Waynesville, North Carolina

Why does smoke come into the room when I use my wood-burning fireplace?

In Waynesville, elevation is working against you. At nearly 2,650 feet your chimney starts colder and stays colder than almost anywhere we serve, and cold, heavy air in the flue is the hardest thing for a young fire to push past — so smoke backs into the room until that column finally warms and starts pulling.

Why altitude makes it worse

Draft is simply weaker at elevation, and Waynesville sits high. Add that our heating season runs about three weeks longer than Asheville's and nights average 10 to 15 degrees colder, and your flue rarely gets a chance to fully warm between fires. That's rough on Hazelwood's older, drafty open fireboxes, which lean hard on the hearth all winter. Warming the flue before you load it — and keeping the damper fully open at startup — cures a lot of Waynesville smoke complaints on its own.

The other things we look for

A long, hard burning season builds creosote faster than most folks expect, which narrows the flue and both smokes and threatens a chimney fire. Damp mountain hardwood that never seasoned smolders instead of burning hot, so the draft never builds. And a throat damper stuck partway open quietly throttles everything above it.

Getting it drafting

We inspect the flue, damper, sizing, and draft, and handle the Haywood County permit and inspection if the chimney needs work. A sealed EPA wood insert with a correctly sized liner holds heat in the flue and keeps drafting even on the coldest Waynesville nights — 35 minutes from our Asheville showroom. Call (828) 545-0525.

Fireplace help in Waynesville

We install and service fireplaces throughout Waynesville and the rest of Haywood County — just 35 minutes west from our Asheville-area showroom.

Fireplace services in Waynesville General answer (all of WNC)

This answer for nearby towns

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