Gas Fireplace Damper Open Or Closed

How to open your chimney damper.

Gas fireplace damper open or closed.

The glass between the firebox and your home prevents cold or heat from coming down the chimney and by leaving the damper open at all times you eliminate the risk of having gas build up or backdraft into your home. Note that most epa certified zc fireplaces do not have a damper. If you home is 2 story and you leave the damper open and don t have glass doors the flow through the damper and this is with fireplace at room temp can be over 500 feet per minute. Close the fireplace damper in preparation for a hurricane or heavy rains.

It s not slightly open it s all the way open. If you start a fire when the damper is closed you ll realize the mistake quickly when the room fills up with smoke. To close a throat damper in a fireplace lift the handle and pull it back towards you. Is the fireplace damper open or closed.

The damper in a gas fireplace should remain open all the time. The chain can be found on the inside of your fireplace. In the picture above you see an open masonry chimney damper and the picture below shows it closed. The damper in many zc fireplaces is a simple metal plate that pivots open and pivots closed when a lever is pushed or pulled.

Just a bit of fyi. When the fireplace is in use the damper whether it s a throat damper just above the firebox or a top mount damper at the top of the chimney must be open. See hurricane fireplace tips to see more about why you should close the fireplace damper with you are expecting heavy rains. And in fact in some gas log situations where it s conversion from a wood burner to a gas burning log they put a bracket on a damper to prevent you from ever being able to close it because that could be very dangerous.

A chain that s dangling freely and unsecured is a telltale sign that the damper is open. You ve got to make sure that vents ph up the house. If it s hooked to the side of the fireplace wall then this probably means that the damper is closed. The damper should always be fully open before lighting a fire and when the fireplace is in use.

Operating the fireplace with the damper partially closed will not. Gasketed sealed doors keep cold air from infiltrating. You can also tell if your damper is open or closed just by listening.