My customer complains that their fireplace burns fine and then all of a sudden it starts to smoke back into the room. What’s happening and how can I fix it?
This is usually caused by insufficient oxygen. A fireplace can use the combined air leaks of a 36″ circle. Older homes that haven’t been sided, have original leaky windows, and have poor insulation may have this combined “combustion air” available. Modern homes or homes with siding, house wrap, insulation, tight windows and doors only have a combined air leak of 8″ which is the size of a dinner plate. That’s not enough for the average fireplace. Other factors that can cause this problem are down-flow kitchen range vents, air exhaust appliances kicking on and installed house vacuums in use. Use of these appliances may need to be discontinued while the fireplace is in use. Also, air should be introduced and sometimes one or more Air Supply Ventilator may be enough to supplement the fireplace. The air requirement can be tested by cracking a window open and gradually opening it to the point where the fireplace stops smoking. An Exhausto® Fan may also be installed. If properly adjusted, it
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