Does your woodburner leak smoke into the room at times? 

(If you don't have a stove but have an open fire that blows hurricane winds through your front room then see here.)

 This can happen for several reasons.

• Weather (Strong winds or very cold)
• Exposed property location (Hills, Seafront etc)
• Poor draw
• Lack of ventilation

Occasionally?

Sometimes your woodburner which usually behaves its self, but on occasions puffs smoke into the room, usually when lighting the fire it is probably because of a pocket of air has formed within the flue and has stopped the draw of the smoke and now is blocking the exit route, meaning the smoke has nowhere else to go but out of your stoves air vents. 😡

To prevent this from happening you can either use an extra handful of kindling and place it evenly around the firebox or put a sheet of newspaper flat on top of a piece of wood inside the stove and light it in each corner. By doing this it creates a sudden burst of intense heat up the chimney, which will dislodge the air pocket and allow the smoke to exit the fire in the correct manner.

 
To prevent this from happening in the future, leave your air vents fully open on your stove when you are not using it, allowing air to move freely inside the flue instead of it sitting in one place and creating a stale air pocket.

Regularly?

If this is a regular occurrence then read through these possibilities and see if any of them sound familiar.

Weather (Strong winds or very cold)

WIND: Blowy and gusty weather conditions can blow smoke back down the chimney/flue and out of the stove. If it only happens on the rare occasion then it may be best to leave it but if it happens whenever its blowy then a special cowl can be fitted to help resolve this, please contact us.

COLD: When it has been an extra cold night the flue is very cold and smoke will take the warmest route. Pre-heat your flue by using extra kindling to send a sharp burst of heat up the flue.

Exposed property location (Hills, Seafront etc)

If your property is situated on the coast or elevated quite high up and more exposed to the elements, then you may suffer from down draughts more frequently. In these situations, we tend to fit a special cowl known as an ‘anti-downdraught cowl’ which usually prevents this from happening please contact us. and we can book an appointment. 

Poor draw

Your flue may be too short, have a complicated flue route with many bends or your chimney is being blocked either by an obstruction within it or new buildings or tree growth around it preventing the gases to be pulled upwards through your chimney and instead is coming down into your room. If you have had your chimney swept and this hasn’t resolved the problem then a site visit is required to determine what is the cause and what would be the best solution, like a spinning cowl or powered fan perhaps. See here a list of other chimney faults but it may be best to contact us. and we can book an appointment and investigate it for you.

Lack of ventilation

Usually, this is the least likely reason as a surveyor would carry out a survey prior to installation and would have determined if you required an additional air supply to the room by following HETAS and Building Regulations. Try opening a window slightly to see if the additional ventilation resolves the problem.