Hi folks...
I've had a Jotul Castine for about 11 years. Located in family room in basement. Stove exhausts into a double wall stovepipe, makes two 45 degree bends to go through the foundation into an outside chimney, which is cinder block with a round clay insert (6", I believe). Not sure of the exact height, but goes up to the peak of the roof, two story house.
Always had some drafting issues, mostly when getting a fire started and waiting for the chimney to get warmed up. Sometimes I get some smoke in the room when starting up, opening up the basement windows usually helps.
This past weekend, though, had a problem I haven't had before. Part of it may be that the chimney needs to be cleaned (guy coming next week). It was very windy outside, and had a real hard time getting flow up the chimney. When the stove, and stovepipe, finally got hot, could see smoke coming out the chimney, but also had smoke coming in the house real bad when opening the stove. Also had smoke coming in from where the stovepipe is connected to the thimble going into the foundation. Got worse when the wind gusted outside.
Couple questions:
- I have a generic cap on the chimney. Will a cap like a Vacu-Stack help with the wind issues?
- If there are severe drafting problems, is smoke leaking through the stovepipe joints "normal", or does that need to be sealed up somehow? Or to ask another way, my assumption is that a good draft will always keep a negative pressure in the stovepipe relative to the room... is that true?
thanks
I've had a Jotul Castine for about 11 years. Located in family room in basement. Stove exhausts into a double wall stovepipe, makes two 45 degree bends to go through the foundation into an outside chimney, which is cinder block with a round clay insert (6", I believe). Not sure of the exact height, but goes up to the peak of the roof, two story house.
Always had some drafting issues, mostly when getting a fire started and waiting for the chimney to get warmed up. Sometimes I get some smoke in the room when starting up, opening up the basement windows usually helps.
This past weekend, though, had a problem I haven't had before. Part of it may be that the chimney needs to be cleaned (guy coming next week). It was very windy outside, and had a real hard time getting flow up the chimney. When the stove, and stovepipe, finally got hot, could see smoke coming out the chimney, but also had smoke coming in the house real bad when opening the stove. Also had smoke coming in from where the stovepipe is connected to the thimble going into the foundation. Got worse when the wind gusted outside.
Couple questions:
- I have a generic cap on the chimney. Will a cap like a Vacu-Stack help with the wind issues?
- If there are severe drafting problems, is smoke leaking through the stovepipe joints "normal", or does that need to be sealed up somehow? Or to ask another way, my assumption is that a good draft will always keep a negative pressure in the stovepipe relative to the room... is that true?
thanks