Smoke
We don't often have overcast days here, but recently we had a damp day with gray skies. It wasn't that cold -- about 50 degrees, but I got a chill in the afternoon and with evening falling so soon now that daylight saving time is over, it seemed a good idea to have a cozy fire before dinner.
We did not have a fireplace in our house in Connecticut, so I was looking forward to a glass of wine sitting on the raised hearth in front of our two-way dining / living room fireplace. Jim had pork adovada simmering in the crockpot, the house was fragrant with it, and I was ready to relax and warm up.
I don't know if I just didn't prime the flue well enough with a lighted newspaper. I don't know if the damper was fully open -- it seemed so, I even checked it with a flashlight. I don't know what went wrong, but within minutes we were engulfed in smoke and the smoke alarm was screeching.
It screeched forever, while we threw up every window, opened the sliding doors, turned on every fan and tried to pull cold damp air into the house and draw smoky air out.
With windows and doors open and smoke alarm blaring, a neighbor who was passing by stopped in to see if we were okay and did we need the fire department. Ack.
You can't stop an alarm during a smoke event. If we could even reach it (it's at the top of a twelve foot tall wall), it just goes off again after a re-set if there is still smoke. And there was still smoke.
Eventually the air cleared enough for the alarm to stop (it was on about 15 minutes), and the fire seemed to stay more contained in the small firebox, although puffs still wafted out if the glass doors were open.
By the time I could sit in a quiet house and drink my wine, the temperature inside was almost down to 50 degrees -- doors and windows were still open and the fans did a good job. The fire was nice, briefly, but of course it smells smoky in here, my clothes and hair smell like smoke and the whole thing was a disaster.
This is for Pam: enjoy your new gas fireplace insert!
We did not have a fireplace in our house in Connecticut, so I was looking forward to a glass of wine sitting on the raised hearth in front of our two-way dining / living room fireplace. Jim had pork adovada simmering in the crockpot, the house was fragrant with it, and I was ready to relax and warm up.
I don't know if I just didn't prime the flue well enough with a lighted newspaper. I don't know if the damper was fully open -- it seemed so, I even checked it with a flashlight. I don't know what went wrong, but within minutes we were engulfed in smoke and the smoke alarm was screeching.
It screeched forever, while we threw up every window, opened the sliding doors, turned on every fan and tried to pull cold damp air into the house and draw smoky air out.
With windows and doors open and smoke alarm blaring, a neighbor who was passing by stopped in to see if we were okay and did we need the fire department. Ack.
You can't stop an alarm during a smoke event. If we could even reach it (it's at the top of a twelve foot tall wall), it just goes off again after a re-set if there is still smoke. And there was still smoke.
Eventually the air cleared enough for the alarm to stop (it was on about 15 minutes), and the fire seemed to stay more contained in the small firebox, although puffs still wafted out if the glass doors were open.
By the time I could sit in a quiet house and drink my wine, the temperature inside was almost down to 50 degrees -- doors and windows were still open and the fans did a good job. The fire was nice, briefly, but of course it smells smoky in here, my clothes and hair smell like smoke and the whole thing was a disaster.
This is for Pam: enjoy your new gas fireplace insert!
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