Chimney Odor ?

Mark R.

I have an oil fired boiler that was serviced at the beginning of the heating season. I have a lot of confidence in my service man (he sets mixture & draft etc. with instruments.) My house is a small rambler, and yesterday I was near the back of the house and noticed an odor of chimney exhaust. Not real strong but it was noticeable. My boiler is operating fine. I recently checked and it is using 2.3 gal/day, so I have no reason to think it is runing rich. Is it normal to notice the chimney odor?
Thanks, Mark R.

Jack_23

doowndrafts

Every system has a personality and yours is just showing it off. If there are noticeable irregularities in its operation you are just seeing what the local condition, at that particular time,was showing. Wind direction, chimney termination location/height, and a bunch of variables can cause the flue gases to flow down to the ground. Probably only a temporary condition. If you have a good guy setting up your equipment and your barometric damper is functioning properly, it will isolate the combusiton process from those outside, changable conditions. I'm curious, how are you measuring your fuel consumption so precisely?

Mark R.

Thanks Jack for your response. After I read your response I had to check my question. I neglected to say that I was "outside" and at the back of the house when I smelled the odor. Your point is well taken, thanks.
I figured the consumption at 105 gallons of oil over 45 days to get 2.3 gal/day. Us retired people have a lot of time on our hands don't you think? I really do like my Weil-McLain Gold series boiler though.