Smoke Smell Overnight

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bwalters199

Member
Nov 1, 2019
14
Rochester, NY
I have been burning off and on in my Regency 2400 insert (3rd season) for about a couple weeks now with no issues. It was going to get into the upper 30s overnight here in Western NY, so I loaded her up and went to bed. I woke up in the middle of the night to this disgusting smoke odor in the house. I went out and checked the insert and saw no visible smoke coming from it. Over my last couple weeks of burning, I have noticed that the left side of the glass gets really dirty, really fast, which was also the case this morning. I just attributed it to me trying to burn at a lower temperature due to ”shoulder season”. I had the thought this morning, I may need to get a new window gasket? I was wondering if others have any suggestions or am I on the right track? Thanks

[Hearth.com] Smoke Smell Overnight
 
A bad gasket would normally lead to too much air getting in and your fire would be burning too hot which would keep your window clean. The window getting dirty is a result of burning low/wet wood and means that the gasket is working properly.
 
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Test the firewood for internal moisture by splitting one of the thicker splits in half and then testing in the center of the freshly exposed face of the wood with a moisture meter. If lacking a moisture meter, press the freshly exposed face of the wood up against your cheek. Does it feel cool and damp? If so, the wood is not fully seasoned.
 
Test the firewood for internal moisture by splitting one of the thicker splits in half and then testing in the center of the freshly exposed face of the wood with a moisture meter. If lacking a moisture meter, press the freshly exposed face of the wood up against your cheek. Does it feel cool and damp? If so, the wood is not fully seasoned.
So I checked the remaining two pieces of wood I have left and both were at 15%.
 
You’re possibly running the air control too low resulting in the firebox filling with smoke, the smoke will ignite all of a sudden and send some out the intake. It’s happened to me with an old fisher stove installed in a basement.