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wood burning stoves

Smoke

John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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I have two massive fireplaces... one is the basement and other directly above it in the LR. The basement has an insert. The chimneys are side by side in a common structure with a common concrete rain cap. If both are burning, life is good. If only one is burning, smoke travels out of one outlet and gets drawn down the other and into the house.

My plan in to raise the height of the cap by about 8 inches to allow more space for the smoke to escape.

And, to build a “wall” between the two outlets to impede the path of the smoke from traveling back into the house.

Opinions?

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Jim Fry

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posted 1 year ago

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As an obvious first question, did you close the damper on the unused chimney?

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thomas rubino

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posted 1 year ago

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Good Morning John;
An unusual problem that I have never heard of before.
I assume it only happens with a low-pressure system when your smoke wants to move down.
I have to wonder if an 8" rise and a stub wall are enough to convince the smoke to vacate rather than return inside the house.
Perhaps a 2' section of steel stove pipe and coolie cap could extend up through your current rain cap?
Might look kinda hillbillyish but if it works, who cares?
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John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi Thomas,

I have lived here well over 20 years, so obviously it is not a huge problem. Why fix it now? I just passed my 74 th birthday. While I get along quite well currently, there will be a day when roof climbing is not so good of an idea. So, the problem gets attacked this summer.

Probably replacing the current rain cap would be easier. That present one is about 4 inches thick and measures about 3 x 6’. The wind ain’t blowing it anywhere , and punching through it would be a pain.

So maybe placing the caps at different heights?

I want to be 15 again …so I can ruin my life differently.

John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi Jim,

I should have volunteered that info. Yes they are closed. But, obviously I am questioning how well they close. The previous owner has the same problem. Their solution was to put a plug in the chimney that services the upstairs.

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Christopher Weeks

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posted 1 year ago

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You have something like this, but with only two?

I wonder if extending just one of the two by a foot, to get some space between them would help.

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John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi Christopher,

Nope…..but close. Remove all the caps in the picture. Now imagine a single concrete slab covering all the chimneys and supported by bricks at the four corners. It is pretty overcast today, but I will try to get a picture up

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Christopher Weeks

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posted 1 year ago

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Oh, I get it -- not quite what this picture looks like, but almost. Yeah, that seems harder to work out. I guess I'd be inclined to cut a hole in the cap for one of the two, but it'll be interesting to hear if your cap-raising solution works. I guess one worry about raising the cap too far is admitting side-blowing rain.

raincap.png

John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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Yes

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Dan Fish

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posted 1 year ago

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Huh. I guess if it was me I'd put the most often used chimney cap above the other by a good two feet and see what happens. Good luck. Please report back because this is a new one for me.

I live in a river valley and when it's cold the smoke pours almost straight down out of the chimney. If I had two I would surely have the same problem.

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John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi Dan,

You approach some relevant points. I am near the top of a hill on the east side. The house is beautifully placed so that tornados coming from the west ( and they have always come from that direction) skip over us. But, I suspect that a wind that is a little less strong might come over the top if the hill and drop downward.

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Carla Burke

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posted 1 year ago

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John, is there a center divider in between the pipes, inside it? If not, maybe you could create one, then IF further division is needed, block off one escape route on one side and the other on the other side? (Not that I know, just a thought.)

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John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi Carla,

Good to have you back. In my first post I raised the question of putting in such a wall. Currently my plan is to put in the divider and raise the cap by a brick or two.

The added walls on opposing sides is a really interesting idea. Kind of a desperation move, but it does have my interest.

I want to be 15 again …so I can ruin my life differently.

Carla Burke

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posted 1 year ago

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John F Dean wrote:Hi Carla,

Good to have you back. In my first post I raised the question of putting in such a wall. Currently my plan is to put in the divider and raise the cap by a brick or two.

The added walls on opposing sides is a really interesting idea. Kind of a desperation move, but it does have my interest.

Thank you! I'm sorry I missed that - and yeh, I actually read it, it just didn't register in my head, for some reason. I hope you can get it worked out, quickly, effectively, - and safely!

John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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As Carla and I discussed, I put in a partition between the two chimney outlets. I have a medium fire going upstairs and no smoke in the basement. So, it seems to be working.

I just noticed that Thomas mentioned the wall as well.

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Joylynn Hardesty

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posted 1 year ago

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Yay!

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Eugene Howard

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To OP, what is your source of makeup air? The combustion air the heaters use? It has to come in from the outside somewhere. If you have none, perhaps second chimney is serving that roll?

John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi Eugene,

Excellent point. The house may be tighter than I thought leaving the O2 intake with few options.

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Eugene Howard

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posted 1 year ago

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One way to find out would be to get a good fire going in one, then check the other fireplace for big draft coming down the chimney. Or when you are drawing smoke down one, open a window near the one burning to see if that stops the smoke problem.

John F Dean

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posted 1 year ago

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Hi Eugene,

It appears the problem was resolved when I built the wall between the two smoke outlets on the chimney.

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Glenn Herbert

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Commercial stove pipe dampers are (I think required to be?) built with a small hole so they can't be closed 100%. I believe this is to prevent a closed damper from forcing carbon monoxide from a coaling-out fire out into the room.

John F Dean

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posted 1 week ago

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The pony wall between the chimneys seems to be effective. We have been able to largely heat with wood with minimal smoke being drawn into the house. I suspect if I bothered to light even a small fire in the basement the problem would be 100% addressed.

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