Have you opened your fireplace flue so most smoke will escape?

• I am opening the vent thing completely

Your chimney might need to be cleaned. They do need to be cleaned periodically. I'm sure there's a company you could call if that's the case. We had them come every year when I was a kid.

Are you making sure the temp in and around the stove is at room temp? Like open the door and let the air inside the stove get to the same temp as the air outside the stove. After that, start with a small fire for a bit. Once that is going okay, put more wood in. Hope this helps.

is your wood properly seasoned?

I did that last year and didn’t use it

Sounds like chimney is clogged. I would have it swept. Also it could be you are stating the fire to far forward. Move it back. But call a chimney sweep. Have it looked at.

Will try this

Idk what this means!

Will do this!

Sounds like you’ve opened the flue.

The next culprit is extreme temperature differences. Cold chimney doesn’t let heat rise and you get backdraft until it heats up. But it’s not that cold yet.

Next culprit would be blocked chimney. An animal nest or something else. How long have you lived in the house and when’s the last time you had the chimney cleaned?

But nine times out of ten it’s the flue.

Try cracking a window to create a draw up the chimney?

It might not be anything you are doing wrong. The fireplace might not be constructed properly. My father in law had to install some sort of plate on top in front because the same thing was happening and it worked like a charm. Not sure what that piece is called though.

can you post a picture of your fireplace, in particular the "vent thing" you're talking about.

If chimney is clear my best guess is you need proper airflow. crack a window to create a draft for the first few logs.

Will have to check chimney for blockage. Don’t have a cap so maybe

Opened the door still no luck

Oooh can you find out? House was built in 1900

If I find out how to. It’s the thing inside the chimney. I have to open before the fire is lit

Use newspaper with your kindling. Since the newspaper burns so quickly, it should draw the smoke up.

Four seasons outside to dry and very little chance of moss or dampness. Do you buy wood or you have a stack outside?

Try a duraflame, synthetic log.

That’s too long. It’s going to start turning to pulp after the first year. I think wood is seasoned after one year.

You need to heat up the chimney…get your fire ready to go and then roll up some newspaper, light the end, and hold it near the flue…when it warms up you’ll see the flame start going up the flue…then light your fire with the paper and you should be good.

You could just have a bad chimney. Is it up above the highest point of your roof?

OP, I am in the same situation as you. Brand new stove brand new piping brand new everything. The first few fires that I had in it the last week or so I’m struggling to get enough heat generated to create a draft so the smoke leaves the firebox. The issue is like the comment said is with a cold flu you’re not getting enough draft to push the smoke up. I noticed with mine that if I start with a lot more newspaper to get a good flame started, this gets the flu nice and warm so the smoke drafts out. I do like the comment and idea about leaving the door open and getting the inside of the box up to room temperature.

So four seasons is not one year? What did I miss?

Will try

Don't light another fire until you have the chimeny inspected. Ask the chimeny person about how to safely operate it. Lots of people overlook having chimneys cleaned and inspected. If your new to the area there's a chance the prior owner never had it done simply from not using it. A chimney with heavy creosote or animal nests can cause a chimney fire which can easily get into your walls or attic. We get these calls often during winter. Please also put a CO alarm in or near where the fire is. A blocked or unopened flue causing smoke build up and a CO condition which can be deadly very quickly. Please get a CO detector if you plan to use the fireplace for fires!

Having properly seasoned wood is the most critical part of getting a good fire going. Knowing that your wood is seasoned can be done by understanding what the moisture content of the wood is. Buy a moisture meter off Amazon that has two metal prongs. you want your wood to be around 20% or less moisture

I had a guy dump some huge branches/trunks in my yard and I chopped them up

You don't have a cap??? You should have started with that. We have a bird that makes nests in them.

Also Google priming a flu. It's easy

I have that to start the logs

Burn them next year. This year, buy some. Keep it off the ground.

I also have a L shaped chimney that is 2 connected to 1 if that helps

Yes by a few feet

Don't add anything once, see what happens.

Happy cake day

Will try!! Thanks

That fireplace might not be meant for a wood fire. In those days it was common to burn coal in a fireplace and the fireplace was constructed just for that purpose. They were very shallow fireplaces. Is your’s very shallow? I mean can a human fit inside if they crouched real small? If not it may just not be meant for burning wood.

Will do thanks

Okay will do thanks

I feel like I have been on Reddit my whole life.

Yeah looking into that, house is 3 stories so getting up there isn’t easy

You don't want to use fresh green wood (like recently chopped) it needs to be thoroughly dry throughout to ensure it will make a fire not smoke

My bad sorry. I thought you were referring to four years as four seasons.

Dang. Okay thanks

Will try. So many things to know about fire places

I thought it was a little shallow but it’s not deep like the huge houses on tv. But a fire log rack? Fits in there

Wood has a surprising amount of moisture. If you're camping with boy scouts, they burn fresh whatever, but in your house, need seasoned wood.

Man I screwed up then. Is there any way to fasten the drying? I spent a whole weekend chopping and cutting it up!

Have you had a chimney inspection/cleaning?

Be aware they may try to sell you a chimney liner or suggest brick Re-pointing which you may or may not need.

Yeah. But just barely right?

I would invest in a wood stove insert for your fireplace.

A fireplace actually makes your house colder. Where you might be able to heat the whole place with a wood stove insert.

It sounds like either your flue isn't opening properly or you have a blockage in the chimney.

Not that I'm aware of. Generally, we chop wood one year, store in a place to dry out, and the use that the following year. You can purchase small packs of seasoned wood as well.

Good to know

Last year, but did not use chimney, how would you know if you need or do not need those re-pointing or liners?

No a good 4 inches on both ends and 2 front and back? Idk if that is barely?

I have a L shaped fireplace. 2 fireplaces connected. So idk how that would work

No disrespect meant at all, but looking at some of your responses to what people have suggested show you’re at the beginning of your journey to wood burning. We’ve all been there. I know it seems really straight forward: wood + light it on fire = everyone enjoys. Unfortunately there are many variables. I’d recommend doing a bit of reading on the subject because there are so many pitfalls than can ruin your experience and lighting a fire in your home can seriously be fatal. Once you get going it can be great. But I’d suggest this : top down fire

Dang okay. Thanks

Thanks will read it

Yeah. I think you may have a coal fireplace. Good news and bad news in this article. But my guess is that it wasn’t designed for the size fore you are trying to use it for and so the chimney is simply overwhelmed.

https://www.victorianfireplaceshop.com/can-you-burn-wood-in-a-coal-fireplace

It's the flue, open access.

Use a propane torch to pre heat the flue, and light your fire.

Make sure you crumple it up loosely into balls.

There’s your problem right there. That wood has too much moisture, and will do nothing but hiss and make lots of smoke. Hold off and burn that wood in 12 months.

If you want to try a fire with the small wood bundles that gas stations sell, you will learn how easy it should be to light a fire. Those bundles are usually kiln dried so they can be burned immediately. Problem is they are like $6-$7 for a few pieces, usually too expensive if you will be burning a lot . But it will be good practice.

Definitely not that small. 2 to 3 times as wide as that

I’ll try and clear it out tomorrow

Make sure the wood you burn is seasoned as well. Don't burn green wood.

Sounds like a good idea!

Thanks

Thanks I’ll look into this

Also are you using hardwood that is completely dry?

Post a picture. I’m no expert but I lived in a house that had three of them.

I have never seen that.

You could probably still do an insert somehow.

A lot of people don't realize fireplaces make the house colder.

It makes other rooms cold, you also need to keep the flue open all night which let's cold air in.

As people said, get that thing inspected and cleaned! The temperature difference comment is legit but I’d be surprised if thats your issue this time of year. Either way (after you get the thing inspected), make a torch by tightly rolling up a big piece of newspaper then light it, hold it up towards the top (by the open flue) to get hot air moving up), then light crumbled newspaper sitting on top of the wood, then light newspaper on the sides of the pile of wood and then light under the wood…… also, make sure you get seasoned wood. A lot of places will sell you crap wood that won’t burn easily and will create a lot of smoke

If you opened up the flue then maybe the chimney is blocked or very dirty

It’s two fireplaces connected in a. L if that helps

Not sure how to post a pic here

Good to know. I’ll look into it

Even if it was crappy wood and the flute was opened and primed would the smoke enter the house? Instead of going up the chimney?

Will check thanks

I used to have the same problem with smoke backing up into the house. You have to establish draft first - hot air rises, cold air falls. I would use a small propane heater or torch to establish draft, then get everything lit. No problems after that. Smoke went straight up the chimney and none in the house.

This is the answer. I had a wood stove at my old house and if the stove piping and flue weren’t already warmed up, smoke would come back into the house rather than up the chimney. This usually happened this time of year when the stove wasn’t cranking 24/7.

Open the closest window or 2 to get additional air flow up the chimney will solve the issue.

Not oyf the flu was primed first... Hire a "chimney sweeper" Google how to prime a flu.... These two things will solve all problems. Chimney sweeping services are found in those little flyers in the mail with coupons. They may be busier this time of year.

Running a fan, especially a ceiling fan in the room of the fire place could draw the smoke out the fire place and into the room.

We use this to check the moisture level of our wood. Wood should be below 20% moisture. [meter](http:// https://a.co/d/3cYjCT1)

Not sure where you live but I had an amazing experience with Ashes Away in Middlebury. They cleaned and inspected my chimney (way cheaper than anyone else) and he went up and checked the crown and flue tiles and took pictures so that I could see what was happening. He ended up having to replace the crown and flue tiles and add a chimney cap. He explained every single step and why it was needed, and I ended up hiring him to install my wood stove.

Will try thanks

Thanks for the help

Have no fans downstairs thanks tho

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The fastest way to dry it is to stack it up as a ‘face cord’ so it’s only one stack deep. Make sure it’s ~6 inches off the ground and cover the top with a tarp that doesn’t overhang the sides by more than a foot. To speed drying you need to expose as much surface area to the breeze as possible and keeping a small tarp on top will keep rain off of it without blocking airflow. If the wood is sizzling in your fireplace it’s too wet. Over time you will learn the sound and weight of dry wood versus wet. We’re on our 5th year with a wood stove and im still learning. Try to stay about one year ahead on your wood supply.

Thanks for this

I think a few people here already solved the mystery. The person is using green wood, says he had somebody drop some branches and logs in the yard recently and that's what he's using. The chimney was inspected last year but never used so it sounds like the issue is unseasoned wood. Got to wait a year to use it.

Besides what other people mentioned, you'll want to avoid burning wood from evergreens e.g. pine. They generate more creosote than hard woods and creosote can clog up the chimney and lead to chimney fires.

Everything about verifying your chimney is completely correct.

After that, you need to learn that a fire place will waste a ton of energy and make the rest of your house cold.

I added ventless gas logs.

I see you saying you opened the “vent thing”, and people are assuming you mean the flue, but are you talking about a vent that opens on the side or top of the fireplace? For the flue there is usually a large lever/bar to push or pull that is inside and above the fireplace. Are you opening that?

1. If this is a house you own and haven’t already it probably would be good to get a chimney inspection by a chimney sweep. The carbon and such from the fire will build up on the chimney overtime cutting the airflow and then there’s animals or things that could cause a blockage. If something blocks up the works it can cause smoke to get stuck in the house (if it gets bad it can lead to causing a fire inside the chimney which is not safe and potentially burn your house down… get an inspection)
2. Is your flue open. There is usually a value called the flu that has a handle of some type to close it when you don’t have a fire going so cold air doesn’t leak into your house. (I assume this is what you mean by the ”vent thing” but if you mean the little vents at the bottom of the fireplace floor, that’s not it)
3. When starting a fire it helps to get some heat going up the flue. If you’re using news paper to start the fire, I’d make a little torch of it first and light it and hold it up the flue for 10 seconds to heat up the air and start a draft pulling air up through the chimney. Then light the fire with the paper.

I always have to warm up my wood stove before starting a fire otherwise my draft reverses and chokes out my house. The best way I check to know I'm good to light the fire is to hold a lit lighter near the stove door, if the flame moves in toward the fire I'm good. If the flame is pointing in toward the room, it needs more time heating up.

For now my best way is to use a small space heater inside my stove to get the draft moving where I want it go. With a wood stove I can easily feel draft direction, so Im not sure this would work on a regular fireplace but I dont see why it couldnt show you the draft. Even using a blown out match and watch where the smoke goes

Sometimes you need to create an upward draft. Our wood stove is located near a window so we open the window. It helps get it started.

From my father in law...

It is called a smoke guard. Mine has adjustable extensions so it fits most fireplaces around my size. Most fireplace dealers would know because it is a common problem. But if you go for that option, bring a photo and measurements. It may be the case that the metal frame front you have will make it difficult for an adjustable guard like mine to be really effective against escaping smoke. The ends of mine press against the side wall of the fireplace and the top presses against the underside of the bricks forming the inside top. If that seal is not tight you could still get smoke in the house. There may be other ways to seal it.

lol, in other words, it's old -not green wood that's freshly cut

Yeah, store that for next year and buy some from a fire wood dealer who has dry (seasoned) wood

OK so you have a three-story tall chimney and it is angled. A little challenging I guess.

So definitely a good safety measure to have it serviced/inspected every year, also to have a cap on top to prevent animal nesting.

Then, with the length and the bend, I think some extra patience might be needed when the season begins to get that baby going

Well at least this wood isn’t pine!!

Will have to look into that

Yes that is what I am opening

2nd reply that said vents on the floor. I don’t have that is that the problem?

Good trick

Our house is drafty AF

Thanks sooo much I’ll look into this!!

Well the wood I got wasn’t green and split very easily but idk how old it was

Thanks for the help

You can buy seasoned wood from places. We used to buy kiln dried wood and it lit up extremely fast.

It was late when I commented last night. A fireplace takes a lot of air to operate safely. The chimney effect drawers the Air up the chimney.

Guess where the air comes from? It draws from inside your house which draws air from outside. The little area by my fire was warm but the rest of the house was freezing.

Good to know

Is your flue open, there is a handle inside your fireplace on the tip pull or push it to open close the flue

If there is not blockage, Your chimney needs to be cleaned, probably.

Just try dropping a live chicken down it. Remember to tie a nice rope around the chicken. The chicken will likely clear the blockage AND clean the chimney all at once.

Also, Dude, having fires inside is awesome and when you get it done and dusted you will have a flipping BLAST. So enjoy it.

No it’s not just wanted to make absolutely sure you got the flue. Some fancy fireplaces will have doors and vents under them to allow for control (let the fire get roaring or slow it down) since you said you’re not used to fire places just wanted to make sure you didn’t think that was the flue. (No offense to you, just covering all bases) the vents on the floor really aren’t needed unless you have solid (glass) doors in front of the fireplace.

Gotcha. Thanks

Open a window first. Light a piece of newspaper up the chimney until you notice the smoke go up. Once it does, you have a draft and can light your fire.

Depending on the sweep and specific fees charged, some inspections include an interior chimney video. No guarantee a less than ethical sweep may not BS you, come up with issues which may not exist, etc. However, an ethical sweep with good reviews and in business for an extended period may prove reliable, limit potential risks, etc.