TZ-UK Forums TZ-UK Forums thieuster
He moved into an ‘adobe-style’ ranch with clay walls. In the corner of one of the rooms is an open fireplace (not a modern-day wood burner) and the flue is not visible, it is boxed in so to speak; 2 of the sides are outside walls, the 3rd side is the curved wall in the living room (See pic, with the fireplace on the left).
He is unable to start the fire without getting tons of smoke in the living room. So we discussed the problem but tbh, I’m only familiar with modern-day wood-burners with a glass door. A few years back I had the same problem with my -then new- woodburner and the suggestion launched here: "Use a heat gun to heat the flue; it will start a draft upwards!" was the 100% answer. I guess that the ambient temp in my friend’s living room is higher than the temp of the flue!
He cannot reach the flue to heat it with a heat gun, since it’s behind the clay wall. There is a ‘damper’ inside; it can be opened and shut, and it’s located inside the wall, just above the fireplace itself. A metal plate that can be adjusted. He can reach that, he told me. I suggested that he could warm up/heat up the damper plate to kick-start an upward draft. That cold piece of metal is not helping. When heated, it could start a draft But I am not sure that it’s even a useful suggestion.
I know that a lot of older houses in the UK have/had open fireplaces as well. What’s (was) the common practice to make sure that the fireplace works properly, without smoking the living room?
