Fireplace Flue Open Or Closed

Often a damper becomes difficult to operate or sticks in one position.

Fireplace flue open or closed.

Flue dampers can therefore typically be opened and closed by turning the damper controls either to the right or to the left. This duct within your chimney includes a damper that can be opened or closed by a lever or pull chains in most instances. If you start a fire when the damper is closed you ll realize the mistake quickly when the room fills up with smoke. You know the flue is open if you can see the sky or have a throat dumper.

If the flue is open the smoke will go out of the chimney without any problem. Unless you have a vent free fireplace the first step you should take before lighting a fire in a wood burning fireplace or gas fireplace is to open the damper. The damper should always be fully open before lighting a fire and when the fireplace is in use. The damper is a steel or cast iron door that opens and closes the throat of the firebox into the flue.

This is not true for every fireplace some especially pre fab type the damper is either open or closed. Close it when it s not it use. One of the most pervasive causes of a stuck damper is rust often caused when rainwater enters the chimney through a faulty or nonexistent chimney cap. Its job is to seal off the firebox from the rest of the chimney and can be opened or close with a lever.

Flue dampers can typically rotate 360 degrees in either direction and so you can put the damper in a completely closed position completely open position or anywhere in between. Give yours a check to see open or closed it can help save money during winter keeping it closed when not in use. When properly installed dampers should create an airtight seal that prevents airflow between the chimney and the rest of the house. The flue is essentially a channel inside the chimney the smoke is funneled through and it s controlled by the damper a pair of small steel doors.

A flue directs smoke outside of a home when a fireplace is in use. With most dampers you can adjust the handle to where it not open as much. Operating the fireplace with the damper partially closed will not. How to open your chimney damper.

These doors located at the throat of the flue before it exits the chimney need to be opened prior to igniting a fire. If the damper is closed then the smoke will come out of the chimney and fill out the room. Definitely closed when not in use you can actually feel the air flow being sucked out of the house when you sit by the fire place with the flue open its not saving you pennies its saving you much more than that it causes an automatic draft when its left open.