fire fumes

[strain]

i light a coal fire in my living room - there is a great draw in the room and the fire lights eaisly - however if i close the door in the room within minutes the room has a fumy coal smell - there are plenty of draughts in the house coming from other directions - has anyone any ideas - i live in the country and am able to burn house coal and logs - the chimney was cleaned last year

[Clanad]

It's possible that, since you have a good draft effect, that the odor is actually coming from outside the house.  We had that happen in an older ranch house... the wood fireplace worked quite well but one could always smell the pine smoke.  Found out it was coming back into the house from the chimney.  The correction involved adding some heighth to the chimney. You might also consider placing an insert into the fireplace.  Here in the US there about $300 to $500 and quite easy to install and improve the quality of the fireplace since they are sealed and are usually equipped with a self-contained blower to help in heat circulation... Good luck!

[ian.miller]

Plus, it might also be that the dimensions of the fireplace opening are a little out. My parents has just such a problem. All you do to check it fix some foil over the top of the opening until the opening is roughly square (on theirs it was like a vertical rectangle and lighting a fire resulted in a smoky room)

Try it and ft it helps get a brass blanking plate made or something. according to their installer it's a common problem, first light easily but don't continuing drawing properly allowing smoke into the room.

[landie]

You can purchase a simple detector for a couple of quid. This should alert you to any problems. DIY stores sell them.