As I mentioned earlier, I hung a 7 or 8 foot length of cotton which was drifting by up to 6". As it happens, I was having a new boiler installed for the heating. The boiler room in the basement is pretty drafty and because of the work going the guys had to leave the boiler room door open. As part of my investigation (now I feel like Sherlock Holmes), I covered the fireplace with a piece of plywood. I went upstairs to get something and heard a loud bang. I thought the new boiler had blown a valve or something. Anyway, it turns out that the wood was blown over and also knocked down a few other things. I went downstairs and made sure the boiler room door was closed (the boiler is installed and I have heat again). I then put the wood against the fireplace and voila!, my cotton thread is now hanging straight down. I may have expected it to move that much hanging next to a window but now from the door frame between the living and dining rooms. To put things in perspective, I moved into this place just over a year ago and the main floor has been chilly in the winter even with the heat up high unless you had a fire going. The previous owner said the same thing oo. BTW, the old boiler was working fine, just converting from oil to gas. Now, the thermostat is set lower but the room is toasty thanks to the fireplace cover. So, all the candles that were doing fine on Wednesday night are back in the game. I wiped of the soot that had accumulated around the CD's and gave them a second chance. So far only an an RD34 and a Premier 755 gave any smoke. The others are burning perfectly for their size. Thanks for all the input. Neil