At minimum you should inspect your chimney flue at the beginning and end of fireplace season.
Chimney flue problems advice.
Let it burn down aways and drop it on the logs to finish burning.
This can be accomplished by priming the flue with a rolled up newspaper.
A cold flue may have to be preheated.
Oil gas fired heating appliance chimneys also need to be inspected and cleaned.
Non functional or stuck dampers can be the cause of smoking problems.
The smell is from creosote in the chimney a natural byproduct of the combustion process.
The air starvation problem or lack of room ventilation 3.
Light one end hold it way up in the damper opening.
Safety of those using the building.
Such issues mean that a chimney generally needs to be rebuilt every 100 years or so.
Ask your heating service tech to check the chimney itself and order a cleaning if needed.
Badly sited chimney terminal.
The fireplace opening is too large for size of flue i e.
A chimney sweep should be called out for cleaning and inspection.
High humidity and a situation called negative pressure can worsen this.
Part of normal oil fired appliance heating service includes disassembly and cleaning of the flue vent connector.
2 come prepared for a thorough inspection.
Common causes of problems with chimneys and flues include loose chimney cans open joints stone decay flue problems and draughts.
Periodic inspections will uncover minor problems before they turn into major ones.
Integrity of the building fabric.