Why does my chimney smoke

This bar at the top of the fireplace opening limits the fire by-products that enter the home, minimizing your exposure to smoke. Stave off a smoky fireplace the next time you light up by following these fireplace operation and chimney maintenance tips:. Disclosure: BobVila. You agree that BobVila. All rights reserved. Expert advice from Bob Vila, the most trusted name in home improvement, home remodeling, home repair, and DIY.

Connect with a chimney and fireplace pro. Find the best local pros and compare multiple quotes for your chimney or fireplace project. Find pros now. More From Bob Vila. Always keep your firewood under cover from the elements, and burn seasoned wood that has completely dried. A faulty fireplace design could impede on the drafting capabilities of your fireplace. Factors such as flue volume, fireplace opening size, damper size, chimney height, and smoke shelf construction can all play a role in the function of your fireplace.

Smoke from burning wood is not good for your health. While it smells good, you should not breathe it in. Wood smoke contains fine particles that can irritate your eyes and respiratory system.

Heavy smoke inhalation can cause serious health problems, such as:. Along with these dangers of inhaling fine particles, wood smoke also contains toxic and harmful air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide CO , benzene, formaldehyde, acrolein, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs.

Without proper drafting and ventilation, these pollutants can harm your health. You should address your smoky fireplace as soon as possible and install a CO detector in your home to warn you when CO levels increase.

You should clean your chimney at least once a year, and more often if you use your fireplace heavily. Another way to help prevent smoke from coming out of a fireplace is to build fires as far back into the fireplace as possible. The top-down method of building a fire in a fireplace involves building a fire with the logs placed first in a fireplace. Kindling and a fire starter are then added on top of the logs respectively. The main benefit of using the top-down method to build fires when trying to stop smoke from coming out of fireplaces is that the fire is started at the top.

In a traditionally built fire with the fire starter at the bottom and the logs on top the fire is started at the base of the fireplace. The fire being started at the base can cause problems because the fire is being smothered by the wood on top, potentially leading to more smoke being created due to lack of oxygen and incomplete combustion of the wood. When a fire is built using the top-down method the fire is started at the top. Any smoke initially generated by the fire is located further towards the top of the fireplace, further reducing the potential for smoke to come out of the fireplace.

With no logs on top in a top-down fire, the fire can provide a much cleaner and more efficient burn right from starting the fire. By building top-down fires in your open fireplace you can help to reduce the amount of smoke that is produced at the start of the fire , as well as helping to minimize the amount of smoke that can come out of your fireplace through lighting the fire more towards the top of the fireplace.

The bark on dry wood can also be coming off more easily than on wet wood. A moisture meter is an essential tool for any fireplace. A fire may not be able to properly combust wood and can produce more smoke if there is also a lack of sufficient airflow to the fire. To help ensure that the draft is working as efficiently as possible so that air can be continuously fed to the fire, fully open the damper in your fireplace before each and every fire.

It your fireplace has a damper it will typically be located within the top area of your fireplace. Dampers can be closed between fires to help prevent heat loss from a home, but must be opened prior to each fire to ensure that all waste gases and smoke can be safely vented from a home.

Proper maintenance begins with good old fashioned hygiene. Learn more our maintenance process here. Chimney Maintenance. Whatever we find, we can fix.

Find out more about our repair process here. Chimney Repair. Want to upgrade your fireplace? Gas Logs. Looking for retractable awnings? Retractable Awnings. All rights reserved. Financing Privacy Policy Promotional Details. Twitter Facebook-f Instagram Linkedin.