How To Seal A Fireplace Damper
The damper in a fireplace is designed to use the warm air that is circulating in your home efficiently.
How to seal a fireplace damper. You can follow these easy steps to block off your fireplace or even to close it up completely. You d think that would. Here s where you can expect to find the controls for the flue damper. Most fireplace dampers are left open.
How to block off a fireplace. The real danger is if there are gas logs in the fireplace. An old leaky fireplace damper could be. In a 1990 study designed to.
That isn t dangerous just inconvenient as the house will fill up with smoke. A damper can also be located at the base of a flue located just above a wood burning stove or other form of fireplace stove that utilizes as flue. Over time the extreme heat and rapid change in temperature. Purchase a top sealing damper here.
The sheet of metal or other material is usually found in the hollow of a masonry chimney called the throat and is located above the firebox. A damper may sometimes be located at the very top of your chimney known as top mounted damper or a top sealing chimney damper cap. Many fireplaces have broken and or missing dampers. The damper sealing kit is designed to seal off your damper around your stainless steel chimney liner kit when installing a fireplace insert or a freestanding stove.
Even when the damper is closed flue dampers are inefficient. This can warp and damage the fireplace damper thus needing replacement. When dampers are closed they do not provide an air tight seal and are quite ineffective at controlling undesired air leakage. Another study estimated that the effective leakage area of closed dampers averaged about 30 square inches equivalent to a.
A damper must be in one piece that is snug to the flue in order for it to work properly. Air sealing a chimney can save you over 300 a year on your energy bills. There s a few ways to seal a chimney. While the idea of a fireplace is romantic it might be a nuisance in practice.
It is very common to have to ovalize a short section of the liner in order to pass the liner through the throat damper. Fireplace dampers sit almost directly above the heat of the fire. It only takes a few hours and 10 bucks. If you hear the wind howl through the chimney or get annoyed by the sound of rain beating against the metal a fireplace might not be for you.
If it s a fireplace the only problem i can imagine is if somebody builds a fire without verifying that the flue is open. If the damper cracks while being rapidly heating and cooling it will no longer work properly. A study showed that 80 of fireplace dampers are inadvertently left in the open position1. The damper sealing kit can effectively seal around 6 thru 10.
Even with the fireplace damper closed there are air leaks around the edges of the damper. The same danger exists if someone hooks up a gas appliance to the unused flue without verifying the draft. If you seal up more than one fireplace you can save even more. Chimney balloons and chimney dampers work well but you may want to seal your chimney for good.
Fireplace dampers are not effective at sealing the fireplace. Http amzn to 2cvujtx have you ever noticed cold air coming from your fireplace. The heat will rise through the chimney leaving.