My Fireplace Smokes, I Just Don't Use It.

You know, my first few years in the fireplace business were tough. I had gotten my certification as a chimney sweep. I thought I was prepared. But far too often, I would go to a house that had a smoking problem out of their fireplace and I couldn't find anything wrong with the chimney. I've always hated not being able to help my customers. Sometimes, I would even guess what the problem was. Unfortunately, back then, I didn't know Chimney Physics.

Education is important in life!

After about 10 years in business, The Chimney Safety Institute of America, whom I was certified through, offered a new week-long course. It fascinated me! It was called "Chimney Physics…Why Chimneys Work and Sometimes Don't". It had to do with your fireplace spilling smoke.

In my early days, most fireplaces were built brick by brick by a Mason. Just because a fireplace is built by a brick mason does not mean he is a chimney mason. I knew, if the fireplace was smoking, it had to be a problem created by the mason. Well, I would guess, at best, that it is the Mason's fault 60% of the time.

Until I took the chimney physics class I didn't understand the dynamics of the entire home. I would say that 40% of the time, the problem is not the way the chimney was constructed. Below is a small list of the reasons why your house "sucks"  ("not a typo").

• Chimney location
• Chimney height
• Heating system
• Available outside air
• Recessed lights
• Attic door
• Another fireplace in the house
• Dryer
• Closing a door

In regards to the last item on the list …I will explain it in this paragraph. Y'all, it was a week-long course. There is no way I can teach everyone what I learned in one week. During the class I found out that the fireplace mysteriously smoking, could be the fact that heat rises in a home.

One of my customers had a son, whom, when he went to bed, opened his window in his room on the second story. Even though, he cracked his door, air was being sucked in the home because the warm air was leaving through his bedroom window. Guess where the easiest place for the heat escaping the house was coming from? You are right; it started sucking it down the chimney. We call it stack effect…"hot air always leaves the home through the highest point in the home": So every night at 11:00 p.m., when the sun went to bed and opened his window, the customers' fireplace would start smoking! Guess where the easiest place for the heat escaping the house was coming from? You are right it started sucking it down the chimney. We call it stack effect…"hot air always leaves the home through the highest point and enters through the lowest point. The customers fireplace was the lowest opening in the house.

That's one of 100 reasons why your fireplace may smoke! 

Over the week of the Chimney Physics class, I learned how complicated fireplace smoke spillage can be for the average homeowner. At Top Hat Chimney Sweeps, we like to think that we have the best educated sweeps in the nation. It's all thanks to "Top Hat University". All of our sweeps and construction technicians attend continuing education classes one day of every week.

Can we solve all of the problems? The honest answer is, sometimes not. It It is usually a budget issue. But if you would like to know why your fireplace sometimes smokes and sometimes doesn't call us! Most of the time we can resolve the issues within your budget. Contact us for an appointment through our website or call our office at 334-749-3559.

Stay safe and warm!