Do Chimineas Smoke A Lot?

If you have an enclosed garden space or want to have an outdoor fireplace close to your house then you may be wondering, do chimineas smoke a lot? Chimineas are one of the best ways to avoid too much smoke blowing around because they funnel the smoke upwards through the chimney.

We have all heard the phrase, ‘where there is smoke there is fire’ and it should go without saying that smoke is a byproduct of fire that you just have to accept. That doesn’t mean you have to put up with clouds of bonfire smoke, it just means you can’t expect to have any kind of open fire without smoke.

When it comes to burning wood, charcoal, or firelogs you are always going to get some smoke but maybe there are some types of wood that don’t smoke as much or that smell better than others. In this chiminea smoke study, we are going to share some tips that will convince you that chimineas are the way to go.

If you are thinking about getting a patio chiminea and find yourself asking, do chimineas smoke a lot? We are here to answer that question and explain just how much smoke you can expect from a chiminea and also some tips on how to reduce the amount of smoke.

Do Chimineas Smoke a Lot?

Chimineas create just as much smoke as other types of fire pits or outdoor fireplaces. The chimineas do not create any extra smoke. They do divert the smoke up through the chimney using airflow and heat to push it up and away from where you are sitting or standing.

Compared to barbeques, campfires, fire pits, and woodburning stoves, the smoke from a chiminea is far less noticeable as it shoots straight up into the sky instead of blowing around or directed towards one person all night.

How Much Do Chimineas Smoke?

If you were to light a chiminea inside a gymnasium the size of a basketball court, the whole place would be full of smoke in a matter of minutes. A chiminea will produce enough smoke to fill a hot air balloon in no time at all and so you always need a wide-open space with good airflow to place a chiminea.

How much your chiminea smokes depends on how well you tend to it. Once the flame goes out and it is just embers the smoke will no longer be pushed out of the chimney as effectively so it is important to always keep a healthy flame burning to prevent smoke backing out.

Is Chiminea Smoke Bad for You?

Chimineas are typically made from clay or from cast iron, both of which are completely safe to have fires in. Neither clay nor cast iron release any toxic smoke beyond the wood you are burning. There are several types of wood you should avoid burning due to potentially toxic or harmful smoke.

You should always avoid inhaling smoke which isn’t good for your lungs and will often make you cough or give you a sore throat the next day. Studies have shown that smoke has lots of harmful side effects when inhaled for sustained periods which is far too easy to do when sitting around a regular campfire.

Why Does My Chiminea Smoke So Much?

There are a number of reasons why your chiminea might be producing more smoke than usual. This can include the type of wood that is being burnt, whether the wood has been seasoned properly, forgetting to take the chimney lid off, wind direction, or something else entirely. I once burnt some wood in a chiminea that was wrapped in ivy and I soon realized that was a bad idea and removed the rest of the ivy before burning the wood.

What Firewood Burns with The Least Smoke?

If you want the cleanest burning wood with the least smoke then you should avoid using softwoods with high sap content like pine. Instead, you should use hardwoods like maple, oak, ash, birch, and fruit tree wood that has been seasoned for a year to dry out. These hardwoods burn hotter for longer and produce less smoke than wood with high pitch content.

Is There Such a Thing as Smokeless Wood?

There is no such thing as smokeless wood or smokeless charcoal or smokeless anything. Even gas, that burns very clean, produces smoke in small quantities. That being said you can get products like smokeless logs in the image below or smokeless bbq grills.

Fire fuel that is labeled as smokeless charcoal and firelogs are not completely void of smoke but they produce substantially less than natural wood and regular fire fuel like charcoal. So these are good indicators of less smoke but not smokeless.

Does Putting the Lid on a Chiminea Stop the Smoke?

No! Putting the lid on a chiminea while there is a fire lit will not stop the smoke. It will simply force it out of the fireplace and directly into your face which is why putting the lid on a lit chiminea is a terrible idea.

The chiminea lid should be taken off before being used and replaced again after use. The chiminea will prevent rain from getting inside which can damage clay chimineas over time and cause rust inside metal chimineas.

Can You Use a Chiminea Indoors?

Just like putting a lid on a burning chiminea, using a chiminea indoors is an absolutely terrible idea and could potentially burn the house down let alone cause irreparable smoke damage. If you haven’t figured it out by now, chimineas produce smoke as well spitting flames out of the top when they are just getting going. For this reason, you cannot use a chiminea indoors or any enclosed space with a roof.

Do Chimineas Smoke A Lot?