Burning a nice fireplace fire?

[einmusiker]

Hello, we just moved into a house with a fireplace. I am very ignorant about these. There is there flume(?) right above the glass and mesh doors. I have that fully open, and there is a switch to turn a circulating fan on/off, I currently have that off and the glass and mesh doors shut. The firs is burning nice and the smoke is going up and out the chimney but the fire doesn't seem to heat the living room very well. Should I...

1. turn circulating fan on at all times?

2. close the flume half way? I don't want smoke coming in the house though?

3. Open glass doors and just keep mesh doors shut? again don't want any smoke in house (or especially carbon monoxide). thanks!

[Intell]

Turn the fan on. That's why it's there. In most cases, the doors can be opened. The only time they should be closed is when the fire hasn't yet started a draft up the flu.

[r.j.s]

To heat the room, open the glass, leave the mesh shut.

The flume should be open to allow the smoke to escape through the chimney.

[einmusiker]

thanks guys. I think I did something wrong. Everything was fine when I had the glass doors shut and fan off ( I only had kindling burning) but when I opened the glass doors, turned on fan and put in a log to burn and the house started smelling smokey. I just let the fire burn out. Not sure if I'm a fireplace person

[Intell]

You can't open the doors until there are a few logs burning well inside. Else, the smoke won't be drawn up the chimney with the excess hot air like it's designed to.

[einmusiker]

Originally Posted by Intell

You can't open the doors until there are a few logs burning well inside. Else, the smoke won't be drawn up the chimney with the excess hot air like it's designed to.

thank you, I'll give it another try tomorrow

[Macky-Mac]

flume; an open artificial water channel.....not what you have.

The chimney flue (not what you're referring to either - it's the chimney passage that goes up and out the roof);



you have an insert in your fireplace and first you want to make sure it's not the ventless type that's only for gas, not wood

a traditional fireplace does not take full advantage of the fuel it burns. Wood-burning fireplaces only release 5 percent to 10 percent of the warmth they generate into the room. The rest is lost through the chimney flue.

A fireplace insert has its own firebox, which is surrounded by a cast-iron or steel shell. The fire is viewed through a window in the tightly sealed door on the front. As the firebox gets hot, the metal shell contains the heat and circulates it back into the room, often with the help of a blower. A decorative metal facing seals the fireplace opening around the stove.

according to the safety instructions for this particular model;

2) Keep the door closed during operation and maintain all seals in good condition.

and from their operating instructions;

The fan is to be operated only with the draft control rod pulled out at least 1/2" from the fully closed position. The fan is not to be oper- ated when the draft control rod is in the closed position (pushed in). The fully closed position is the low burn setting.
The fan unit must not be turned on until a fire has been burning for at least 30 minutes and the unit is hot enough. As well, after each fuel loading the fan must be shut off until 30 minutes has elapsed.

[einmusiker]

thanks for the info^

well, talked to landlord an figured it out. My first try with real wood was an epic fail. Thought the fire went out and closed the damper, only to find the house full of smoke within minutes. Opened all the windows and blasted the heat, very counter productive :/

bought some duraflame logs and all is right with the world

[prostuff1]

Originally Posted by einmusiker

thanks for the info^

well, talked to landlord an figured it out. My first try with real wood was an epic fail. Thought the fire went out and closed the damper, only to find the house full of smoke within minutes. Opened all the windows and blasted the heat, very counter productive :/

bought some duraflame logs and all is right with the world

From your description is sounds like you have an open hearth fireplace.

I have an insert inside my fireplace and I use it in the winter to heat my entire house. It works well and I am able to keep the house warm all winter long without issue.

You should be able to start a fire with real wood without issue. You will need to get it burning pretty good so smoke does not come back into the house. If you do get smoke coming back in then you likely are having downdraft problems.


A picture of the fireplace would allow me to give some instructions to get a fire going without using those duraflame logs.