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At the end of the evening we sometimes have a charred and slighly glowing log remaining in our woodburner.

This seems to smoulder for ages ... and overnight when the flue pipe cools the smoke enters the room instead of ascending into the heavens.

This means that the room smells like a kipper factory in the mornings.

What's the official way to avoid this?

(It happens with vents open or closed)

Don't hang herring up.

Sounds like your chimney isn't drawing enough, or/and your door seals are faulty. You shouldn't be able to smell smoke.

contadino wrote:Sounds like your chimney isn't drawing enough, or/and your door seals are faulty. You shouldn't be able to smell smoke.

As above, and also try to keep the fire hot and bright until it goes out relativly quickly.
If it appears that a large log will be left smouldering, consider puting a handfull of small sticks etc into the fire last thing.
This will help ensure that the flue stays hot until the log is consumed.

The smoke from wood burning is less dangerous than that from coal, but it can still contain carbon monoxide, which is very posionous.
I would therefore suggest fitting a carbon monoxide alarm as a matter of urgency, or if you already have one, test it regurlarly.

We have never had this, it sounds like something is not sealed up properly somewhere. Is there a hole in the chimney plate or anything?

Andy Hunt wrote:We have never had this, it sounds like something is not sealed up properly somewhere. Is there a hole in the chimney plate or anything?

I started explaining this problem to an experienced wood burner user ... and he immediately made a joke about the 'kipper effect' before I said more than a few words ... so it's NOT just us!

Carbon Monoxide is heavier than air, so I hope you all sleep upstairs!

But yes, we've not had this kind of effect, could be summat to do with having paid nigh-on 2 grand for having the chimney re-lined.

Vortex wrote:At the end of the evening we sometimes have a charred and slighly glowing log remaining in our woodburner.

This seems to smoulder for ages ... and overnight when the flue pipe cools the smoke enters the room instead of ascending into the heavens.

This means that the room smells like a kipper factory in the mornings.

What's the official way to avoid this?

(It happens with vents open or closed)

Is you chimney lined? If not then you'll need to do so. If it is then either the chimney is too short, you are experience some down draught (are you in a valley?) or the space between the liner and chimney needs to be insulated. Vermiculite is the best and easiest to install.

You can also buy cowls which are designed to stop this problem.

Last night I had a half-round log smouldering away ... a baby jug of water put that out nicely, without splashing on the ash bed or metalwork.

Have you worked out whether the room is really ventilated to the outside effectively enough. Does smoke still emerge if the window is slightly opened? Air has got to come into the room as easily and as fast as it goes up the flue.

The draught in our chimney is immense . . . it's a tricky job trying to keep the thing 'in' overnight without it totally burning through, have to close the stove right in.

I think you need to insulate that flue Vortex. It's obviously cooling down quickly being outside, and the warm air in the house is leaking out somewhere upstairs and sucking the cold air back into the house down the chimney.

Is the outside section twin walled and insulated already or did you cut corners and go for single walled on the outside of the building?

Just looked a the pics again. Definately needs insulating. You have alot of chimney out there in the cold. When the fire goes out, the flue will quickly cool. As soon as the air in your flue is colder than the air in the house the flow of air will reverse.

Why did you not put the flue up through the 1st and 2nd floors and then up through the roof? That way it would have warmed the house (our twin wall still gives of alot of heat in the bathroom), and not cooled down quicker than the house. i.e. the chimney would have a good updraft due to the column of air in it being warmer than the air in your house.

Andy Hunt wrote:The draught in our chimney is immense . . . it's a tricky job trying to keep the thing 'in' overnight without it totally burning through, have to close the stove right in.

Same here.

Also to add, micca fill at Sheffield Insulation is now £8 a sack (large) 5 will do a 7m chimeny with 50-60mm cover