Hi there,

We recently had a Quadra-Fire Millenium installed in our house. It is installed in the basement and the chimney goes out through the foundation and up the side of the house. We live in Montana and as you can imagine it gets quite cold. I love the stove when it is up and rolling. The pain is getting it started. The outside pipe gets very cold and when you open the door to first start a fire you can feel the air coming down the chimney into the house. I have tried pre-warming the chimney by pointing a heat gun up the chimney for about a half-hour then lighting the fire, still smokes an ungodly amount for about 20 minutes before the cold air is forced out of the chimney. Then all is well save for our house smelling like smoke for ages. I have searched this forum and checked most everything though I still have to verify that the fireplace people did indeed get the stack to the required height above the roof.

Assuming that everything is done as it should be, what can I do here? I know you can get a chimney fan for the end of the chimney, though they are around $1k. If it comes to that, I am willing. However, I noticed online here: http://www.northlineexpress.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=5TJ-AD-1 that you can install a draft inducer that would be much cheaper. I am interested to know how well this works if anyone else here has used one? I am VERY interested in this draft inducer and I am willing to try anything right now as I am NOT willing to put up with a smokey house like I have been.

BTW, this model wood stove has a baffle at the top of the inside that helps burn extra gas/ash for a cleaner burn, so this prevents me from performing the rolled up newspaper trick, and the draft is coming in at such a rate initially I doubt it would really work that well.

Thanks for your input.