The summer is heating up and you’re looking for a way to stay cool. You have an old wood-burning stove that your grandfather passed down to you, but it’s been giving off some smoke lately. Are you worried about the safety of your family? Read on! We are here to help with 16 reasons why your wood-burning stove might be smoking and what you can do about it.
There is too much air coming in from the chimney
If the stove pipe is too long, not enough air will reach the fire and it won’t burn as well. Also, consider that shorter pipes work better for wood stoves than longer ones do. If there is water in the pipe, it will absorb heat from your fire and won’t allow it to burn as well. In addition, if your stovepipe has a lot of creosote buildup—a combustible by-product created when wood burns that can build up inside pipes or flues over time—the extra weight could be pulling down on the top of the chimney cap.
If soot builds up in this area between flights, air pressure increases and gets pushed back out through the cracks around doors and windows – which leads you right back to smoking again! Even though they are relatively easy to clean compared with other types of appliances, stoves still benefit from routine maintenance checks every year before the burning season begins. Overfilling a fireplace will cause smoke to back up into the house. If you add too much wood, it can smother your fire and make it burn poorly or not at all—leading…
The damper door is open
A backdraft can cause a smoke or carbon monoxide problem that may require the fire department. This happens when you open up windows while burning wood in your fireplace, and hot gases come rushing out of the chimney instead of going outside.
The result: not only did it release all those fumes into your house (which are noxious, to say the least) but they get sucked right down the flue by wayward breezes coming through an opened window, resulting in extremely high levels of CO within seconds!
The damper door is open backdraft can cause a smoke or carbon monoxide problem that may require the fire department this happens when you open up windows while burning wood in your fireplace and hot gases come rushing out of chimney instead of going outside result it released all those fumes into your house which are noxious, to say the least, but they get sucked right down the flue by wayward breezes coming through an opened window resulting in extremely high levels of CO within seconds!
Why Does My Wood Stove Smoke?
Wood smoke is a way to add flavor and aroma to your food. It’s also an essential part of the cultural identity for many people in small towns across America. But when you see wood burning in your stove, there might be more than just delicious smells happening inside your home—there might actually be fire! If this happens, it’s important that you know how to act quickly so as not to damage property or put yourself at risk.
Some of the most common reasons why your wood stove might be smoking include:
- The damper isn’t open. This is one way that oxygen gets into a fire and keeps it going strong. In turn, this also lets the smoke out through an opening in the front or top of your stove as well as up the chimney. If you have a metal door on your fireplace, there should be a rubber strip along its edge to keep air from getting in between these two surfaces when they meet—sounds like something worth replacing if it’s missing!
- Or, you might be able to replace it on your own depending on the type of materials that are used in this part. If you have a glass door instead though, there won’t be anything keeping air from getting between these two surfaces while they come together during use.
- The chimney is blocked with creosote or rust. Creosote forms when the wood is burned incompletely and can lead to smoldering fires which eventually become large blazes—and potentially even fire hazards. Rust comes from water being present inside the flue itself, making its way down into the pipes over time through condensation. You should get rid of both by having them professionally cleaned out every year so as not to run into this problem again!
The Wood Is Too Wet to Start a Fire
Six out of ten times, when people think their wood stove is smoking, the problem actually starts because they are trying to start a fire with wet wood. Even if you can light some pieces on your first attempt at starting a fire in the stove, it’s probably best not to rely on that one load of damp or green wood for heat all day long.
If you have trouble getting the kindling lit – even once – chances are there will be more problems down the road as this stack gets closer and closer to being completely burned through. Chances are good that by nightfall smoke will begin pouring from your chimney again while everyone else around town enjoys burning up every last bit of fuel inside their warm homes without any issues.
But the problem with dry firewood is that it’s expensive. Many people can’t afford to stock up on a full year’s worth of wood, and during winter months they’re often forced to buy from retailers selling green or wet bundles for half-price in order to get enough quantity at low cost. And if you buy enough of the wet wood to make it through this winter, there’s really no guarantee that your next batch will be any different.
So what do you do? You could try stacking up all the firewood in a dry area for an entire year before burning anything, but then you’d have to store hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of dead trees somewhere on your property that might not even fit.
Even worse would be having to spend hours splitting and drying each piece with nothing more than good old-fashioned elbow grease before loading them into the stove one at a time using only hand tools. And finally – after months upon months without being able to enjoy the heat from your fireplace due to endless chopping chores – once all those pieces are finally dry you’ll probably discover that it’s time to start over again with another year of splitting and stacking.
The best solution for anyone having this problem is to call the fire department every single time smoke comes out from underneath your chimney instead of trying in vain to light a smoky damp or green wood stove. The sooner they get there, the less damage will occur inside your home when everything gets soaked by all those gallons upon gallons of water pouring down on top of them.
That way you can avoid spending hundreds or thousands of dollars more than necessary just so someone else can come along and dump an entire bucketful right next door to where even one drop would do irreparable harm – especially if their only motivation was saving $20 bucks per load for no good reason.
The Stove Or Wood Is Too Cold
If the wood is too cold, there won’t be enough heat going into it to burn. The stove or wood will then spark and smoke as a result of this lack of fire. This problem can often arise if you have recently started a new load in your fireplace or wood-burning stove without allowing for plenty of time for the logs to “season” first – so do give them some breathing room before expecting good results from them!
The Draft Is Poor
If the draft is poor, stop what you are doing and take a look at your wood stove. If it’s smoking or not drawing air through properly, there can be serious problems with your chimney system. This usually happens if the hose has been disconnected for some time (or installed incorrectly), but could also indicate damage to an elbow joint in a plastered metal pipe that connects two parts of ductwork together.
The Fire Wasn’t Started Correctly
This can be a sign that the fire was not started correctly. This is something you should never ignore as it could lead to your entire house catching on fire and ending up in disaster. If you want to be safe, don’t hesitate and call your local fire department.
Sometimes, if you don’t pay attention to the early signs of fire and smoke coming from your wood-burning stove it can lead to a huge disaster. It is important that you make sure not to ignore any sign of danger when using this type of heating system in order for you and everyone else staying at home or working on-site to be safe around them.
The Air Vents Aren’t Open Enough
If your air vents are closed, it’s difficult for the oxygen to fuel-burning wood. This can cause more smoke than expected. Keep them open so that you have enough room for the fire to breathe and burn efficiently.
The Stove Door Was Closed Too Soon
- You closed the door of your wood-burning stove too soon. This may happen if you try to stay warm and close it before all the smoke has burned out of the room.
*Keep in mind that most stoves need at least 20 minutes to burn off any excess gases.*
The Fire Is Too Small for the Flue
A wood-burning stove is supposed to get very hot inside, which means that there’s a lot of air getting heated up. The problem is this: if you put too little fuel in your fire, then it won’t burn enough to give off enough heat for all of that extra oxygen! This can cause smoke to backfill into your home instead of going out through the flue pipe.
The Room Is Too Airtight
The airtightness of your home is important. If the room in which you have placed your wood stove has an airflow that’s too high, it might be suffocating the fire and making it smoke. You can get around this by making sure that there are openings in the brickwork and other places for air to circulate.
The Damper Is Closed
The damper is the part of your wood stove that restricts airflow to control how much air gets into the fire. If it’s closed, you’re not getting enough oxygen in there and smoke will build up.
If that happens, you’re going to get a lot of creosote buildup and the stove isn’t getting hot enough for complete combustion.
In order to have clean-burning with less smoke from your wood stove, you need good airflow through the appliance. This means that all dampers should be fully open when in use. A “fully” open damper is usually about 90 degrees so it looks almost sideways coming out of the chimney wall or pipe connection if someone were looking at it straight on. That’s also why closed dampers are not recommended because this restricts airflow which causes more creosoting up of flue gas surfaces, thus making them less efficient and having higher emissions levels due to incomplete combustion within the furnace chamber itself.
The Chimney Is Blocked or Dirty
If you smell gas in your house when the stove is burning, it may be a sign that there’s something wrong with one of these two components. It could also mean that your chimney is blocked or dirty and needs to be cleaned out by professionals.
The chimney is a very important component of your wood-burning stove. It’s responsible for removing the dangerous fumes that are produced when you burn fuel in order to keep everyone safe and healthy. If there is too much soot or debris inside it, then this can clog up the flue and cause problems with smoke removal from your home.
If this happens, it may also be necessary to install a special liner in addition to cleaning out any blockages if you want to ensure that everything remains clean from here on out when using the device. This will help prevent these kinds of issues in the future which make things run more smoothly overall as well as put people at less risk of serious health problems down the line over time due to exposure.