Use safe fuel, kindling, and tinder. Use only well-seasoned hardwood or CSIA-approved logs as fuel; dried twigs or branches as kindling; and torn old newspaper or pine cones as tinder. Burning unseasoned firewood or cardboard can generate an excessive amount of smoke that your chimney can’t efficiently evacuate.
How do I make my fireplace less smoky?
How To Keep Smoke From Coming Out Of A Fireplace
- Use A Fireplace Grate. …
- Build Fires Towards The Back Of The Fireplace. …
- Build Fires Using The Top-Down Method. …
- Burn Dry & Low Moisture Content Firewood. …
- Open The Damper Fully Before Each Fire. …
- Preheat The Chimney To Start The Draft. …
- Build Smaller, Hotter Fires.
How do you make a smoke guard for a fireplace?
Fireplace smoke guard
Before you buy one, do this: Take a piece of aluminum foil a little wider than the fireplace opening, and fold it in half width-wise, to make it sturdier. When the fire is going, tape it over the top of the opening, covering a few inches of the opening. (Go easy on the tape!
What carries smoke away from a fireplace?
When smoke flows out of a chimney, it moves through a narrow opening called a flue. Before you light a fire in the fireplace, make sure the flue is open! Don’t mistake flue for its homonym, flu — rather than an illness, a flue is a duct or pipe that’s connected to a stove, heater, furnace, or fireplace.
Why does my house fill with smoke when I light a fire?
The most likely reason that your house is filling with smoke when you light a fire is that the damper is closed. The damper should be fully opened when the fireplace is in use, and closed when it is not. All indoor fireplaces have a damper that must be opened before you light a fire in your fireplace.
How can I make my chimney draw better?
How to Increase Draft in Your Chimney
- Start with a Hot, Fast Fire. Starting a cold wood stove with a hot, fast fire will get the draft going the quickest. …
- Burn Extremely Low Moisture Wood. …
- Improve Airflow Around the Fire. …
- Warm the Chimney Flue. …
- Provide Enough Air to Replace the Air That is Lost.
Why is my fireplace so Smokey?
Proper drafting requires chimney and fireplace components to be built in a certain size. Examples include a flue that’s too small, a chimney that’s too short, or a lintel (horizontal support above the firebox opening) that’s too high—any of these could result in a weak draft and a smoky fireplace.
How do I reduce the size of my fireplace opening?
Reduce the Opening Size – This can be achieved by laying an additional row of firebrick on the floor of the firebox. Before you start laying brick, you can test the solution by holding a piece of metal over part of the opening and watching to see if the draft improves.
Do fireplace doors reduce smoke?
One of the first benefits from installing a glass door onto your fireplace is preventing smoke from entering your home. Smoke from burning wood is harmful to your lungs and you home, it can stain your ceiling, and it can be a hard to get the smell of smoke out of your clothes and furniture.
What is a fireplace damper?
A chimney damper prevents conditioned (warmed or cooled) house air from escaping through the flue when you’re not using the fireplace. You need to open the damper when you start a fire to allow for proper airflow and let the smoke out.
Do chimney balloons work?
How does it work? Chimneys act like giant hoovers, sucking air out of your home. This causes cold air to be pulled in from other gaps, causing the cold draughts we notice. The Chimney Balloon effectively blocks the chimney, stopping warm air from escaping and stopping cold air from getting in.
Do creosote logs really work?
Many homeowners wonder if the chimney sweep logs or creosote sweeping logs really work to clean out fireplace flues and get rid of creosote residue so that the fireplaces are safe to use. The short answer is no, they don’t work. At least, not well enough to completely clean out the flue the way it should be cleaned.
Will a hot fire remove creosote?
One method to loosen crusty or tarry creosote so it flakes off and falls down into the firebox or fireplace is to burn aluminum cans in a very hot fire. While this method works, it does not clean the chimney of creosote completely, and chimney brush cleaning is still necessary.
Do potato peels clean chimneys?
Potato peels and acorns help prevent creosote buildup in your chimney. Save your potato skins and collect acorns in the autumn. Just a handful thrown on top of a burning fire can help keep your chimney in good shape.
Does burning aluminum cans help with creosote?
Heating the cans causes an increase in heat in a chimney which can help prevent creosote from building up on a clean chimney. However, aluminum oxides are very stable and do not react to high temperature. This means that there will not be much of an impact on built-up creosote.
What will dissolve creosote?
Vinegar is a natural acid that will break down the creosote over time. All you have to do is pour vinegar onto the creosote and then wait for it to dissolve. If you want to take a more natural approach, try dissolving the creosote using salt water instead of vinegar or chemical cleaners.
Does rock salt clean chimneys?
When it comes to DIY chimney cleaning, the obvious question is- what to burn to clean chimney, then rock salt is the first answer. Rock salts, combined with burning fire, have the ability to form a sort of mixture that moves through the chimney.
What wood causes the most creosote?
Softwoods like fir, pine and cedar make more smoke, and therefore more creosote. That said, these evergreens contain fragrant resins and oils that easily ignite even without a fire starter and are perfect for kindling.
Is duraflame safe for fireplace?
Can duraflame firelogs be burned in all types of fireplaces? Duraflame firelogs are Underwriter Laboratories (UL) Classified for use in zero-clearance manufactured metal fireplaces and are suitable for use in all types of traditional open-hearth wood-burning fireplaces.
What’s the best wood to burn in fireplace?
Oak is considered the best wood to burn in a fireplace, by far. Why? This type of wood produces a slow-burning fire that lasts longer and burns more evenly and hotter. In addition, oak is plentiful and found in almost any area of the country.
