Gas Fireplace Damper Open Or Closed

How to open your chimney damper.

Gas fireplace damper open or closed.

A fireplace damper is a little metal flap that sits inside your flue. Close it when it s not it use. Air can flow both ways so outside air can come into your home and the heated air from your home can escape through an open damper. Note that most epa certified zc fireplaces do not have a damper.

Is the fireplace damper open or closed. You ve got to make sure that vents ph up the house. Operating the fireplace with the damper partially closed will not. Gasketed sealed doors keep cold air from infiltrating.

It s not slightly open it s all the way open. 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. Close the fireplace damper in preparation for a hurricane or heavy rains. 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.

If you start a fire when the damper is closed you ll realize the mistake quickly when the room fills up with smoke. 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. A damper does not need to be used to control a gas fireplace fire and it can be very dangerous to use a gas fireplace with a damper in the closed position. The damper in many zc fireplaces is a simple metal plate that pivots open and pivots closed when a lever is pushed or pulled.

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 in a gas fireplace should remain open all the time. The damper should always be fully open before lighting a fire and when the fireplace is in use. In the picture above you see an open masonry chimney damper and the picture below shows it closed.

To close a throat damper in a fireplace lift the handle and pull it back towards you. Fireplace damper clamps are typically used for gas fireplace inserts or gas logs sets where it s required for the damper to be in fully open position at all times.