Downdraft

Anniversary GOLF

Hi folks, i recently moved into a new house with my GF. The house has not been lived in for a while, last night i lit the fire for the first time. There are two open fires in the house, the kitchen and sitting room, and they are back to back. Both of them were smoking back down into both rooms last night, but the kitchen was filling up with smoke a lot more.
I have a feeling it is a downdraft but a few sites i visited said that if the smoke is not coming down constantly it is not a down draft, but that one chimney has a stringer pull than the other and is pulling the smoke down into it.
Should i just get a chimney cap or should i get two chimney cowls for each fire and see how that goes?

crosstownk

I get downdraught occasionally but maybe not to the extent that you describe but I get rid of it by lighting a crumpled up sheet of newspaper and using a pair of coal tongs I hold it as far up the chimney as I can while it burns. This corrects it for me as heating the chimney causes the warmer air to rise.

I suppose you've already checked that the chimneys aren't blocked....?

Robbie.G

Anniversary GOLF wrote: »

Hi folks, i recently moved into a new house with my GF. The house has not been lived in for a while, last night i lit the fire for the first time. There are two open fires in the house, the kitchen and sitting room, and they are back to back. Both of them were smoking back down into both rooms last night, but the kitchen was filling up with smoke a lot more.
I have a feeling it is a downdraft but a few sites i visited said that if the smoke is not coming down constantly it is not a down draft, but that one chimney has a stringer pull than the other and is pulling the smoke down into it.
Should i just get a chimney cap or should i get two chimney cowls for each fire and see how that goes?

The first thing that should have been done before the fires were lit was to get them swept and checked.
The chimney sweep should be able to point you in the right direction.
Do not use fires again until they are checked out

Anniversary GOLF

Thanks guys. Yes both chimneys are clean. I cleaned them myself last Saturday and they were spotless. There seems to be a vent in the fire in the kitchen, i have closed that up. I did not light the fire last night but when i came into the kitchen and then the sitting room this morning there was a smell of smoke again, must be a down draft?

Wearb

Can the rooms with the fires draw air from each other.
Are there permantly open vents in those rooms. If so, what size.

Anniversary GOLF

@ Wearb. The kitchen/sitting room fires are back to back, the kitchen is a small bit longer than the sitting room and there is a small section of hallway with a door each into the sitting room/kitchen. There are no vents in the sitting room only windows, there is an extractor fan in the kitchen and the fire is next to the window in the kitchen.

Dardania

Have you lit the fires with the windows open?
Combustion needs fresh air to feed the fire
Usually there are vents for this purpose

Indeed, in building regulations, they make a big deal about having permanently open vents in rooms with combustion appliances. And you sometimes see people piping fresh air direct from outside to their fire so as not to have a draught in the room...

Wearb

Anniversary GOLF wrote: »

@ Wearb. The kitchen/sitting room fires are back to back, the kitchen is a small bit longer than the sitting room and there is a small section of hallway with a door each into the sitting room/kitchen. There are no vents in the sitting room only windows, there is an extractor fan in the kitchen and the fire is next to the window in the kitchen.

Next time you light the fire, make sure that there is a window well open in BOTH rooms and see if that fixes it.

I suspect that the unused chimney is being used by the fire to provide combustion air. That would mean air coming down the unused one and drowning down some smoke from the fired one.

Well opened windows and closed doors will tell whether this is the cause or not.

I am assuming both rooms are seperate and not an open plan area with two fireplaces.

Anniversary GOLF

Both rooms are separate. I have opened the window in the kitchen and that does clear the room and the same for the sitting room. If i capped the chimney for the fire in the kitchen and put an anti draft cowl on top of the one for the sitting room should this help it?

Polar wizard adventure

Probably could do with a CCTV survey.

Wearb

Anniversary GOLF wrote: »

Both rooms are separate. I have opened the window in the kitchen and that does clear the room and the same for the sitting room. If i capped the chimney for the fire in the kitchen and put an anti draft cowl on top of the one for the sitting room should this help it?

Clearing the rooms isn't the answer. Preventing it happening is what you need to do.
You need to follow my instructions re closed doors and open windows for a couple of nights and let us know the results. We can then advise on a solution. Otherwise it's "try this, try that" until you stumble on a good result.

If the burning fire is starved of air, capping off the unlight one will starve it even more.

It might well be down draught caused by local conditions, but you need to follow a diagnosis through or you will not know.

Anniversary GOLF

Okey doke. I wont be home this evening but i will light the fire tomorrow evening, close the doors and open the windows. If that works, what will the fix be then?

Dardania

Anniversary GOLF wrote: »

Okey doke. I wont be home this evening but i will light the fire tomorrow evening, close the doors and open the windows. If that works, what will the fix be then?

permanent vents, per building regulations

http://www.environ.ie/en/Publications/DevelopmentandHousing/BuildingStandards/FileDownLoad,37240,en.pdf