Why is the fireplace smoke coming into my basement fireplace?
Sometimes when I have a fire in my upstairs fireplace the smoke gets downstairs. You can’t see the smoke, but it’s enough to lightly burn your eyes. In the upstairs it’s a traditional fireplace, downstairs there’s a insert with a blower. On the roof I had a 2′ extension fabricated from Stainless hoping that this would help this problem (I had this same problem last winter.) I have had the upstairs fire lit 4 times this year, and everything was fine until yesterday. Any suggestions?
The 2 fireplaces are both ceramic square tube approx 12" x 12" and are parallel to each other.
The fireplace in the basement has an insert with a blower. The blower is designed to blow the heat from the fireplace into our basement.
3 Responses
Bill P
08 Mar 2010
Bri
08 Mar 2010
There is probably a gap opening up from heat in your piping as the upstairs fireplace is running.
If I understand correctly what you have is an original fireplace with the flue outlet running up outside and beside it you have a tin pipe running up to roof with a blower for the downstairs fireplace.
I would say you could run it until you insulate and tape up all the fittings in the pipe, as long as you turn on the blower when ever you run either fire place .
But you will have to fix it as flue gas and coke will build up.
Note: With Your edit – make sure that the downstairs fireplace chute is tightly closed when running your upstairs fire place. You could try to bend latch mechanism to get a tighter seal when it is closed.
Seeing as you have two separate parallel flutes there must be a hole or crack somewhere for smoke to be entering the other. Phone a specialist I am sure they would have a method to check this and seal it without tearing it apart.
bmcbrewer
08 Mar 2010
Because the flue below the upstairs fireplace is cooler and as the smoke lingers in it, a slight downdraft is created. You need to make sure the damper in the basement is closed tight when it’s not running or light a small fire in it to keep the updraft going while you are burning. Maybe installing a cutout in the chimney would work if it isn’t too much problem or expense.
See how high above the crest of your roof the chimney is. If it is not above the crest of the roof, lengthen it until it is. Otherwise, just crack a window in the basement and upstairs and it should clear.