Getting blowback down my chimney- room filling with smoke!

[Tansie]

We have a 'cassette' style wood burning stove that slots into what was a 14" domestic fireplace. When it was installed, the fitter remarked that we had some slightly odd wind patterns- we live in the last house before a road and a bank of old growth oaks, and he wondered whether there were eddys forming in the gully the road forms beside the house.

Anyway, 90% of the time I light the fire with no problem but with this nasty blustery weather (Hants!) I am really struggling particularly at the start of my efforts where suddenly, smoke billows back down the chimney and into the room! A mad scramble to open external doors and windows to create an updraft ensues, but the house smells like a bonfire.

Tonight I'm still struggling an hour after lighting it.

Can you get a 'one way fan' or valve to be fitted in a chimney so smoke can only go one way? Any ideas??

Is your flue definitely clear? We had this recently and thought it was the wind, but turns out the flue was blocked with chicken wire (put in to stop birds nesting, but had got coated in crud). Best get a good sweep to check its clear, who should also know if anything you can do if it is just wind turbulence.

You might need a swinging wind funnel (these can be noisy though) or lobster put onto your chimney. We had this problem in our last house.

DH just reminded me that a H pot-link here was recommended as the best solution. We moved so never resolved the issue.

If it's worst when you first light the fire, it suggests that flue temperature is part of the problem... Did you have the chimney lined when you got the stove fitted? A stove won't heat the chimney anything like as much as an open fire, so the flue really should be lined and insulated so it draws properly.

Get on to your nearest chimney sweep, they're the experts in this stuff. And tend to installl the reevant bits too.

We are having a similar problem and were thinking of installing a windkat www.windkatcowls.co.uk Anyone got any experience of these?