Wind, wood stove, and hrv inlet – GreenBuildingAdvisor

I have a very tight house with an HRV and a wood stove. The wind almost always blows at my house and I’ve noticed that, unless it’s burning perfectly, it sucks a little bit of smoke down on the leeward side. On days when this happens to be the side with my HRV inlet, I can intermittently smell smoke coming in through the vents. I burn dry wood, have a good draft and the chimney extends above the highest point of the house by a little over 2 ft. My neighbors are far enough away that they aren’t likely affected.

It occurs to me that on a naturally vented house, the wind would take the smoke away by pushing air into the house on the windward side and pulling air out of the house on the leeward (smoky) side, assuming a steady wind direction. I would like to get my HRV to be as effective at avoiding smoke ingress as natural ventilation. Has anyone else noticed this, or found a good solution? Is there a chimney height that will free the smoke stream from effects of the house in a strong wind?