Traditional fireplace dampers leak, so sealing your fireplace flue is smart when you aren’t using it like during the off-season. A flue damper is located inside of the flue. When you have an active flame going, you want to leave the damper open so the smoke can escape through the flue. Chimney Flue Damper - How to Install Chimney Flue Damper Step-By-Step: Installing a lock top chimney damper can be a great way to prevent any energy leakage from your home caused by a chimney. The damper in your fireplace helps you control the flow of air when your fireplace is being used or not. But when you aren’t using your fireplace, leaving the damper open … However, because of the potential risks from fire and toxic fumes, even if you’re only installing a stove in an existing fireplace or lining a flue, the work will need to comply with Building Regulations (Part J deals with combustion appliances). Open fires with larger fireplace openings (usually freestanding grates) will need larger flue sizes calculated alongside the height of the chimney and required ventilation. Try it both chain up and down. Others have a lever designed to move with a knob or chain connected to the damper. It doesn't take much to maintain a chimney draft--maybe 25% open. If your chimney is built on the outside of your house, the chimney flue is probably cold. Look inside the chimney toward the roof to see if any daylight is visible. These dampers also provide an energy-tight seal and make your chimney much more efficient in … Open the doors completely to your fireplace. If you’re not sure which is the open or closed position on your damper hardware, try one or more of the following steps: These dampers are open by lifting the handle up, pushing the damper upwards, and pinning the damper in the upward position by setting one of the notches on the handle onto the mounted ratchet on the frame of the fireplace. The Gas Fireplace Flue. Don't use too much paper, as flaming scraps can be carried up the flue and onto your roof. If the opening of your fireplace is more than ten times the circumference of your flue, the dynamics are wrong for creating a healthy draft. I would light some incense and determine if [pulled -chain position] the smoke escapes or is "drawn " up the chimney. Related: Choosing the Right Fire For Your Chimney & Flue Type. The damper can be opened and closed through a few different mechanisms, including a latch, a pull chain, or a handle. Adjusting the damper allows you to burn a fire efficiently and safely. Before lighting up that firewood, ensure the fireplace flue is open or else the smoke and gases will fill up your room. You can test the effect of this by raising the fireplace grate or the fire basket with stones. if you are talking a stove flue [free standing] the handle on the flue will indicate open or closed. Keep the damper open until all open flames are gone. The damper is typically in the shape of your internal chimney pipe and resembles a metal flap. BUILDING CODES SET MINIMUM FLUE SIZE Once the size of the fireplace opening is set, you can determine the appropriate flue size. To start the fire, you need kindling -- smaller pieces of wood that will take flame easily. A chimney flue is essential in conveying smoke and harmful gases from your fireplace to the outdoors. Upper Deck Solid Brass Metal Open/Closed Fireplace Damper Sign Hanging Flue Pull Hook 4.4 out of 5 stars 30 $16.49 $ 16 . 3. Other designs include the look-through type with two opposite faces and three-face types. If your fireplace has pull chains, pull the longer chain to disengage the damper and then pull the shorter chain to close the flue. Push the lever up slightly to disengage it from its support tab and then pull it away from the tab horizontally as the damper lowers into a closed position. How do you know when the fireplace damper is open? If you currently have a throa… Move the control lever to the open position. If your fireplace has pull chains, pull the longer chain to disengage the damper and then pull the shorter chain to close the flue. Step 2. A damper plate located at the top of a chimney (within a top-mounted damper) is usually square in shape and spring loaded to open or close via a pulley chain, with the chain handle to control the damper located within the fireplace. Open flue with no cap on chimney I have an open 'feature' fireplace that has an open flue, that if you look up, you can see all the way to the sky as there is no chimney pot or cap. It is easy enough to figure out. They are opened with a chain located inside the fireplace. A fireplace flue damper enables you to control how much air flows up your home's chimney when the fireplace is in use. Open wood burning and coal fires require a class 1 flue liner with a minimum diameter of 200mm. Corner or L-shaped units have two adjacent faces. A handle beside or just inside the fireplace operates the damper. Poker Damper. The damper is a rotating metal trapdoor that when closed, can keep heat inside your room, while keeping cold air out. Among the other components of a gas fireplace (or gas logs), the flue is a chimney, pipe, or ductwork that allows gasses such as carbon monoxide to escape without losing fireplace heat. Chimney liners or flues, are designed to carry the products of combustion from fires safely out of the home. Pull back the screen. A fireplace is a huge source of drafts from the cold outdoors. Step 1 - Open the Fireplace Doors. The flue is then sealed with a band that should be included in your kit. if vertical flue is open. Your fireplace will be smoky because more smoke collects in the firebox than can be drafted up the chimney. MULTIOPENING FIREPLACES Some fireplaces have more than one open face. Prime the flue. Since you will be down at the bottom of your fireplace, this is a good time to pull out the logs and give the space a little clean. The previous owners stuffed pieces of wood up the flue but this left gaps so heavy rain trickled down, draughts, hailstones and during spring, even bees! Some dampers open by pulling a chain, while others have a knob to turn. Using a Fireplace Draft Stopper. In this case, the chain is in the lower position when the flue is closed and in the upper position when the flue is open. Always confirm the damper is open before lighting a fire. Stack a few split logs on your grate and place kindling around and below them. They are mounted on top of the chimney and open and close via a cable that threads down the chimney flue and to a handle. A chimney can act as a wind tunnel even when the damper is closed, sucking cold air down into your home through the fireplace opening.. A fireplace draft stopper is an efficient way to prevent this from happening. Chimney cap or top-sealing dampers are installed at the top of the chimney. The most common case is 1⁄ 10 of the fireplace opening area, but with a minimum size specified. Step 2 - Remove Logs and Clean Fireplace. Sealing the flue is essential in preventing gasses from escaping back into your home. Another tip on effective use of a fireplace damper involves the end stages of a fire. Worse yet, if you have a gas fireplace, burned gas can escape the fireplace and create the conditions for … 49 Treasure Gurus New Solid Brass Open/Closed Fireplace Damper Sign … fireplace opening and flue size, in-creasing the chimney height in-creases the amount of draft. Check if you can feel a draft. In general, chimney cap dampers are closed if the chain is hooked to the wall surround of your fireplace. A fireplace flue is designed to lead smoke outdoors when your fireplace is being used. When it's open, you'll feel a rush of cool air in the fireplace and see an open vent. How to Close a Chimney Flue if handle is horizontal flue is closed. How to Be Sure the Damper is Open. Use a flashlight to look up into the chimney opening to see what can be verified. 5.Increase the height of the fireplace grate or of the fire basket. The match will go out when you have it it the open position and do nothing in the closed. If you start a fire before opening the throat damper, smoke will flow out of the fireplace instead of going up the chimney. How do you close a fireplace flue? Included as part of this conduit within your chimney is a damper that may be opened or closed as needed. Sealing the Flue Opening. If it’s hanging freely, the damper is closed. Placing a bit of fire underneath the flue and the damper when they’re open will create an air current that feeds smoke up into the chimney when the fire is fully going. For chimney cap dampers, look for a chain inside your fireplace. The "chain-pull" usually opens a counter-balanced damper and the chain needs to be "latched" on to some type of cleat that holds the chain. Before lighting a fire , you can tell if the damper is open by placing your hand into the fireplace . With an open flue system, the fire appliance is ‘open’ to the air supply of your room. When you open the damper, the cold air in the flue will sink and come into your warm house. Make sure the damper is open before you light the kindling with newspaper. Damaged chimney liner flue tiles allow toxic gases (smoke), heat and fire to escape into the outer structure of your chimney where it can be a hazard to your health and home. Visually inspect the flue damper during the daytime to see if it is in the open or closed position. A Fireplace Opening Too Large for the Flue. Aside from the fireplace flue, this handle may be located on the fireplace opening as well. By increasing the height of the fire grate, the fire is closer to the chimney channel, as a result of which, the chimney flue becomes warmer and the draft will improve immediately. An open flue system is how a conventional gas fire or solid fuel burning fire works with a traditional class 1 or class 2 chimney. To open you just pull down hard and release. You should be able to dampen the flue as you would with a wood fire to slow burn rate. Do keep a carbon monoxide detector in service as a safety precaution. This kind damper, Poker dampers, we commonly refer to as a banana handles.This is because of the banana shape arch in the handle. Bring it down slowly and monitor for smoke intrusion. Fireplace dampers are typically made of metal or ceramic so they can tolerate the heat of the fire without suffering damage. However, it can be a safety risk and an energy waster if not used properly. Chimneys can be a major factor in losing heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. Light a match or candle and hold it at the fire place. Building codes typically require a minimum flue size, expressed in terms of cross-sectional area, in relation to the area of the fire-place opening. If you try to light a fire during this air sink, you’re going to end up with smoke coming into the house instead of up the chimney. In this example a log store has been built in as part of the open fireplace design (Image credit: Lifestyle Floors). 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