Smoking problems and how to avoid them

Smoking problems deal with the fact that a fire needs to be supplied with a large amount of make up air as one of its three primary elements, as well as needing to have an adequate opening through the chimney to the outside in order to exhaust out the smoke and gases so that they don't come back into the room. There is a list of the top 10 possible reasons and their solutions of that smoking problems.

1. Dirty chimney - The gradual accumulation of soot can physically restrict the flue so there is no longer enough free area to vent the fireplace properly. The solution is to have the chimney inspected and swept by a Certified Chimney Sweep
2. Closed damper - Before starting a fire, always check to make sure that the damper is completely open. Water damage or soot buildup behind dampers on the smoke shelf can cease to fully open. A professional cleaning can solve this problem.
3. Green or wet firewood - Firewood must be aged a minimum of one year, kept dry and protected from the rain. If it’s not, it makes more smoke than heat and there simply may not be enough heat for the chimney to work properly.
4. Inadequate dimensions of the chimney - A too large or too tall fireplace can give smoke a choice of going up the chimney or coming into the room. The solution could be adding a metal smoke guard to the top of the fireplace opening. Two-sided fireplaces can have inherent smoking problems due to their sensitivity to air drafts in the house. The solution could be installing glass doors.
5. Chimney outside of the house - If the weather outside the house is either colder and/or raining, the air inside the chimney flue will be cold and heavy and block the smoke from venting out. To help get the fire started light some rolled up newspaper and hold it up near the damper to get that cold plug moving upwards.
6. Central heating system - Do not run the heater when the fireplace is in use! If the heater is on, you will lose the draw from the chimney which will cause a smoking problem. This is because the central air furnace is so strong that even if the air intake vent for the central heating system is not in the same room as the fireplace, it will suck the outside air down the chimney and will cause the fireplace to smoke when the fire is going.
7. Tight home - Because houses are built much tighter than they used to be, the air pressure inside the house can be different than outside the house and this will not allow for a proper draw of air through the flue as well as the fire not receiving adequate make up air. A temporary solution is to open a window in the room.
8. A too loose house - A house that leaks too much air to the outside, especially a multistory house that leaks air in the upper levels, can actually set up its own draft or chimney effect strong enough to overpower your fireplace chimney, particularly if the fireplace is located in the basement on a cold exterior wall. Be sure the attic access door is in place and that all upstairs windows are tightly closed.
9. Fire grate placement - The fire grate should be placed as far back in the firebox as possible, preferably right against the backwall in order to create a good draw. This gets more air under the grate for better circulation and it also raises the height of the fire.
10. A canyon or hillside around your house - If the house is next to a canyon, hillside or slope, it can have smoking problems due to wind currents and downdrafts. The air is pushed down the chimney into the room. Many times a specially designed chimney wind cap will resolve this problem since the top part of it turns like a weather vane and the cap's backside creates a barrier in the way of the wind.