Having a fireplace with a leaky or damaged fireplace damper results in lost energy dollars. It poses a similar challenge to trying to keep cool air in your refrigerator when the door seal is damaged or the door won't close. This is a concern and most people would have this fixed right away. A fireplace damper should raise just as much concern. If it's not sealing tightly you will lose "paid energy dollars" in the form of lost heat or air conditioning escaping up the flue. Another scenario is that you might instead experience cold air blowing down the flue.
The Energy Top Chimney Damper,below, has a seal like a refrigerator. This is the tightest most effective seal in the industry. When closed, it provides a very tight seal preventing "paid" heated or air conditioned air from escaping and cold air from entering through the fireplace.
The typical fireplace damper has a metal-to-metal seal. Let's try the old refrigerator door dollar trick to test the seal. If you put a dollar bill in the old fireplace damper and close it you will probably be able to easily pull the dollar out. If you put a dollar bill in a top sealing damper, don't count on being able to remove it until you open the damper.
A chimney top damper closes by the action of a cable that drops down the chimney interior and is secured in a bracket at the bottom, mounted on one side of the firebox. The handle, which is easily accessed through the fireplace opening, secures in the bracket when closed. To open the damper, simply give it a slight tug and release the handle and the damper pops open. Some top-sealing dampers provide the option of a chimney cap and damper in one. This is the best option for an optimum seal.
Posted by Karen Stickels Lamansky, Director of Marketing
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