Drafts are a driving force that is pulling the smoke up your chimney which allows the fire to burn effectively in your fireplace or wood stove. A fireplace or wood stove with a poor draft is going to make it hard to get a fire going and cause smoke to roll out in front of your wood stove or fireplace. Smoke that rolls out of your fireplace or wood stove is unpleasant and it causes soot stains on the ceiling and walls. This is also going to cause the smell of your home like soot and smoke. When you improve the draft of your wood stove or fireplace, it will ensure that all smoke will vent out of your home properly. You should not have to call chimney repair often if you follow these tips:

Start with a Fast and Hot Fire

When you start a fire with pieces of fast-burning wood types, and lighter blocks, a warm air that flows through the chimney will develop quickly. The warmth creates the fireplace draft and keeps the fire going. You should use the reverse or Swiss lighting method. There is better firewood combustion when it is lit from the top to bottom.

Burn Very Low Moisture Wood

The key to having a hot, fast fire is to burn the wood with 20% or lower moisture. Wood has a high moisture content that is going to burn slowly and lose the majority of wood efficiency. Basically, the fire is boiling excess moisture off before the wood can reach full combustion. Moist wood makes the top-down fire-stating method very hard. A good draft is going to start a well-lit fire.

Only Burn Wood Which Dried for Two Years

If you burn wet wood, it is harder to get a good fire going and keep it burning. After you light the fire with wood types and fast-burning materials, you should feed the fire with slow-burning wood like beech, oak, birch, and fruit tree wood. These kinds of wood should be dried for at least two years so it can burn well-drawing fire. You should not use fast-burning wood types (willow, pine, alder) in this firing phase because it leads to an output of dangerous sparks. Heating with wet wood is not eco-friendly because there are high amounts of emissions.

 Warm the Flue

Among the best ways to power up the draft in a cold chimney is to heat and prime up the flue. In cold climates, you might have to establish a draft. A cold chimney is able to create a cold bubble that blocks the flue and draft. If you are trying to start a fire with a cold chimney, you might fill your home with smoke since the chimney is very cold. The fire heat cannot overtake the cold flue that causes a smoky fireplace or wood stove.

Open the Window and Shut off the Kitchen Exhaust Hood

Open fireplace consumes about 250-250m of air an hour for combustion gas exhaust and burns off the wood. In homes that are well-insulated, the movement of a lot of air presents a problem quickly. This is going to create reverse pressure, and the smoke will soon enter your house. The reverse pressure can also be made by a kitchen exhaust hood in a home with proper insulation. You can naturally open the window, but it is an unattractive solution during winter. The oven extraction from your oven can influence the draft of your fireplace as well when you do this.

You can contact chimney relining Ellicott City anytime if you need to have your chimney inspected.