Can I plug a modern wood stove with a Chimney Balloon when I am not using it?

Can I plug a modern wood stove with a Chimney Balloon when I am not using it?

Q: Dear Jason, Help! I have a very nice EPA rated wood stove that was put in about a year ago. It was installed in my lower level and the trouble is it smells of creosote and smoke smell when I am not using it. I know it is negative pressure bringing the smokey stink back into the house. Can I plug the flue with a Chimney Balloon to prevent the backdraft from bringing the smell back in? – TW

A: Dear TW, It depends on what type of stove you have. The image to the left is the inside top of an Avalon woodstove that has firebrick baffles on the top of the firebox. These brick baffles can be removed and it gives you easy access to the round flue so you can install a 9×9 Chimney Balloon when it is not being used. In the picture, you can see the one brick is being lifted because they just set in there by gravity.

Other wood stoves are completely metal-clad in the firebox and the baffles are welded steel. In these fireplaces, you often have no access to the flue through the firebox.

On occasion, you can get access to another part of the chimney through a clean-out door portal. Usually, these are outside and near a bend in the chimney or pipe.

You have to have access to the woodstove flue or chimney to plug it with a Chimney Balloon. – Jason

#102: Fireplace Inserts, Coal Burners, Heatelator’s, and Other Weird Applications

#102: Fireplace Inserts, Coal Burners, Heatelator’s, and Other Weird Applications

#102: Fireplace Inserts, Coal Burners, Heatelator’s, and Other Weird Applications

Fireplace #102: Inserts, Coal Burners, Heatelators, and Other Weird Applications

We have covered the common fireplace applications in our chimney plug blog articles. However, there are so many fireplace variations like Heatelator tubes, fireplace inserts, coal burners, etc… We cant cover them all.

If you have something that you don’t see represented in this fireplace product selector, please contact us to get personalized help. Our tech support will have you take a couple of flash photos of the fireplace, so we can give you specific instructions on how to measure and fit a chimney plug.

#101: I Have  Wood Stove, How Do I Plug the Flue?

#101: I Have Wood Stove, How Do I Plug the Flue?

#101: I Have Wood Stove, How Do I Plug the Flue?

Woodstove #101: Wood Burning Stove

Here are some characteristics of wood stoves, so you don’t confuse them with gas,  pellet, or other kinds of stoves:

  • They are free standing units with a tube chimney attached to the back or side.
  • There is a door on the front of the firebox that you can open to put logs into.
  • Some models have a blower unit that pushed heated air into the room.
  • In the Spring and Summer chimney odor is often an issue with wood stoves.

The variety of sizes, shapes and efficiency of wood stoves is endless. I can’t possibly show them all, so lets look at the common ones.

Look For the Chimney Pipe Connection

Open up the door to your firebox and look around in there. See if you can identify a damper (image 101-2), or see if you can identify where the flue pipe is connecting with the firebox (image 101-6).

If you can see where the pipe connects to the firebox that is a perfect location to install a Chimney Balloon or a round Flueblocker. Use a ruler to make a quick diameter measurement of the entry point so you know what size plug to get. The Flueblocker is a more durable plug, but if you need a plug that has an auto-release feature if someone accidentally starts a fire without removing the plug first, then go with the Chimney Balloon.

There is Something Blocking My Access to the Flue Pipe

Sometimes there is a damper (image 101-2) or baffles that are in the way of giving you access to the flue pipe. If this is the case, see if there is a way around it. Sometimes firebrick baffles can be moved (image 101-4) to give you access to the area behind it. In the Avalon stove (image 101-3) there are firebrick baffles on the top of the burn chamber, but they are loose and can be lifted and removed. Getting them out of the way gives you access to the chimney pipe connection.

In many wood stoves there is simply no access to the chimney pipe through the burn chamber. It may be possible to access the chimney though an ash clean-out port, but this gets a little complicated. Contact us through phone or email, and we will see if there is a solution.