So, I have to ask…how many of you have already had your first fire of the season? This past week was perfect for a nice fire in the evenings!
As we are gearing up for a few months of cozy fires, I thought now would be a good time to post a
bout warming your flue. We have several calls each year that complain that when they start their fire, they get a lot of smoke in their home. We have spoken to many who have said they stopped using their chimneys because of that bad experience. We hate hearing that because more often than not the only reason for the smoke is because they haven’t “warmed the flue.”
Once that cold weather hits, the cold air “sits” in your chimney. It is a heavy and dense air so when you start a fire, it blocks the smoke from escaping through the top of your chimney. The smoke has to vent somewhere and it comes into your living room.
In order to keep this from happening, you must warm your flue. It isn’t that hard to do either. You are basically taking something that has a fire on the end and holding into the flue system for a few minutes. This helps dissipate that cold air so that when you get your wood burning, the smoke has somewhere to vent. We usually hold onto our empty paper towels rolls as we finish them. Jay then stuffs a little paper or kindling into the end and lights it. Once the flue is warm, he simply uses that to light the fire in the firebox.
If you have had issues with smoke coming back into the room in the past, make sure you try this next time you decide to burn a fire.
Here’s to all of you staying warm and safe this fall and winter.