Smoke lcomming into room

Question

John, my uncle built our fireplace in our house. It is a see thru fireplace with arched openings, the chimney runs up thru the center of the house. I tried using the fireplace once and small wisps of smoke came out one side of the fireplace opening that is in the dinning room but our living room where the other side opens has a cathedral ceiling where the dinning room is not open all the way to the second story. I was wondering if the different heights in the ceilings could make the smoke blow out the side where the ceiling if not as high. I recently started a small fire in the fireplace to see if maybe the last time i did not have the flue open all the way. I had my son pull the chain to open the flue all the way and then checked it with a flashlight to make sure it was all the way open and we started a small fire i can smell a slight odor of smoke but not like the last time when i could actual see wisp of smoke rolling out of the top of the arch the measurement of the bottom opening is 36" and the center of the arch is 31 1/2 ". It has a flip flue where you pull one chain and it flips vertical to fully open. I wanted to get a grate with a blower and start burning wood to help with the heating of the large room with the cathedral ceiling. If i got a insert to close off the opening in the dinning room do you think that the fireplace would work better? i would have asked my Uncle but he pasted away years age.

Answer

a cross-draft is almost always the reason for the smoke coming through one side or the other. and archways can only make things worse. does the smoke problem happen all the time or only in the beginning? a cold flue may be the culprit if its only in the begining. i like the Lymance damper though, they really work well.the insert would make it work much better but make sure you line it with a stainless steel liner all the way to the top though. it will help with efficiency and make cleaning much easier.