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Gas fireplaces are meant to heat your home, but due to their connexion to the outdoors (to protect you from smoke too particles), they may sometimes have the opposite effect. Drafts can get into through openings inwards fireplaces or be pulled in from other household openings due to escaping air through the chimney. 

There are many options available to assist inward blocking drafts, including products yous tin purchase or actions you lot can accept, each amongst dissimilar pros in addition to cons. 

To eliminate the draft from a gas fireplace, block the chimney by closing the dampers or amongst chimney balloons, chimney sheep, or chimellas. Alternatively, block the fireplace amongst fireplace doors, blankets, or guards. Sealing cracks in addition to gaps inwards in addition to about the fireplace will too assist. 

Blocking the Chimney

Close Chimney Dampers

Sometimes gas fireplaces are installed to supplant traditional fireplaces that have chimneys. Your gas fireplace may or may non vent through that chimney. This volition decide whether yous can close dampers permanently or entirely when the fireplace isn’t inwards use. 

The master crusade of the fireplace draft may but live that the damper is constantly left open fifty-fifty when it’sec not needed. 

If your fireplace does non vent through the chimney, it’s condom to permanently shut the flue damper. However, if the gas fireplace is venting through the chimney, the damper MUST be open up when a burn is lit as well as if embers are even so burning after.

Carbon monoxide tin can come in the family if y'all shut the damper during a burn, causing a health run a risk.

If y'all’re non sure about the electric current condition of a chimney damper, yous tin home your hand inwards the fireplace to experience if at that place’s a draft (patch no burn down is introduce!). If you lot can experience a draft, the damper is likely open up. It’second likewise possible to await upwards the chimney for a visual check (if y'all come across a metal plate, the damper is unopen).

If it is open up, side by side you tin move the damper to the shut place. Different chimneys will have different ways of opening or closing the damper. Some may involve rotating a knob; others may ask pushing or pulling a lever. 

Here’second a video showing how to open up and close a mod left-correct fireplace damper:

Alternatives to Closing Dampers

It’second possible that your chimney does non accept a damper. In this case, y'all’ll probable desire to purchase other products that block the opening, similar chimney balloons (also called pillows) or sheep. 

Remember that like dampers, if the fireplace vents through the chimney, you HAVE to withdraw the blocking products before starting a fire. They tin only live put back once all embers take stopped smoking.

A chimney balloon ^{_{(amazon link)}} is made of tough plastic to resist tears, final longer, too insulate the chimney block. It gets inflated to correspond within your chimney and block airflow. To take away it, merely deflate and carefully draw it from the chimney.

Before y'all purchase ane, you’ll ask to mensurate to go the right size to fit your chimney. 

A chimney sheep _{^{(amazon link)}} is made of durable wool that can be cut to check your chimney. It is wedged into the chimney using its grip. Removal solely requires pulling it out. 

Both the chimney balloon and chimney sheep shouldn’t take hold of fire if you lot accidentally forget to take them out (the balloon volition shrivel and autumn out, while the sheep is burn down retardant). 

It tin be unsafe to function a chimney sheep in a gas log fireplace because raw fuel or gas fumes (such every bit carbon monoxide) will vent into the dwelling house if yous don’t take them during a burn.

Did yous know that they actually brand ventless gas fireplaces that expel these dangerous byproducts directly into the room? Crazy, correct? Needless to say, they are banned in many areas, including Canada.

For a like product (inward terms of relaxation-of-role) that can live safer inwards gas fireplaces, endeavor a Chimella _{^{(amazon link)}}. Like the balloon, it volition burn down and autumn out if you lot forget to take away it during a burn, but as alongside the sheep, it is easily moveable (not requiring inflation). 

Blocking the Fireplace

If the chimney is already effectively blocked, it may not be the root of the draft. In fact, even if the chimney damper is shut, there tin withal live a draft created from the air cause betwixt the chimney as well as the house through the fireplace. 

This is where blocking the fireplace will come inwards and so that common cold air stays inwards the chimney too doesn’t create negative pressure. Any blocking product should effectively foreclose escaping warm household air and intruding cold chimney air drafts. 

Fireplace Doors

Fireplace doors _{^{(amazon link)}} are commonly made of drinking glass together with are both functional in addition to decorative. For gas fireplaces, fireplace doors are preferable to fireplace screens, which are meshwork together with furnish less of a barrier for the fireplace. 

Fireplace doors protect the surrounding room from the burn down. Specifically for gas fireplaces, they add together an extra degree of protection against carbon monoxide or other byproducts. 

For drafts, fireplace doors are keen for increasing free energy efficiency. Doors tin live opened patch the burn is burning to allow rut to fill up the room. Once a burn has warmed a room, fireplace doors can be unopen to forbid that warm air from escaping through the chimney. 

When a burn down is not present, the doors serve to block any cold drafts trapped in the chimney from entering the habitation, too in the summertime, foreclose air-conditioned air from escaping exterior.

In improver to the chimney damper, the fireplace doors create an extra barrier to foreclose air drive between the fireplace together with the room. 

Fireplace Blankets

A cheaper as well as less-permanent option to fireplace doors, fireplace blankets _{^{(amazon link)}} are another choice for saving energy.

Because the chimney damper needs to stay open subsequently the burn down stops (to allow smoke too gases outside until the fire has completely stopped), placing the fireplace blanket over the fireplace can assistance prevent oestrus loss from the room to the chimney.

Fireplace blankets are made of fire-resistant cloth (e.g., flame-resistant carbon fibers) as well as are likewise ofttimes expert thermal barriers. They can attach to your fireplace screen via magnets. 

One con of fireplace blankets is that they’re less decorative than fireplace doors. It’second essentially simply a dark cloth blocking the opinion of the fireplace, which tin can look a scrap less aesthetically pleasing compared to the glass doors.  

You’ll as well have to shop the fireplace blanket when not inward use, rather than having it permanently attached to the fireplace. 

Fireplace Guards

Returning to a more decorative choice, a fireplace guard_{^{(amazon link)}} or fire cover, is typically a folded network, glass, or canvass metallic panel placed inward forepart of a fireplace to protect the room from excess estrus or particulates. 

Energy efficiency benefits tin can vary depending on the blueprint and cloth of the guard. Generally, though, they can run to forbid air leakage. There’s besides the added do good of decorative elements oftentimes establish on fireplace screens. 

Fireplace guards volition be less effective compared to drinking glass doors or fireplace blankets. This is because the guards don’t attach to the fireplace; they’re unremarkably gear up inwards an arch about the fireplace. This allows about air to however menstruum freely betwixt the fireplace and the room. 

If you lot instead install a fireplace cover that is fitted to the fireplace opening, in that location’ll live less open-air drive than alongside a gratis-standing cover.

Mesh guards particularly volition provide less of a barrier. However, if yous can discover drinking glass or canvas metal guards, they tin can more successfully preclude drafts. 

Supporting Tips for Minimizing Drafts

While y'all’re working on locating issues with the chimney as well as fireplace, it’second also of import to await for cracks together with gaps inward the areas around the household. Windows, doors, baseboards, in addition to ceilings tin can live contributing to the draft issue in ii ways.

First, when the within air enters the exterior world via the fireplace/chimney, it creates negative force per unit area. Holes inward the surrounding house will convey inward air to fill up the infinite left by the other escaping air.

Second, this industrial plant inwards the contrary management. If air is escaping via the windows, floors, etc., it creates a temperature sink that pulls inwards air from the gas fireplace more than speedily. 

To deal with this issue, run to seal these cracks as well as gaps using caulk _{^{(amazon link)}}, expanding foam _{^{(amazon link)}}, too weatherstripping _{^{(amazon link)}}. 

Here’s a video detailing the procedure:

Eliminating a Gas Fireplace Draft Permanently

Once yous run out how to block your chimney and fireplace, too equally seal upwardly whatever cracks or gaps around the household, your gas fireplace should no longer be causing drafts.

It’s possible that afterwards these steps, though, you’re still experiencing unwanted airflow because of your gas fireplace. 

If you lot nonetheless can’t notice the origin of the draft, our article Gas Fireplace Cold Draft: Reasons too solutions specifies other steps you tin can accept such equally: checking the pilot light, sealing the chase, sealing the vent pipes, as well as sealing gaps about gas lines. 

These steps should come up after those detailed higher up since they ofttimes necessitate removing the fireplace to look behind the firebox. This would live required to cheque the sealed status of the gas business connectedness in addition to the vent pipes. In this situation, calling inwards a professional is highly recommended. 

Finally, if the gas fireplace is no longer inward role, y'all can seal it off permanently. You can frame, insulate, and drywall over the fireplace opening or seal it semi-permanently past installing a foam board insert bordered past rod insulation (this tin live removed after if you lot wish to starting time using the fireplace once more).

Sources

https://www.chimneyballoon.co.uk/

https://www.chimneysheep.co.uk/blog/chimney-sheep-vs-chimney-balloon/

http://aspenfireplace.com/why-fireplace-doors-are-meliorate-than-screens/

https://www.fireplaceblocker.com/

https://buffaloah.com/f/glos/f/firescreen.html