If you experience smoke coming out of the door when you open your wood-burning stove, it may be due to poor chimney draught.
Here are some things that can be done to remedy the problem:
- Get help to measure the draught in the chimney from the installing engineer.
- If the wood-burning stove is connected to a steel chimney, better draught can be achieved either by extending the chimney or by installing a chimney fan. Ask your retailer about the options.
- If it is a masonry chimney, you can check if the cleaning hatch is installed correctly. Improved draught in a masonry chimney is often achieved by installing an insulated chimney liner – get help from your local retailer or a qualified heating engineer.
- Avoid opening the door when there are flames, as a large amount of cold air combined with flames from unburned wood can cause smoke problems.
- Wait to add new wood until the fire has burned down to a bed of embers. If you are forced to open the door before the wood has completely burned down, do so carefully and leave the door slightly ajar for a moment before opening it fully.
- If the chimney is too low, leaky, or poorly insulated, there may be problems with the chimney draught (let a chimney sweep assess it).
- If the draught is correct, you can try to extend the lighting phase by using more thin kindling sticks so that the chimney warms up properly. The chimney draught operates only when it is warm. When a bed of embers has formed, place 2-3 pieces of dry, split wood inside.
- Never leave the ash pan open during lighting, as this will accelerate the fire and the temperature will rise so much that the wood-burning stove may become damaged.