Why does smoke come into the room when I use my wood-burning fireplace?
In Fairview, heavy wood burning is the story. Our wooded lots make wood heat the natural choice, and creosote buildup is the leading cause of both chimney fires and smoke here — a flue coated and narrowed with tar can't carry smoke up, so it backs into the room. A fall sweep is not optional.
Creosote: the leading culprit
Fairview's big wooded lots make wood the obvious heat, and folks burn a lot of it — which is exactly why creosote is the number-one chimney problem in Cane Creek Valley and along the Charlotte Highway corridor. That sticky tar coats the flue, narrows the passage, and chokes the draft until smoke has nowhere to go but into the room, and the same buildup is what fuels chimney fires. A sweep before every heating season keeps the flue open and the fire hazard down. This is a safety issue, not just a smoke one.
Trees, wet wood, and cold starts
The wooded setting adds leaf debris in the flue and tall-tree downdrafts on gusty days, and unseasoned firewood smolders — coating the flue with creosote even faster and drafting weakly from a cold start. Out here in propane country, the wood hearth is often the real backup heat, so it needs to run clean.
Burn clean, stay safe
We inspect and sweep, and an EPA wood insert or a Regency Cascades stove burns hotter, makes far less creosote, and drafts cleanly. We pull the Buncombe County permit, keep a 24/7 line, and we're 15 minutes east of our showroom. Call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Fairview
We install and service fireplaces throughout Fairview and the rest of Buncombe County — just 15 minutes east from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
- Why does my fireplace smoke only when I first light it?
- Why does my fireplace smoke only on windy days?
- Why does my fireplace backdraft when the furnace or a bathroom fan is running?
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- Why doesn't my wood-burning insert draft as well as it used to?

