What Can I Do About Cold Air Coming from My Fireplace?

Fireplaces and chimneys are open systems designed to provide a clear drafting path for smoke and toxins to exit into the outside air. However, that creates a problem: this system heats your home, but it also creates a conduit for cold air to enter. 

Fortunately, this all-too-common problem has a number of solutions — some simple, some a little more involved. Let’s start by choosing one of two options:

• Prevent the air from entering your home
• Create more heat from your fireplace

In some cases you can do both, as we’ll see below.

Keep cold air out

Damper

The fireplace damper is your first line of defense against cold air infiltrating your home when a fire isn’t burning. Dampers should close tightly and block all the air above them. If your damper is warped, rusted or otherwise damaged, cold air in the upper flue is going to get past it.

Along with the common throat damper located just above the firebox, some homeowners add a top-sealing damper at the top of the chimney to double their protection.

Chimney balloon/plug

Another great way to block cold air is with a chimney balloon or plug. These devices are placed above the throat damper and inflated to completely block air from coming down into your fireplace. Balloons are designed to be used only when a fire isn’t burning. Should you light a fire with an inflated balloon, it will automatically deflate.

Fireplace Doors

Finally, a set of sturdy fireplace doors will go a long way in keeping cold air out of your home. Often made of decorative glass, fireplace doors not only block air drafts when the fireplace isn’t in use, they also look beautiful.

Create More Efficient Heat

There are two excellent ways to increase the temperature inside your room/home and eliminate cold air drafts all together.

Install a powerful fireplace insert

Fireplace inserts come factory-made and properly sized to fit into the firebox of your existing masonry fireplace. Inserts are heavily insulated and operate with their own efficient venting system. Heat-efficiency ratings of 85% and higher are common with inserts. This means that the majority of the heat the unit produces will be used as heat for your home. Compare this with a rating of 10% or 20% for most open masonry fireplaces.

Zero-clearance fireplace

Zero-clearance fireplaces are so-named because they’re powerfully insulated and can be safely installed close to wallboards, flooring and insulation in virtually any wall in your home. Heat-efficiency ratings often go well above 80%. They have their own vent pipe, so no chimney is necessary, and, like inserts, they can run on wood, gas or pellets.

Either a fireplace insert or a ZC fireplace will bring significantly more heat to your home than a traditional masonry fireplace and both appliances will not be anywhere near as drafty as a masonry unit.

Ready to upgrade? Contact Black Moose Chimney today! We can help with the installation of all fireplace or insert components, and we also offer a full range of chimney services, including inspections, sweeps, repairs and more! We want you to stay warm, and we know exactly how to make that happen. Call us today at (603) 525-7905.