I freaked out two times I had this problem he’s talking about. Nobody told me.Thank you so much!

Great video. Super helpful, and just in time while I air out my house and recover from the panic attack...lol.

I have used all kinds of woodstoves in my years - I have never preheated a flue. I live in northern Maine and I use a parlor-sized (non-cat) stove. The flue goes straight up, inside my two-story house, and out of the roof. About twenty-four feet total. Single wall pipe in the house and double wall on the roof. The stove is run eighteen hours a day, every day for about eight months. I start my fires with a good pile of kindling and logs placed on top. Have never had the slightest problem.

Brilliant video, explains the process very well and the reason why it’s important to preheat the flue. I wish I’d seen this video 5 years ago when I got my first log burner. Thank you.

Norwegian top light is the solution load your bigger logs then medium, then small and lastly kindling at the top, under the flue. Kindling warms the flue and creates the draft. After a ten minutes with the door slightly ajar you can close it. You don’t need to re fuel until you’ve got a fully hot stove.

After all the years of owning a wood stove did not know about pre-heating the flue. Well done, the explanation is excellent!

I have been investigating this problem with my new insert. I can't thank you enough!

Well, I got tired of filling the room up with smoke using your technique and a dozen other things. Finally it dawned on me to take a hairdryer and stick it blowing hot air up the flue with the bypass damper open if you have one. Don’t start the 🔥 till you no longer have a cold air backdraft. I buy second hand hairdryers ($5) at the thrift store. That problem is a thing of the past. Usually let the hairdryer run on high heat for about 2 minutes with kindling already in place. Then use a similar torch to ignite the fire. That also works much better than matches or a lighter.

Your video (smoke blowback) was my nightmare an hour ago. Exactly! So now I can see what I’ve done wrong. Thank you Josh!

Best video I've seen explaining and illustrating this. Awesome job!

Thank you! This was super helpful. I was having trouble but my fire is perfect now and no more smokey room.

Best video explaining the smoke coming in the house! So useful, without too many technicism. Thank you so much!!

Excellent practical example anybody can understand. Thank you… all shops need to give this example

Great demonstration!

I may be wrong but it looked like the damper handle wasn't pulled out when lighting the paper until he used the torch to preheat the flue. One time I forgot to open the damper when lighting my cold stove and smoke was bellowing out the door, I shut the door and I had no smoke leaking out my Blaze King 40 stove. Of course after realizing the closed damper, I opened it and the fire started normally. Good video tho.

Now that I can see the video... I will do this from now on..super helpful thank you!!! Bout wiped out the whole family 🙂

Really useful tips - thank you

this is a fantastic demonstration. I bought an old house with a vented gas heater and tried to use it today. It was spilling smoke into the house! This might be the same reason why - I kicked up the fire without heating the flue. I can’t access the interior end of the flue to test for a downdraft, but I suppose I can use a low setting for a half hour or so before kicking up the heater to a higher setting.

Thank you so much!

Great video! Appreciate the sacrifice of smoking yourself out so the rest of us can clearly see what's happening when we don't do it right! Thanks!

Thank you for this video, even though I have now found a solution to downdrafting in a cold stove I still listen to other solutions to learn as much as possible. When a wood stove chimney goes up through a warm house, warmer than outside temps, down-drafting is minimized. I grew up in SE MN with wood heat only, it was a wood/coal burning furnace located in the basement. The chimney went up through the middle of the house, probably 30 foot or so chimney, I don't ever recall having a drafting problem. Now, 50 years later close to where I grew up I have a wood stove in my newer house as supplemental heat, no basement and on a ridge-line where wind can get up to 40 mph, not unusual. My wood stove chimney rises about 4 ft above the stove then elbows to an outside wall to rise about another 20 ft, I didn't want a hole in the roof. All the chimney is double and triple walled per codes, professionally installed per insurance requirements. I experienced a number of downdrafts and as you mentioned smoke quickly fills the house and it doesn't want to go outside even with all the windows and doors opened, its a bad scene. I find downdrafts even if the stove is a little warm in the mornings, I believe the slightly warm air in the stove is creating a cold air plug, when I open the stove door the warm air in the stove escapes into the room and the cold air plug makes its way into the house and is now a downdraft. I've tried using a hot air gun and a propane torch as you demonstrated with some success but because the propane torch requires the stove to be left open while holding it and lighting paper enough to get an updraft gives off smoke even a little smoke can ruin a room for hours. What I've found the best so far is preparing and placing in the stove some kindling and some cardboard/paper then placing a can of Sterno canned heat away from the kindling I light the Sterno, shut the door completely and watch the flame of the canned heat, once the stove appears to be drafting I open the stove door to feel for a draft when I do feel a draft I safely remove the Sterno and fire up the stove, so far it works the best for me, I found the suggestion on youtube. I am now considering installing a fresh air in-let for the wood stove, one that travels from outside through the crawl space up through the floor and into the back of the wood stove, the installation will include a damper to control the outside air.

This help me so much! I was ready to get a new stove!

thank you such good helpful info

Great video. Thanks for telling me the airtight stove isn't really air tight!!! Could not figure out why smoke poured out of the seams on every first fire of the season. I have a Hearthstone that must have a break in fire each season and that's the smoky one. Much easier to keep a wood stove going than to start a new fire. I have warmed the flue by burning paper in the outside cleanout at the base of the chimney, but now I realize I need to preheat that flue a lot more before the fire start. Thank you!

Thank you sir!

That is great information if the power is out, otherwise I always use a hair dryer to get the draft started. Start the fire, your going to have smoke coming in as usual. Start the hair dryer aim it up the flue, with the smoke happening you will see it start going up, soon as the chimney learns your good. It's quick and fast. I have a dedicated hair dryer for this purpose and a brand new one in a box incase it dies. I don't need a hair dryer in house 😃other then for this unfortunately.

Very good video. I tried these types of methods in the past, but they still result in lots of time with the wood stove door open and blowing ash particles and/or small amounts of smoke into the house. I just posted a video on my channel of my method which is to use a small space heater placed on the hearth for about 5 minutes with the wood stove door closed. That's enough to heat the metal up and break the downdraft.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

Super helpful; once every 2 weeks I have a down draft and a smoky house (I use the stove every day). I am going to buy a blow torch today. Thanks!

Hair dryer in a cut out piece of cardboard for 15 minutes. Cut card board to seal opening. Then cut circle in the middle size of hair dryer outlet. Place hairdryer in hole and tirn on. Have stove pre loaded to light off as soon as you pull hairdryer andstove cover off.

I’m new to the world of fireplace inserts & wood stoves - SO glad I saw this video before stuffing the brand-new stove with kindling & just letting ‘er rip with no prep! I suppose in milder weather this whole process isn’t necessary-or just happens faster?

I use a hair dryer or quicker, an electric paint stripper, ( works like a super power hair dryer), all I need is, prepare fire, top loaded, like on video, pre heat flu for just 1 to 2 minutes, light fire and away it goes, so quick!

This video is sound advice. The good news is, it doesn't take much to get the draft to move the right way unless the outside temp is very, very low. Crack a window or door before lighting. Toss in a small, clean burning, fire starter by itself and let it burn out...., or even put a decent size candle in there for 5 minutes. A chimney "through the house" won't have this problem much vs. a N.E. USA home's popular "exterior chimney" that is ICE COLD BRICK. That can be a problem. Also, a lined chimney will do much better than a big cold brick box !

I have got a lot of trouble with my stove ! Now I have a idea how to do it! Wish me luck.

My wood stove is in my basement. If I open the basement door or a window. The back draft basically goes away unless it's very cold out. I also use a torch like shown on those very cold days for about a minute. But opening the basement door makes a big difference compared to not opening it.

Top down lighting method fixes all of this.

Thank you for this video. I had a Lopi Rockport installed this past March & really have not used much until now. It has the GreenStart and the smoke was doing exactly what you showed, backing into the room & I thought something was wrong. I didn't think about preheating the flue especially with the colder temps in November. Is it possible to place a heat gun in the stove to heat up the flue? Once again, thank you for this video, it was my problem to the T!

I like to use lots of kindling, i get a nice hot kindling fire going, and keep the door cracked slightly to draw in air and make a fast, hot fire. I eve my kindling is going well, I’ll throw More kindling in, with smaller size logs in and then close the door after about 20-30 min. At that pint I’m up and rolling. After that start to burn down it’s ready for full size, stove size logs.

Why didn't you have the bypass open during your initial demonstration? No wonder it smoked so bad lol

You explained a problem I just had with smoke filling the house pouring out of the stove

i understand heating up the flue to get the draft going but your paper torch being lit outside the stove puts smoke in the house. i plan on trying a small space heater in the firebox to push the cold air back up and preheating the chimney. but hank you for your video. your stove looked like mine every now and then.

Uhm, did you have the bypass CLOSED the entire time you tried to start the fire at the beginning? Of course the smoke will pour into the house, where else is it supposed to go? Start your fire with the bypass open and you'll have no issue.

I have used nothing but a wood stove for 40 years. I have never had to preheat my chimney. However, this year I had smoke return and no draw. I tried everything (That bought me here)and finally took the chimney apart, mud daubers had sealed the smoke release in the stove. So if nothing else works, check that..

I never had to do that much work to start a fire. You turning people off from getting a insert.

Well that was a good one. Coulda done it in 2 minutes by Putting a paper wad up the flew and lighting it. Alcohol Gel on the kindling and walk away.

I have a multi-fuel stove that we installed a few months back. When we installed it, if the air handles were all the way closed, we got this drip down the back of the stove along the wall, a tarry substance dripped down and it landed on the stove and smoked up. It smelled disgusting. One trick i discovered was to burn the fuel as hot as I could for about 20 minutes, then you can turn the stove way down, nearly all the way closed and nothing drips. I can only put it down to the flue being heated up. Any tips for this? There is no hole in my wall to the outside, and it's a single walled flue (presumably taking air from the room). All carbon monoxide monitors installed and checked of course.

I wonder if the smoke issue would be nearly as bad if you opened the catalytic bypass in your first demonstration. Just curious.

unfortunately those leaks are on the design of the stove not the draft. given a warm draft is critical for vertical airflow that doesnt means its required to start a fire. might want to clearance those models.

I've been using a wood-burning stove for 13 years and have never pre-heated the flue. I suspect it's the design of some installations that makes this palaver necessary.

How do I know where the bypass is in my stove? The top of the inside of the stove looks like a big flat covering with small seams on the sides.

Mind you h4 did open the damper to bypass the cat, but great example

If you try and start it with the damper closed it WILL smoke and go out

I'm new to wood stoves and mine is not installed yet so I can't test this theory, but could you cut a panel that fits over the door with a couple PC fans, just hold it there for like 30 seconds? In theory it should push warm air from the house up the flue and preheat it that way. Or is that not enough since the air is not actually hot?

That thing smokes like mad. Something is wrong. Mine never does that. And it's a cheap $1000 Lowes stove. "Scientifically" speaking, doesn't heat seek cold ? Shouldn't the warm air from inside a home want to escape up the cold flue or liner ? I use a decent size firestarter, never paper, "IT SMOKES TOO MUCH". Then close the door almost completely and open the air intake all the way, and the damper if you have one. Should be no problem. If so, then the liner could be undersized, it could have a extra long thimble, or horizontal run through the wall, or too many twists and turns in the liner. I guess some stoves could be different. I've noticed newer stoves tend to be "over engineered". That could be an issue. I feel bad for those who have this issue. I like the hair dryer technique someone mentioned if absolutely necessary.

I have this same stove. Love it!

I have an elbow above the wood burner about a foot high which leads to the outside of my porch Does that affect it at all

Can I leave the door open I few hours before I start the fire to preheat it?

Insulated 6" liner solves this problem.

Maybe your chimney is to low ..need more draft and no more smoke problem... Just my experience.....greets from overseas, France Dordogne 👋🏻

I would not recommend getting this stove. It’s a design flaw and not about heating your pipe. I had the same exact problem to where regency had to come out and remove part just to be able to have a draft

Your belly will give you heart failure

Ummmm, great video of how to smoke up your house. Ummm, boring. Ummm, can’t stay in the room now.

wasted my time 4 sure