this is more about the *lack* of electricity than electricity. but i beg rick's indulgence on this -- i have a *MAJOR* problem. you know it must be if i took the time to find my shift key.

i think i made a mess of it with my fireplace insert.

physics was not exactly one of my stronger subjects so i am not quite sure how to resolve it.

i have two fireplaces -- one on the lower level and one on the floor immediately above it. i chose to have the fireplace insert on the lower floor for a variety of reasons... well it seems as though there is a bend in the flue from the lower level in order to get around the fireplace on the upper level and i am getting all back draft.[the two flues are in the same chimney.]

this problem is exacerbated by the fact that the chimney is not higher than the highest peak on my roof[i live in a contemporary and there are various peaks at various heights.]

my conundrum is if i move the insert into the fireplace above; will that resolve the problem or will i also have to extend the chimney?

this is not only a major expense; it is almost impossible to secure the services of someone capable of doing same at this point in time.

there is some rule that a chimney must be higher than the peak of your roof *UNLESS* it is x amount of feet away from the peak!!!!

i just found this out... 27 days before the rollover.

does anyone have any idea where i could find the formula/rule that determines when the height of the chimney does not necessarily have to be higher due to the amount of distance that the chimney is from the peak?

i can't get anyone in the business to come out to the house as they are all booked up through january due to y2k!!

i have tried to find the data on the net... but so far no luck.

i am really very worried as it is my main source of heat if the electricity doesn't stay up.

i ordered this stove august 1998... it arrived in the middle of december... my dad died the first day that i tried to fire it up... i never looked at it again until this november.

not smart... you are correct. but as i was working with the damn thing when i got the phone call from my mother that my father had fallen over, somehow, i just couldn't deal with it.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 1999

Answers

Marianne,

You should find the answer to your question in your local building code. Generally, these codes require that the top of the chimney extend not less than 3 ft. above the point it exits the roof and 2 ft. higher than any roof, building or other obstacle within a horizontal distance of 10 ft. This is so that the chimney will clear air turbulence caused by wind. But other factors also come into play. Chimneys work better when they run up inside the house as opposed to outside (warmer flue). The chimney also needs to be sized properly for your fireplace. Fireplace location is a factor as you don't want your house to be a better chimney than your chimney, but it's hard to get into detail about this without diagrams. Also, check your insert to make sure that the damper is open! Hope this helps.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 1999

Marianne,

As a Lurker of more than a year, I would like to thank you for your contributions to this forum. Your attention to detail (and requisite tenacity) has been nothing short of remarkable.

That said, I may have a simple solution to your problem. I was vexed with the same circumstances in a house that had a woodburning stove in the lower lever, and a fireplace in our den directly above it. As we built the fire in the stove, the smoke rose in the flue, out the top, and, to our amazement, a fair percentage made a U-turn and went promply down the other flue, past a poorly fit damper, and filled our den.

As it turns out 1) our house was remarkably air tight (we could not get the fireplace to draw correctly when cold without opening a window a bit,) 2) the damper in the fireplace was a poor fit (when closed, it still had a 1/2 inch open gap,) and 3) the flue pipes that rose above the top of the chimney were virtually identical in height and just inches apart.

My temporary solution was to make the fireplace damper relatively air-tight, and, I opened a window a crack to lower the vaccuum on the fireplace flue. Whats more, as an experiment,I fashioned a temporary outside air source by using some flexible 4" insulated dryer pipe. I deformed one end to fit into a 1" opening at a window (filled the rest of the opening with cardboard, and ran the other end of the pipe to within two inches of air damper on the stove. To see how well it worked once the stove was hot, I stood outside and held a smoldering newspaper at the air inlet. My wife, posted at the stove, reported that the smoke exited the pipe, traveled directly to the air inlet on the stove, (that was wide open, two inches away) and was drawn directly in the spin-wheel damper.

My permanent solution was to add an outside air source to the stove, got the fireplace damper fixed, and, one summer, got the stove flue-pipe at the chimney top extended a foot above the fireplace flue, just for good measure.

If opening your window helps solve the problem, email me and I will share how I fashioned an external air source for a stove that wasn't designed for one.

Again, thank you for all of your effort this past year. I hope some of this helps.

Robert Uritis

-- Anonymous, December 05, 1999

Marianne,

Hope you get your fireplace problem solved. It's getting cold down here, I turned off my a/c and fan day before yesterday, but haven't found any need for heat yet. Had to turn it on a couple of days last year, but this winter is supposed to be warmer.

xBob

-- Anonymous, December 06, 1999

Sorry about your Dad, Marianne,

I didn't mean to be unfeeling. I just re-read your post. It took me years to re-associate with things that reminded me of my wife's death. I should not have been so flippant.

xBob

-- Anonymous, December 06, 1999

I learned this from the guy who installed my insert. Sometimes the atmospheric conditions cause a backdraft. You can solve this by preheating the chimney. Light a paper and hold it in the back of the stove next to the stove pipe. When it heats well, it will heat the air in the pipe, and it will draw and you can light the fire. When you first light the fire, it is too cold and far away from the pipe to preheat it. If you have a good chimney that will actually draw, this might be your answer. If things are not going to work, this won't help.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 1999