Question
I have an out-building; a nice 12' x 15' Studio. I installed a small wood-burning stove and everything works great except for one thing. The room gets a little smokey. Is this a common problem?
Thanks for your help, Larry.
Answer
Larry,
The smoke/fumes go up and out the vent pipe when everything is working as it should be.
Heat rises and cold air drops, to get the Smokey air to go up and out the heat has to dominate the cold. Make sure your using the right size chimney venting size first and foremost. Make sure you prime the vent pipe by building a fire in the fire appliance, the higher a vent pipe is the better it draws.
Fire needs combustion air to burn, if you have a fire burning in the firebox and you shut the stove off tight the need for air for combustion will pull the air it needs down the vent pipe.
If your studio is tight and you have fire going even with the combustion air open to the stove eventually you can burn up enough air in the studio itself to cause Smokey air to come back down the vent.
The colder it is in the studio when you start a fire the harder it is going to be to get the vent primed.
The vent when working properly sucks air like an exhaust fan and it needs to pull the air into the stove any way it can. Insulating the piping if it is uninsulated currently will help if not solve the problem. This all depends on what type of vent pipe your using.
After all of that to answer your question you should be first looking at what type of venting you have and then insuring it is the right system for your application. Contact us if you need assistance.
