I bought my house in December and am just now getting to poke around. I have
two fireplaces -- a smaller one with a rectangular flue and damper that
fully closes and appears to seal very well.

The larger fireplace (48"W x 32"H) has a round flue and damper that has a
threaded "adjustment rod" that will not let the damper close. As set
currently, it only allows the damper to be set at about a 45 degree angle. I
had a $140 natural gas bill last month (in Southern California) and am
thinking that I probably am trying to heat Palos Verdes with hot air
escaping out my flue.

Both fireplaces have glass doors that fit quite well, but I can feel the
draft from the flue on the larger fireplace when the damper is closed as far
as the adjustment rod permits (again, open it is at 90 degrees and closed it
is about 45 degrees).

The thing that puzzles me is that the rod does not look like it can be
adjusted down any more than its current position.

Any reason why the damper would be adjusted so it cannot close? (this is my
first experiences with owning fireplaces). I am thinking about just removing
the adjustment rod so that the flue can fully close, but I do not want to
violate code or cause a fire, etc.

best,

old dirtbeard

Ahhh... I did some skulking on the web, and see that in some communities
they will not allow you to close the damper on a fireplace anymore. I think
that this must be the case on the one fireplace. I bought the house in
December and they may have had to put this "clamp" on to prevent the damper
from closing.

While I was working on it, the clamp "fell off" (wink, wink), and now I
don't think I know how to put it back on again.

I think my flue not closing mystery has been solved.

old dirtbeard

"old dirtbeard" wrote in message
. ..
I bought my house in December and am just now getting to poke around. I
have two fireplaces -- a smaller one with a rectangular flue and damper
that fully closes and appears to seal very well.

The larger fireplace (48"W x 32"H) has a round flue and damper that has a
threaded "adjustment rod" that will not let the damper close. As set
currently, it only allows the damper to be set at about a 45 degree angle.
I had a $140 natural gas bill last month (in Southern California) and am
thinking that I probably am trying to heat Palos Verdes with hot air
escaping out my flue.

Both fireplaces have glass doors that fit quite well, but I can feel the
draft from the flue on the larger fireplace when the damper is closed as
far as the adjustment rod permits (again, open it is at 90 degrees and
closed it is about 45 degrees).

The thing that puzzles me is that the rod does not look like it can be
adjusted down any more than its current position.

Any reason why the damper would be adjusted so it cannot close? (this is
my first experiences with owning fireplaces). I am thinking about just
removing the adjustment rod so that the flue can fully close, but I do not
want to violate code or cause a fire, etc.

best,

old dirtbeard

"old dirtbeard" wrote in message
. ..
I bought my house in December and am just now getting to poke around. I
have two fireplaces -- a smaller one with a rectangular flue and damper
that fully closes and appears to seal very well.

The larger fireplace (48"W x 32"H) has a round flue and damper that has a
threaded "adjustment rod" that will not let the damper close. As set
currently, it only allows the damper to be set at about a 45 degree angle.
I had a $140 natural gas bill last month (in Southern California) and am
thinking that I probably am trying to heat Palos Verdes with hot air
escaping out my flue.

Both fireplaces have glass doors that fit quite well, but I can feel the
draft from the flue on the larger fireplace when the damper is closed as
far as the adjustment rod permits (again, open it is at 90 degrees and
closed it is about 45 degrees).

The thing that puzzles me is that the rod does not look like it can be
adjusted down any more than its current position.

Any reason why the damper would be adjusted so it cannot close? (this is
my first experiences with owning fireplaces). I am thinking about just
removing the adjustment rod so that the flue can fully close, but I do not
want to violate code or cause a fire, etc.

best,

old dirtbeard

I put a gas log (propane) in my fireplace in Arizona and the kit came with
the clamp to prevent the damper closing. Was supposed to be a requirement
for gas logs...at least for propane. But my clamp only required a very
small opening when closed. Maybe they put the clamp on backward or
something. Reminds me of the time I started a wood fire in the fireplace
for my wife to enjoy while lying on the couch, her leg in a cast from a car
accident. I left for work but forgot to open the damper. Lucky for her, my
aunt only lived a few houses away and was able to run down and open the
damper. I still hear about my attempt to asphyxiate her, 30 years later.
Tom G.

I put a gas log (propane) in my fireplace in Arizona and the kit
came with
the clamp to prevent the damper closing. Was supposed to be a requirement
for gas logs...at least for propane. But my clamp only required a very
small opening when closed. Maybe they put the clamp on backward or
something. Reminds me of the time I started a wood fire in the fireplace
for my wife to enjoy while lying on the couch, her leg in a cast from a car
accident. I left for work but forgot to open the damper. Lucky for her, my
aunt only lived a few houses away and was able to run down and open the
damper. I still hear about my attempt to asphyxiate her, 30 years later.
Tom G.


ROFL. nice one.

--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16

we had a fire in our (LENNOX woodburning insert) fireplace.
the flue was open, or so we thought!

the house filled with smoke! (no glass doors at the time)

i called the installation guy, and was told that the LENNOX inserts were
having trouble with the flue only opening about 45degrees.
this COULD HAVE been a disaster.
they tell me that LENNOX has been notified, but has not responded.
in the meantime, my fireplace guy knew exactly how to fix the problem and we
have smoke free fires now.

--
..
..
..
..





"dnoyeB" wrote in message
. ..
I put a gas log (propane) in my fireplace in Arizona and the kit came
with
the clamp to prevent the damper closing. Was supposed to be a
requirement for gas logs...at least for propane. But my clamp only
required a very small opening when closed. Maybe they put the clamp on
backward or something. Reminds me of the time I started a wood fire in
the fireplace for my wife to enjoy while lying on the couch, her leg in a
cast from a car accident. I left for work but forgot to open the damper.
Lucky for her, my aunt only lived a few houses away and was able to run
down and open the damper. I still hear about my attempt to asphyxiate
her, 30 years later.
Tom G.
ROFL. nice one.

--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes
9:16

I have a gas log fireplace that I use seldomly. My damper was warped
and not working well just because it was old overused. The glass door
helped some, but the fireplace was still drafty and cold in the
winter. I tried a few things to plug the chimney but I bought a Chimney
Balloon online from this place in Wisconsin www.chimneyballoon.us

I did try stuffing some fiberglass before i tried the balloon, but that
was pretty itchy to remove when I wanted a fire. I probubly use it 6
times in a winter, when company is over.

The reason that the damper is supposed to be propped open is for 2
reasons:
1. If there is a gas leak with no fire, the gas will be drawn up the
flue via the natural draft, rather than drift into living quarters
and
2. If the damper is left closed on a wood burning fireplace, the smoke
in the room will let you know. With the gas fireplace, the 'smoke' is
not sufficient to let you know that the damper is closed.

and in my case, the flue problem was a design error of LENOX!