by blogediter | Oct 8, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
Q: Jason – Can I clean my fireplace chimney the easy way and just pour salt on the logs during a burn? – TW
A: TW, No, Where do rumors like this come from? I have heard this before but it is not true. Salt added to your fireplace wood during a burn does not help clean your fireplace.
Personally, I use my fireplace about 6 times per year. I clean it myself with a brush every 2 years (in the summer) and have a chimney sweep come and do it every 4 years. But that is a fireplace that gets very little use.
I have used the chimney sweep logs every once and a great while, but they really only help to a small degree to make your creasote less flammable. They certainly don’t hurt but my opinion is they are falsely advertised if they say they “clean” your chimney.
There is nothing like a good chimney scrubbing every so often. – Jason
by blogediter | Oct 5, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
2010 Weather Ionization test
Q: I am a renter that recently talked my landlord into allowing me to use the fireplace in my half of the duplex.
I am noticing a large draft created by the fireplace and have read about my gas heat going up the chimney.
I want to install an outside air source for the fireplace but am having trouble finding instructions for doing so. – AY
A: AY, Any adjustments you may do to the fireplace to create heat will cost in excess of $1500 for certain.
That is a mighty generous gift to a landlord. I hate to be the voice of doom on fireplaces but most open fireplace let heat out despite the damper when they are not being used, and they really suck heat out when they are being used or any time the damper is open.
There are some things you can do to improve the efficiency slightly during the burn, but they will not counteract the loss you will experience in furnace heat.
My best advice if you are looking to save heat and money in the winter. Plug up the chimney nice and tight with a Chimney Balloon (don’t rely only on your damper by itself to stop heat loss). to generate cheaper heat, talk with your landlord about how old the furnace is and how efficient it is.
by blogediter | Oct 3, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
Fall & Winter
Q: Who can come out to measure the size needed for the installation of the Chimney Balloon? Do they install?
A: If you prefer not to do the sizing and install of a Chimney Balloon yourself, you can have your local chimney sweep do it. Most Chimney Sweeps are already familiar with the product. It is good to have a chimney cleaned every so often anyway to remove dangerous creosote buildup. When the chimney sweep comes over to clean your chimney you can show him or her the sizing page on this website (or you can email them about it in advance) and they can certainly size a Chimney Balloon up for you according to the directions. It is a very simple measurement, so it should not cost any extra in labor.
Installation of a Chimney Balloon is even easier than measuring for one, this page shows how it is installed. http://www.chimneyballoon.us/chimneyballooninstall.html
But you could call any chimney sweep to install it as well. That will likely cost you another house call though.
by blogediter | Oct 1, 2018 | Chimney Problems
Chimney noise stoppers
This was a post about Chimney balloons as a noise stopper or noise barrier found on Google groups at this link: I thought it was interesting. http://groups.google.com/group/alt.home.repair/browse_thread/thread/5d0efc3c31e9eac4?hl=en
Q: I’m having troubles with my fireplace insert. I’m having a quite tall chimney and for some reason, there’s no top or bottom damper in the chimney. When’s a windy weather, it makes very unpleasant noise in the fireplace insert, I hear the wind very loud. How can this be solved, please? – Matt
A: I was having trouble with street noise and pigeon cooing noise coming from my fireplace chimney. It was quite annoying, especially at night. I put in a Chimney Balloon to buffer the noise and it has helped quite a bit. It seems to have stopped some of the cold air passage as well. I also put out some of those pigeon spikes near the top of the chimney but that didn’t deter the little flying rats.
by blogediter | Sep 28, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
Q: Jason, have you ever had to clean the black soot marks off the outside of your fireplace hearth? What cleaner do you recommend? – TY
A: There are quite a few products on the market to do this. With all of them, you should be using rubber gloves and safety goggles.
My favorite for stone is a product by Simple Green. You apply it and lather it in with scrub Brillo pads and stiff brushes. Be careful in all situations not to overwork the grout and work bottom to top to avoid streaks.
For brick surfaces, you can by Aquamix from most big box home retailers. Careful with this stuff as it has a high alkali content.
In either case, it takes time and elbow work. Good luck TY!
