector in the hallway to my bedroom. About 3am I went down stairs and the stove was not smoking, but the detector climbed to 49 PPM. I opened the screen-door again and put a fan in the window.

By 7am this morning the peak reading was 53 PPM and the current reading was 0.

Here are my questions...

1 - How do I "put the fire out" or let it go out in a fashion that will prevent this smoking issue?
2 - How do I clear up the smell of burning/smoke?
3 - Once, on Wed. before Thanksgiving, I had issues lighting the fire and it smoked out the door for a while, even setting of the smoke detector in basement. Is this "stack effect" and should I open the tiny window in basement when lighting the fire? one other time I had it smoke a little because I loaded up with logs before it was really burning...
4 -What else am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance,
David

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Here are a couple pics of the stove and of the chimney pipe...

Thanks in advance,
David

 

[HEC]

First off I would hope you have smoke detectors along with your co detectors . You should check your chimney for any blockage and make sure you have a decent draft . If you don't have a manometer that you can borrow or use take a match or candle when there is no fire , the stove is cold and hold it in front of the door .You should be able to see the flame pull into the fire box if you have a positive draft . It sounds as though you are getting a negative draft at some point during the burn and the smoke is leaking through your door . You can get negative draft from a blocked chimney or not enough fresh air in the room the fire is trying to burn in . Fire needs enough oxygen to burn properly , if not it will just smoulder after time and create that negative draft .

 

[PILOON]

A trick we used back when most folks smoked and left our house smelling like a bar was to leave out saucers filled with vinegar.
For some reason the vinegar absorbs smoke odors.

To light a fire from cold start it helps to place a 100 watt light bulb inside the firebox to start the upwards convection.
On fellow I know uses a propane plumbers torch to light the fire all while it also starts that convection flow.
Simple, cold air is heavier than hot air and it takes a fair bit of warm(hot) air to move out that cold air.
The longer the chimney the harder it is to get that flow going.

Now to close down a fire you need to starve it of air, meaning close all intakes etc.
Naturally the firebox needs to be airtight to do this.
With all air supply cut off the fire will die and since the hot air is still rising it will take the residual and ever diminishing smoke along with it.

Hope this helps.

Looking at your pics and that long outside flue pipe I'd venture to say that a fair amount of preheat would be needed to get a fire going on a cold day. In fact it is too long IMHO and would probably draw reasonably well with about 5-6' above the roof edge. (there is a formula that I forget the exacts but by eyeball I guess 5-6')

 

[HEC]

Now that i have seen your pictures , an outside chimney cools down very easily and also blocks up easier from cresote . As a chimney cools down from a small fire there will be less draft and any down draft will cause smoke to by pass a leaky door gasket .I can't tell from your outside picture but a chimney should be at least 3 or 4 ft. above the top of your roof level . Any tall trees in the imediate area can also cause a down draft . There should be a clean out somewhere under the tall section of chimney so it could be checked for any blockage and or the stove pipe taken off for inspection for both.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

First off I would hope you have smoke detectors along with your co detectors . You should check your chimney for any blockage and make sure you have a decent draft . If you don't have a manometer that you can borrow or use take a match or candle when there is no fire , the stove is cold and hold it in front of the door .You should be able to see the flame pull into the fire box if you have a positive draft . It sounds as though you are getting a negative draft at some point during the burn and the smoke is leaking through your door . You can get negative draft from a blocked chimney or not enough fresh air in the room the fire is trying to burn in . Fire needs enough oxygen to burn properly , if not it will just smoulder after time and create that negative draft .

HEC,

Yes, I have multiple smoke detectors, more than required by code including in the unfinished attic and basement.

I think the negative draft is due to fresh air in the basement. I will start leaving the basement window at least cracked open.

I was also keeping the door to the basement open for heat to rise, but I closed it Sunday morning for some reason (because it gets in the way I bet).

Thank you!
David

 

[crash325]

David,
Personally I would replace the stove & modify the stove pipe.
No cap of any kind on pipe. It's a long pipe, you need to burn a real hot fire for a while to get it hot enough to draw. Insulating it would help keep it hot.

There are a lot of high temp sealants that you could seal the door with. If the air inlet seals tight you should be able to put the fire out.

A small fire with that much pipe is not going to work very well & under certain conditions a down draft will push smoke down the pipe. Proper cap would help.

My 2 cents & free advice, you know the value of that.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Piloon,

I like the 100W bulb idea... I still have one or two of those somewhere, now that they are illegal...

FYI - I've been starting the fire with a small amount of pine straw and good dry kindling that lights fast and hot...

I will also try the vinegar idea.

Thanks,
David

 

[3930dave]

Opening a window may help, but you may have to try one or 3 to get it right. Prevailing wind is a factor - get the right window open, and you can create a bit of positive pressure in the room to help push the smoke up the chimney - if you have a powerful enough fan sitting in a window (blowing in), you can do the same. Watch for things like bathroom fans and clothes dryers running, as they can tip the air pressure balance too.

Get the wrong window open, and exterior wind can create a bit of a venturi effect on the room and make your problem worse. You have to play around with this a bit to see what works - watch out for days when the prevailing wind shifts.

I haven't seen one in quite a while, but you used to be able to get an elbowed chimney cap, gimballed, with a sail on it.

Wind Caps Chimney Caps by Luxury Metals

Pics probably are a better way to describe it, than me rambling on.....

Just putting venturi effect to use, on the top of the stack. Haven't used that style of cap myself, but so long as it stays freely rotating, it should help some.

One trick we used to use on a friend's wide/tall stone chimney at his 2 storey cottage was take a big shop vac, stick the hose on the exhaust port, and run it up inside the chimney before lighting the fire.

Start the fire small, with good kindling. You want to throw heat up the chimney quickly to get things moving. Sometimes using an elevated grate to burn on will help - keep the ashes cleaned out, into a fire-safe container. Never vacuum ash out, regardless how long the stove sits.

Up here, it's likely a condition of insurance these days, but get somebody who knows chimneys well to check yours out - if it hasn't been assessed already.

Rgds. D.

 

[almaryholm]

I would turn that stove into scrap SOON before you burn house down around your ears...no floor shield ( stove on exposed vinyl tile??!!!!!)- WAY too close to cardboard/ wood and a HUGE chimney to preheat for descent draft ( no wonder house filled with smoke).... ( pellet stove would work better/ safer and you could go through wall for venting/ air supply)