How To Check If Chimney Flue Is Open

Carry out a visual inspection of the chimney from your fireplace. How to Open a Chimney Flue. Look for a metal handle with a rotary-style screw or a latch in the center of the chimney throat. If you have a throat damper the closed damper immediately above your head will block your vision.

Check Details Costly Reasons Why You Should Close Your Damper In The Summer

The flue runs the chimneys length and allows smoke and other exhaust gases from the fire below to exit the home.

How to check if chimney flue is open. If you dont feel a draft its closed. It informs you how to assess whether the flue in the chimney the connecting fluepipe and flue gas passages in the appliance are free of obstruction and acceptably gas tight. In the guide below they explain how to tell if your chimney flue is open or closed so you can keep your family safe.

This article explains the hazards of angled or sloped masonry or metal chimneys and chimney flues. Sooty deposits on the pipe or furnace. Before each heating season check the flue pipe for signs of damage such as.

If the unit uses rotary control turn it all the way clockwise. Insert a broom handle or. Water stains or white streaks.

If you feel a breeze of air the damper is open. There are three possible solutions. Inspect the chimney flue from the outside of the building and again from the inside of the fireplace.

Check up into the chimney from your fireplace. Feeling the breeze is another method you can use to know whether you have an open or closed flue. Discussion includes code.

Restricted to natural draught flues intended for open-flued appliances. If you can see up through the damper and past to your chimneys interior then the damper is open. 2 Check for a draft.

You can open the chimney flue by pushing or lifting a rod all the way to open the damper. If you can see open dampers or see the sky that will prove that the flue is open. Another way to find out if the damper is open is to do a visual check.

Is it Okay to Leave the Flue Open. Gas fireplaces use the same metal flue system as wood-burning fireplaces. If you see closed metal or ceramic slats you know it needs to be opened.

Charlies Chimney Sweeps in New Richmond OH are experts in chimney inspection maintenance and repair and can help with any problem that arises with your system. Locate your hand inside the fireplace and wait to. It can also occur when the mid feathers have collapsed inside the chimney or there are open joints linking two flues together.

Check for a draft. Line the chimney if the leakage is inside the. Carry out a visual check.

Finally for some models especially top-mount dampers you need to pull a chain. Stainless steel and cast iron flue dampers commonly are opened with a touch-button control system. Maximum angle for sloping chimney flues.

Are you unsure as to whether the damper is open or. From the ground you may also be able to spot a missing flue cap or chimney damage. Tests on flues should be carried out at the most appropriate time during the building work.

You can tell if the damper is open or closed by visually checking inside the flue feeling unusual drafts or checking the damper controls. Maybe you cant see the damper or arent sure whether its a little open or closed all the way. A traditional wood stove usually has a throat damper at the base of the chimney flue.

Checking your flue pipe consists mainly of a visual inspection. Otherwise any barrier in the flues channel means it needs some unclogging. Failure to see the sky implies a closed flue or one that may need unclogging.

Open the damper and shine the flashlight and mirror up the walls. If you can see the sky it is open. If your chimney has a traditional damper all you need to do is shine a flashlight up the chimney.

If you only see the metal plate thats blocking your line of sight then the damper is closed. 3 Feel for the controls. Angled chimneys sloped flues.

Cold air stored in the chimney flue can give you the impression that the damper is open. Simply stick your head in the fireplace and look up. Standard built-in fireplaces sometimes require use of a long metal pole with a hooked end that you use to reach into the chimney and manually pull down the lever of the damper doors to open the flue.

To be able to tell if your damper is in a closed or open position you need to find the damper controls. You can use a flashlight to shine a. Fit a taller pot to the working flue.

A second way to know is to stick your hand near the opening of the fireplace. You know the flue is open if you can see the sky or have a throat dumper. A visual check is one of the surest ways of checking whether the damper is open or not.