How to seal plug a chimney with no damper.

How to seal plug a chimney with no damper.

Mikes Chimney

Q: Jason, We are trying to measure our chimney interior, but it is definitely impossible for us to get an accurate measurement. I personally thought it was about 24″ x 15″, while my financée thinks it’s 16″ x 14″…

We need to guess because we cannot reach the part where it begins to shrink in size. Nor will be able to stand in the chimney to place the Chimney Balloon inside. Currently, the only option we have is to lay on our back and reach upwards…Any suggestions?

We just moved into this house last month, and have realized that there is no damper. I personally noticed this when we got an $1100 oil bill after only 3 weeks..so all our heat escapes straight out the chimney. Any suggestions?

Also, the shape of our chimney is not at all like any of the examples you have on your site. How do we get some help on sizing, and learn exactly where to place the chimney pillow. We would like to get this in place as soon as possible, as it’s REALLY cold this time of year! Would it help if I drew an approximation of what our chimney looks like, and sent that your way to help? An immediate response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks-OTCR

A: OTCR-That drawing was very helpful, thank you. I have a few more questions for you before I answer with the best location. Is the inside surface of the chimney a rough material like brick or is it metal lining? Down near the base (the bottom of your drawing) is that the hearth opening? Does the top of the hearth have parallel walls? Regarding the lip drawn at the bottom of the drawing, is that a ridge at the top of the hearth? – Jason

Q: Jason – The chimney is definitely brick. Here is a scanned copy of what my chimney looks like. the bottom drawing is the view when laying on one’s back and looking up. Does this help with deciding the size and location of the Chimney Balloon?

As for the hearth, or what I believe you’re asking, there is a lip and then it opens up again before it becomes narrow. it only looks to be parallel at the very top where the chimney levels off and goes straight up. The bottom picture is exactly what i/we see when I lay on my back and look directly up.

(my fiancée drew the picture!!). I would guess that the opening is almost parallel. – OTCR

A: OTCR- Great, that is the best of all situations for surface texture and location. The slant of the chimney walls will force the top side of the Chimney Balloon downward, and the lip will force the bottom of the Chimney Balloon upward, effectively sandwiching it into place. The texture of the brick will also help the Chimney Balloon grab and seal to the sides of the flue wall.

So, measure the length and depth (width) of the opening just above that lip. When you know what those dimensions are, you can email them to me and I will let you know the size you need. There is a high probability that this will require a standard size Chimney Balloon. But custom sizes are available up to 3 feet by 6 feet in dimension.

Q: Jason – Okay I did the best I could when measuring just above the lip… I got 24 inches (or JUST short of 2 feet) by 14-15, possibly even 16 inches… boy is it cold in there… it’s definitely wasting our heat and we just had a huge snow storm…OTCR

A: OK a custom 24×16 would be the best fit for your fireplace. Unfortunately, it is a custom size that will take 14 days to build but I will get a hurry-up on your order and see if we can get done earlier. I feel very bad for you with that $1100 heating bill. – jason

I have birds coming down through the fireplace chimney into the House!

I have birds coming down through the fireplace chimney into the House!

This was a conversation on Google Home Improvement groups that was an interesting recommendation for a Chimney Balloon to stop birds from entering a home:

Q: Hi I have never used a fireplace and never needed one but an old house I bought has one in it.  I have not moved into it yet and are updating it here and there.

I was working on removing some wood paneling this afternoon and I heard some bird sounds.  Did it seem to come from the inside?  I ignored it and then I heard it again, and from the direction of the fireplace.  I walked over to the fireplace and I saw two birds, one was standing at the bottom of the fireplace and one was laying at a corner – dead.

I opened the doors and windows and went to get the live one, he freaked and started to fly around and I lead her to the doors and he flew out.  I then took the dead one and disposed of it.  Then I heard more bird songs.  I stucked my head and looked up the chimney and it’s dark.  Could the birds be coming from the chimney?  Isn’t it supposed to be closed?  I think there are more birds up there but can’t find their way out and they won’t come down until they are exhausted or near dead.

What should I do to free them?  or should I assume that if they can find their way in they should be able to find their way out?  That dead bird obviously did not. – MC

A: MC – It sounds like you have no damper on this fireplace if the birds were just all of a sudden in your hearth. I would go to the roof and inspect the cap. It is likely that there is no screen or a rotted out screen that needs some work. By this rooftop inspection, You will also probably find out if you are dealing with a nest or a couple of curious birdies. If the roof is a steep pitch or not easily reachable be sure to hire a chimney sweep to do the inspection.

Considering the birds came right through you may want to consider a Chimney Balloon to plug the flue to keep from losing heat through the open fireplace and to block the bird noise.

Wood Burning Fireplaces Steal Heat From Your Home

Wood Burning Fireplaces Steal Heat From Your Home

Fireplaces take more than they give. On a cold winter eve who of us is not tempted to go to the living room and stoke up a fire in the fireplace and read a book in front of the fire? You may be thinking “I am doing myself a favor by supplementing the furnace with additional heat”, but in fact you are making your house colder and could be contributing significantly to pollution depending upon how you burn.

The wood burning fireplace is a loosing proposition

The air action that a wood burning fireplace initiates in our home is wasteful. The moment the damper is opened heated air begins pouring out of the top of the chimney. As the fire in the hearth accelerates, the combustion process grabs already heated air from your home and burns the oxygen and combustible gasses in it. The heat that is created in this combustion quickly rises and grabs more heated inside air and tosses it up the chimney. You can restrict the amount of inside air that the fireplace has access to by installing glass doors, but this will also severely limit the amount of radiant heat that fireplace can cast forward into your living space. This radiant heat is the heat you feel on your skin in front of the fireplace, and is the only usable heat that the fireplace will produce since the combustion heat is pouring out the top of the chimney. In the meantime the home is drawing in cold outside air from other places (i.e. windows, light sockets, doors, etc) to replace the air that is escaping the home through the chimney. This is referred to as the “stack effect”.

Loosing heat even while dormant

Even while the wood fireplace is not being used, the traditional metal dampers tend to leak air since they warp and degrade rapidly in the extreme heat and corrosive soot environment. The removable and reusable Chimney Balloon fireplace chimney damper available in assorted sizes inflates into place in the flue and seals it off efficiently to stop heat loss and the cold draft.

The good, the bad, and the pollution

If you burn a fast hot fire this creates very little smoke and pollution, and it can give you a noticeable amount of radiant heat gain in the room the fireplace it is in. However it is using volume amounts of your already heated inside air for it combustion which exceeds your heat gain ratio. A slower fire is even worse since you are still loosing heated air out the chimney and getting very little radiant heat in return. This black type of fireplace smoke is a terrible pollutant and contributes to respiratory irritant for people with asthma and allergies.

Wood burning fireplaces are wonderful nostalgic centerpieces for many American homes. But a homeowner should be aware of the issues associated with fireplace use.

Sources:

US Department of Energy

WoodHeat.org

GreenBuildingElements.com