Top-Mounted Dampers Are Best for Your Chimney
If you have an older chimney, you most likely have a traditional throat damper for your fireplace. According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), the damper is an important component of your fireplace and chimney system to keep the heat in and the cold air out of your house, which increases your energy efficiency and reduces your heating costs. The damper is also important for safety reasons because it controls the flow of smoke, gases, and the other byproducts of combustion up the chimney to leave your home. However, a throat damper has many flaws and issues. Fortunately, you have another choice for a highly effective damper that will give you a better seal than the traditional throat damper: the top-mounted damper. Santa’s Friend Chimney Service strongly prefers and recommends this type of damper. We would like to tell you more why we feel a top-mounted damper is the best choice for your chimney.
This clip is courtesy of Richie Baxley at Environmental Chimney Service in Asheville NC.
A top-mounted damper takes care of two functions at once.
One of the best features of a top-mounted damper is that it also serves as a chimney cap when the damper is closed. To be completely honest, we feel that this type of damper actually gives you better protection than an ordinary chimney cap. With its silicone rubber gasket to seal in heat and air conditioning as a throat damper does, a top-mounted damper also provides an air-tight seal to keep out water, debris, birds, squirrels, and raccoons — just as a chimney cap would. If our customers need a new chimney cap, Santa’s Friend Chimney Service recommends installing a top-mounted damper instead of a chimney cap. Some models of top-mounted dampers are even equipped with protective meshing, so when the damper is open, your chimney is still protected from animals and debris.
A top-sealing damper saves you both energy and money.
You just cannot get as good of a seal from a throat damper as you would from a top-mounted damper. You will have no worries of cold air, ice, and snow coming into your flue and making a cold core within your chimney. This cold core will attempt to cool your home at the same time that your heating system is trying to warm it up, which wastes both fuel and money. Since a top-mounted damper is at the top of your chimney, cold air does not have the chance to get inside the chimney as your entire flue will be sealed air-tight with the silicone rubber gasket. Believe us when we tell you that you will save money on your energy bills by installing a top-mounted damper.
A top-mounted damper is easy to operate.
Some throat dampers are difficult to use because you have to almost stick your head up the fireplace to open and close them. With a top-mounted damper, opening and closing the damper is simple. A stainless steel cable from the damper comes down the chimney and connects to a handle you can easily access from inside the firebox. Different models will have different opening and closing methods, but we promise you will find all easy to use.
If you would like to know more about top-mounted dampers, get in touch with Santa’s Friend Chimney Service to find out even more advantages to this type of damper.