Will a Chimney Balloon fit a Bellfires retrofit fireplace with a locktop damper cable?

Will a Chimney Balloon fit a Bellfires retrofit fireplace with a locktop damper cable?

Q: Jason, It looks like your product would fit my application, but I already had to mail back another company’s product for a refund because I couldn’t get it to fit well.

Here is a little more information. I have a Bellfires retrofitted, concrete fireplace (http://www.bellfiresusa.com/fireplaces/model_BR.htm), and I also had my old chimney flue replaced with the Solid/Flue product (http://www.solidflue.com/). The horizontal cross-section of the firebox is roughly trapezoidal but has rounded corners. The smoke chamber zone is also concrete (fairly smooth) and has sloping surfaces with no corners to smoothly join the Bellfires fireplace with the 8″ round flue. The round flue begins at about 4 feet above the floor of the fireplace.

I have a lock-top type, cable operated damper at the chimney top and no damper right above the fireplace. Would my best bet be using the 9″ x 9″ Chimney Balloon in the flue itself? Would the square Chimney Balloon conform adequately to the round flue? The damper cable is pressed against the side of the flue at that point, so I don’t think the cable will be an obstacle. Would I need to order auxiliary parts to use the Chimney Balloon up that high?- JW

A: Jay, I understand the fireplace configuration you are describing and we have a solution that will fit that application. A 9X9 Chimney Balloon will fit your 8″ solid flue tube. The square corners of the Chimney Balloon are designed to conform to a circular flue as well as a square flue. When inflated the Chimney Balloon will also press your lock top cable to the side of the flue wall. We have had many customers with Lock-top dampers and Chimney Balloons in their chimney. It is a very effective combination. To accommodate the 4′ reach I would recommend a HEK Extender for your Chimney Balloon. – Jason

Customer followup email: Jason, Thank you for the information. I ordered the Chimney Balloon, it arrived in 3 days. It works great. Thanks – JW

The cable to my Lymance damper is slicing my Chimney Balloon

The cable to my Lymance damper is slicing my Chimney Balloon

Q: Jason, the cable that leads up to my Lymance chimney top damper seems to be puncturing my Chimney Balloon. I attached an image of the damper to show you where the cable is. -TP

A: TP- I see the cable as a very faint line just to the left of the Chimney Balloon valve in the picture. I see the cable runs along the edge of your metal damper there as well. What is happening is this cable is getting frayed over time as it rubs up and down against the metal edge of this damper opening. That frayed section of cable has little needle like protrusions and a flat side that is like a saw blade in roughness. I also notice that the Chimney Balloon is tight like a drum when installed. It is probably a little two tightly inflated.

Two things will help solve your issue here…

  1. Remove your Chimney Balloon and wrap packaging tape around your chimney top damper cable in the area the Chimney Balloon will come in contact with it. This will keep the flat sharp end of this cable from cutting the balloon.
  2. When you reinstall and inflate your Chimney Balloon do not fill it so tightly full with air. You can leave a little give in it. – Jason
My Lock-top or Lymance style damper still lets in a cold draft.

My Lock-top or Lymance style damper still lets in a cold draft.

Q: I have a top sealing damper, and I still get a draft from my fireplace. It cost me $550 to get the chimney top damper put on my chimney and it only half solved the problem. Will a $50 Chimney Balloon stop the draft that is still there? – DP

A: DP – I remember talking to a Chimney Balloon customer from Detroit on the phone for nearly one hour regarding this very same issue. The result of our conversation was that the lock top damper and Chimney Balloon damperwork well together. The Locktop (otherwise known as a top sealing damper) and Lymance dampers keep birds and animals out and the Chimney Balloon stops the convection draft and chimney odor. You can use one or the other alone, but using them together is a very effective approach at eliminating draft, odor and other infiltration. This is an issue that we have addressed before in the Chimney Balloon Blog, but it is worth revisiting since it is a common question.

The light draft you are experiencing with the lock top or lymance damper is very common with top sealing dampers. When you seal a chimney at the top you are making your chimney into a large stopped tube that still has to be filled with warm interior air, so your furnace heats that air and it rises up into the chimney. Over time this air cools against the cold metal of the top damper and starts to sink. When it sinks it creates a light cool draft sensation in the hearth or the opening of the fireplace. This makes it feel like the damper is letting in cool air.

If you install a Chimney Balloon low in your fireplace you will eliminate this cold draft sensation. You may have concerns about the lock top or lymance damper chain or cable interfering with the Chimney Balloon, but we have found most of the time the Chimney Balloon will form around this chain or cable without a problem. However, there are a few things to keep in mind about the chain or cable for a lock top damper.

In the picture above the top sealing damper cable as a very faint line just to the left of the Chimney Balloon valve in the picture (see the orange arrow). You can also see that the Chimney Balloon has folded around and enveloped the cable. You see the cable runs along the edge of the metal damper there as well. In this application, the cable is getting frayed over time as it rubs up and down against the metal edge of this damper opening. That frayed section of cable has little needle-like protrusions and a flat side that is like a saw blade in roughness. Also, notice that the Chimney Balloon is tight like a drum. It is probably a little two tightly inflated.

  1. In this type of application wrap packaging tape around your chimney top damper cable in the area, the Chimney Balloon will come in contact with it. This will keep the flat sharp end of this cable from cutting the balloon. Also, do not actuate the cable by opening and closing the damper while the Chimney Balloon is in place. Remove the Chimney Balloon before you move the cable.
  2. When the Chimney Balloon is installed do not fill it drum tight full with air. Leave a little springiness in it.
  3. Also, purchase a Chimney Balloon that is a little oversized to allow for the extra material to envelop the cable. Two or three inches extra in length and width should give you what you need. In this photo example, a 33×12 could have been used normally, but they bought a 36×15 to get it around the damper cable.

If you take these prescribed precautions your Chimney Balloon will work just fine with your top sealing damper and stop the cold draft. – Jason

How much energy can I save with a Chimney Balloon?

How much energy can I save with a Chimney Balloon?

Small Chimney

Q: Jason, How much energy will a Chimney Balloon save for an average 15 inch chimney?

A: AP, Your question is hard to answer with the little information you gave. It is kind of like asking me how much water you would save if you fix your leaky faucet. I can’t really tell unless I saw the leak and measured it. However, your question is well worth answering, but I will have to give you a ballpark figure working with averages.

The biggest factor is… how bad is your damper right now? Is it missing? Is it rusty, corroded or warped? Is it a flapper, chimney top, or a pivot style damper? There are a million variables as to how bad or good your damper may be doing currently. If your metal damper is not 100% tight, which they hardly ever are, then you are losing heat.

So let’s take a look at what the US Department of Energy and other third parties say… The US DOE estimates 14% of a home’s energy is lost through the fireplace. Here is a link to that information: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/air_leaks.html

Lets put this figure in dollars. The DOE estimates an average home in 2005 used $1300 in energy per year and 43% of that is heating and cooling. Now if 14% of that amount is lost through the fireplace then sealing the fireplace will save $80 per year on average.

Those are pretty conservative figures since other studies have pointed to a savings of over $200 annually by plugging the chimney flue.

AP, I hope this answers your question thoroughly enough…, – Jason

What if you buy a Chimney Balloon that is too big?

What if you buy a Chimney Balloon that is too big?

Chimney Balloon too big

Q: Jason – According to the attached picture do you think I bought a Chimney Pillow that is too big? – GJ

A: GJ, You absolutely bought a Chimney Balloon that was too big. I would say it is at least 6″ too big in 2 dimensions by the look of it. It is hard to tell the dimensions from a picture like this, but I am willing to bet that is a 9″x9″ flue passage that you stuffed a 15×15 Chimney Ballon into. You would be much better served by using a 9×9 Chimney Balloon for this particular spot. But you did do the right thing by purchasing an HEK extender to install your Chimney Balloon so high in the flue. Without the extender, you would have had a terrible time getting the Chimney Balloon that high.

Actually, you may want to consider using a larger Chimney Balloon closer down to where your damper was. I see you had your damper cut off when you had the lock top damper installed. I can tell you have a locktop Lymance chimney top damper by the cable that runs along the side of your flue. The Chimney Balloon will inflate around the cable just fine, but be sure to wrap some tape around the cable where it will come in contact with the Chimney Balloon. Cables like this often have rough frayed edges that will poke into the Chimney Balloon when you inflate it into place.

Note: This customer ended up with a 36×15 Chimney Balloon that was easier to install lower by the flue opening. Read more on this at this link on How to install a Chimney Balloon where there is a locktop damper cable in the flue.