Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - Fireplace Draft

When I get a fire going in my fireplace, it pulls a mean draft, almost too good. When sitting facing the fireplace, I can feel the cooler air from the other end of the house coming into the room. But that is not my problem.
My problem is that whenever I have a fire, the vent stack smell fills the basement. In the basement I have my washer and dryer. The washer drains directly into the stack with a drain hose, which is not sealed to the stack. My guess/assumption is that the fireplace is looking for air, and this is the only way it can get fresh air into the house.

So...how do I keep my basement from getting stinky whenever I have a fire?

Still stinky...any ideas?

Is the fireplace located in the basement????

SOunds like you have 2 problems. First off your washer should drain thru a P-trap that would prevent sewer gasses from coming into the house.

Secondly you need to provide fresh air to replace the air going up yor chimeny (and out your dryer, stove hood, and other vented appliances). Simple solution is to open a window somewhere. More complex solutions involve installing air-air heat exchanger, installing a fresh air vent on your furnace, or other alternatives. Here is a link which describes some alternatives. <http://www.blueflame.org/datasheets/combustair.html>

Ditto on the p-trap and an air source for the combustion air.
As you have noticed, a fireplace isn't a real efficient way to add heat to your home. Darn nice to relax in front of, but the draft while burning that continues for hours after, while cooling down, yields a net energy loss. I'm in the north country and folks up here are reluctant to give up their alternate, emergency heat source. The solution for some has been the air tight pellet or gas stove inserts. When you turn them off, they are off, no continuing draft/heat loss and when they are on they operate at a very high efficiency.
GL
Bud

Thanks for the replies. Fireplace is on the first (and only) floor. Washer/dryer are in the basement.
House is 35+ years old. Never once thought it would be sealed so tight that the fireplace would be trying to suck air out of the vent stack. I would have thought it would pull through the various windows. I will have to check on the p-trap. Not sure what is there, as it is directly behind the washer...never gave it a thought.

I do have a big bay window more or less right next to the fireplace. Would it be a good idea to crack one of the windows, with the hope that the fireplace would draw that cold air, rather than the stinky air? It should go directly into the fireplace, no?

"Would it be a good idea to crack one of the windows, with the hope that the fireplace would draw that cold air, rather than the stinky air? It should go directly into the fireplace, no? "
Yes. A common practice when using a fireplace, just not real heat efficient. But make sure you fix the other problem :).
Bud

Thanks for the info, Bud.

My wife and I were at a Home and Garden show and found what is called a Fireplace Cozy. It essentially blocks hot air from escaping while keeping cold air out. I believe this is the website. Fireplace Cozy!, ... and the draft is gone! (http://www.fireplacecozy.com)

The bigger concern is that you could be back-drafting gas appliances such as a hot water heater and furnace and drawing toxic combustion products you can't smell (for example carbon monoxide) into the house.

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Home Inspection: ""A business with illogically high liability, slim profit margins and limited economies of scale. An incredibly diverse, multi-disciplined consulting service, delivered under difficult in-field circumstances, before a hostile audience in an impossibly short time frame, requiring the production of an extraordinarily detailed technical report, almost instantly, without benefit of research facilities or resources." - Alan Carson

From the fireplace cozy FAQ:

5. Energy Saving information:

This system has an R value of 7.09, about
twice that of a triple pane window (3.57).

Inside layers are quilted together in 4 " wide
channels to prevent the draft and reduce
the flow of energy.

1. Lining with fabric protеctor
Conduction is reduced by trapped air spaces
between the fibers and layers of insulated fabric.

2. Reflective polyethylene moisture vapor barrier
Convection is reduced.

3. Metalized mylar with air trapping fibers
Radiation is reduced by the reflective mylar
which reflects radiant heat back into your
home and also reflects solar gain in the summer.

4. High density needled halo fibers
Infiltration is reduced by the impervious polyethylene.

6. WARNING:

DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT UNLESS FIREPLACE IS COLD.
FOR GAS FIREPLACE UNITS, DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT
UNLESS PILOT IS OFF.

My comment: IMO, this is asking for trouble: hot embers in a wood burning fireplace can persist - and be expelled out of the fireplace - for many hours after the fire is apparently "out".

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Home Inspection: ""A business with illogically high liability, slim profit margins and limited economies of scale. An incredibly diverse, multi-disciplined consulting service, delivered under difficult in-field circumstances, before a hostile audience in an impossibly short time frame, requiring the production of an extraordinarily detailed technical report, almost instantly, without benefit of research facilities or resources." - Alan Carson

did you fix your poblem, if not you may be able to get your combustable air from out side, by installing outside intake vent in side or back of fireplace, but you will need door if you have them, outside intake vent should be installed by a professional