What Causes Smokey Fireplaces?
Most of us have fireplaces because we love the ambiance they create in our homes. If there were ever anything to spoil that moment, it would be smoke coming back into the home. There are varieties of reasons you may experience smoke coming back into the home when the fireplace is in use. Here are some of the major causes:
- Smoke During Storms and Windy Days – in many cases, this is merely because there is no chimney cap in place or the chimney cap is damaged. The wind is not blocked and is now able to come back down into the flue and does not allow proper ventilation.
- Smokes Only When Starting a Fire – there are quite a few things that can cause this to happen. A window may be cracked, appliances may be running (such as the dryer or an exhaust fan that will draw air down the flue using its own exhaust), or it may just be the cold air outside that forces the warm air back down inside the chimney.
- Closed Damper – surprisingly, this happens far more often that you would think. Either people become confused which position is open and which is closed or they simply forget to open the damper altogether.
- Dirty Chimney – did you have the chimney inspected before the season started? If not, there may be debris of possibly a bird’s nest or dead animal stuck in the chimney.
- Additions to the Home – this can happen quite frequently, especially for DIYers. They add an addition to the home over the summer and never account for the draft of the fireplace. The added construction may cause an obstruction or the current flue is simply not capable of handling the new load.
In addition to the causes mentioned above, sometimes smoke is caused by factors outside of the home. For instance, you may have a tree in the yard that has gradually grown over the top of the chimney. This could prevent airflow and may need to be trimmed. If you are truly baffled, call in a professional to evaluate the situation and offer their expertise to solve the problem.