tlingit said:Have you tried building top down fires? That helped me, when it would get really cold out, we'd get a lot of smokey backdraft. It helped to crack a downstairs door, but it has not happened since I started to build top down fires. I think the newspaper knots on top warm up the flue. Here's a link to a page that shows really well how to do it. (I used that link to show my husband how to do them, now he's a convert). And of course, what everyone said about dry wood...http://www.nifty-stuff.com/upside-down-top-down-fire.php
Good luck! This has happened a couple of times or more to us, and it is just awful.
Yes, it is "awful". I got out of the house today to get some "fresh" air and hoped the house would smell better when I got home ... it did, but can still smell it.
I checked out the link on top-down burning. Thanks. I haven't tried that. My stove has 4.4 cubic ft of space but it's not very deep. Doesn't "stack" very well.