It’s getting cold out, so naturally you’ve been feeling like building a cozy fire in your fireplace – a warm, crackling oasis you can sit beside in your man chair while you read thick, leather-bound books and ponder manful thoughts.

There’s just one problem: whenever you fire up the fireplace, things start out okay, but then seemingly without any rhyme or reason, smoke starts billowing into your room in plumes. You’re coughing, your eyes are burning, and everything smells like smoke. Instead of pondering manfully, all you can think is, “Why is this happening?!”

I’ve had this happen to me plenty of times — even when I think I did everything right. I really do enjoy a fireplace fire, but hate when it turns into a smoke bomb, so last year I made it a quest to find out what I can do to build a fireplace fire without smoking yourself out of your house. Here is my report along with a video rundown.

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This is key. Seasoned wood burns better and with less smoke because it’s drier than the green variety. If you’re buying firewood, the best way to tell if it is seasoned or not is by its weight, appearance, and even smell. A piece of seasoned wood will be lighter than a similarly sized, but green counterpart, and it will sound hollow when hit against another piece of wood. Green wood will also be lighter in color and generally have a stronger, fresher smell to it, while seasoned wood will usually appear darker and have little odor. Seasoned wood can also be identified by cracks on the end of the logs.

Small Beveled Glass Di... Buy New $299.95 (as of 06:10 UTC - Details) In my experience, the wood you buy in bundles at grocery stores isn’t all that seasoned, even if it’s labeled as such. Your best bet is to buy a rick of wood from someone local and check the wood before you purchase it. If the pieces you end up with still look a little green, you can always let it season for another year before you use it.

And of course, if you split your own wood, you’ll be able to season it well yourself. At least six months is recommended, and the longer the better.

Open the Damper

When I talked to a chimney cleaner about how to fix my smoke problems, the first thing he said was “make sure to check that the damper is open.” You’d think it’d be a no-brainer, but he told me this is the most common reason people have smoke coming out of their fireplace! I’ll admit, I forgot to open the damper once. Don’t be that guy.

Read the Whole Article

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The Best of Brett and Kate McKay

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