Auxiliary smoke arresting unit

A combination of an externally mounted smoke attachment and an exterior wood burning furnace equipped with a fire box chamber for burning wood, an electric fan for fanning the burning wood with air, a furnace chimney for discharging smoke laden fumes from the fire box chamber, a fire box door for gaining access to the fire box chamber, and a switching member for switching the electronic fan to an off position when it is desired to gain access to said fire box chamber through said fire box door wherein the externally mounted smoke arresting attachment when activated serves to arrest smoke laden gases escaping from said fire box chamber upon opening the fire box door and switching of the electronic fan to the off position, with said smoke arresting attachment consisting essentially of an externally mounted smoke gathering manifold for arresting the smoke laden gases escaping from said chamber upon the opening of the fire box door, an externally mounted smoke conduit for conducting the smoke laden gases arrested by said smoke gathering manifold, an externally mounted separate chimney separate from said furnace chimney for receiving and discharging the smoke laden gases conducted thereto by said conduit, a vacuum source for drawing the smoke laden gases into said smoke gathering manifold and conducting the smoke laden gases arrested by the smoke gathering manifold through said smoke conduit onto said separate chimney and a switching member for activating the vacuum source when it is desired to arrest the gas laden gases escaping from said fire box chamber upon the opening of the fire box door with said smoke arresting attachment.

A method for using a smoke arresting unit for arresting smoke laden gases escaping from a furnace chamber of a wood burning furnace containing burning wood within said furnace chamber, wherein said furnace is equipped with a fire box door for providing access to said furnace chamber, a furnace chimney for externally discharging the smoke laden gases from said furnace chamber, a furnace fan for fanning burning wood embers within said furnace chamber, and an electrical switching circuitry for switching the furnace fan to an on fanning position and an off position upon an opening of the fire box door;

• wherein said smoke arresting unit consists essentially of a smoke gathering manifold for arresting the smoke laden gases escaping from the furnace chamber upon the opening of the fire box door and the switching of the furnace fan to the off position, a smoke conduit for exiting the smoke laden gases by the smoke gathering manifold onto a separate chimney which serves as a separate external smoke discharging site externally disposed from said furnace chimney, a vacuum source for drawing said smoke laden gases into said manifold and discharging the gases through the smoke conduit onto the separate chimney, and an activating member for activating the vacuum source when it is desired to gain access to the furnace chamber through said fire box door when the furnace fan is in the switched off position, said method consisting essentially of:
• a) causing the furnace fan to be switched to the off position and an activation of the vacuum source so as to capture smoke laden gases escaping from said furnace chamber through the open fire box door with said smoke arresting unit;
• b) capturing the escapable smoke laden gases by arresting the gases under vacuum with said smoke gathering manifold while discharging the captured vacuumed gases onto the external discharging site through said smoke conduit and said separate chimney with said smoke arresting unit;
• c) refueling the furnace chamber with wood through the fire box door while capturing and discharging said captured gases at said separate external smoke discharging site;
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• d) closing the fire box door and deactivating the vacuum source;
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• e) switching the furnace fan to the on fanning position so as to permit the furnace fan to draw air onto the burning wood embers and fan the burning embers within the furnace chamber.