I want to seal the damper of my fireplace, which I never use. I thought it
was a narrow opening that I could easily stuff some insulation. However,
the damper is about 2' wide, and above it is a large chamber. Only further
up the chimney does it taper down to the square terracotta tube. The tube
is no more than 12"x12".

Since I can't really insulation from right above the damper, would I gain
much by stuffing insulation at the top of the chimney? The chimney is
capped of with a metal cap, which should keep the insulation dry, except in
a blowing rain.

"Buck Turgidson" wrote in message
news:G6rYg.7884$eZ4.468@dukeread06...
I want to seal the damper of my fireplace, which I never use. I thought it
was a narrow opening that I could easily stuff some insulation. However,
the damper is about 2' wide, and above it is a large chamber. Only further
up the chimney does it taper down to the square terracotta tube. The tube
is no more than 12"x12".

Since I can't really insulation from right above the damper, would I gain
much by stuffing insulation at the top of the chimney? The chimney is
capped of with a metal cap, which should keep the insulation dry, except
in a blowing rain.


I'm thinking of a similar idea, but doing it below the damper. I've got
about a foot of just brick. My idea is to cut a piece of cardboard to wedge
in there, leaving enough space for a lot of loose pink insulation. I'm going
to enclose the insulation in a plastic bag to make it easier to handle if I
want to remove it at some point. (Eliminate contact with it, in other
words).

On Sun, 15 Oct 2006 14:19:23 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Buck Turgidson" wrote in message
news:G6rYg.7884$eZ4.468@dukeread06...
I want to seal the damper of my fireplace, which I never use. I thought it
was a narrow opening that I could easily stuff some insulation. However,
the damper is about 2' wide, and above it is a large chamber. Only further
up the chimney does it taper down to the square terracotta tube. The tube
is no more than 12"x12".

Since I can't really insulation from right above the damper, would I gain
much by stuffing insulation at the top of the chimney? The chimney is
capped of with a metal cap, which should keep the insulation dry, except
in a blowing rain.


I'm thinking of a similar idea, but doing it below the damper. I've got
about a foot of just brick. My idea is to cut a piece of cardboard to wedge
in there, leaving enough space for a lot of loose pink insulation. I'm going
to enclose the insulation in a plastic bag to make it easier to handle if I
want to remove it at some point. (Eliminate contact with it, in other
words).

It's easier to just cut solid foam insulation to fit
just below the damper, and prop it in place with a stick,
or a television set.

I bought an chimney balloon that fixed a similar issue in a zero
clearance fireplace that had a leaky damper. If you know the rough size
of the area above your damper or if you can measure it with a folding
carpenters ruler or tape measure you get a balloon that is apropriate
for the size of your chimney. Insert the balloon through the damper
opening and inflate it through the valve tube. You can find them at
http://www.chimneyballoon.us or I see northlineexpress.com and amazon
carries them as well.

I recommend the clear balloon version over the black balloon version
since you can buy a clear one of an apropriate size for your damper and
it installs into the chimney so you dont have to see it.