Went from a charcoal chimney starter to an electric one after my third singed arm hair incident

Tried lighting charcoal with a torch for a year and kept burning myself, so I grabbed a $20 plug-in starter from the hardware store and now my burgers are ready in 10 minutes without me looking like a singed raccoon - has anyone else switched and never looked back?

3 comments

3 Comments

charles44213d ago

My neighbor still uses a chimney and the smoke alarm goes off every time.

cole35611d ago

Hold on a second, a chimney doesn't usually need a damper to be "warmed up" like a wood stove does. Chimneys just need the air to be moving right, so if the flue is open all the way and the smoke is still spilling into the room, it's more likely a clog or the chimney is just too cold on that side of the house. A bird nest or a big pile of leaves in the cap can totally block the draw, and that will make the smoke alarm go off every single time no matter what. Also, old smoke alarms can get super sensitive after a few years, so it might just be a bad detector picking up a tiny wisp of smoke that wouldn't bother a newer one. Your neighbor should definitely check the cap for debris first before worrying about the damper technique.

ward.jamie13d ago

Three times last week I heard that alarm go off at 7pm like clockwork. Does your neighbor open the damper all the way before lighting the fire or just shove in the newspaper and a match? I used to have a wood stove and figured out that if I let the flue warm up for a minute before adding the big logs, the smoke went up instead of out into the room. Maybe ask them if they checked the chimney cap for leaves or a bird nest blocking the draw? Those old alarms can be set off by steam too, not just smoke, so it could be a false alarm from their kettle.