My question is can I close off the top of the chimney chase up on the roof with one of the Chimney Balloons? And would the temperature at that height be cool enough where we could fire the gas logs and still keep the balloon in tact? Thanks, DV
A: Hi DV, You pose a very good question. We have had many customers
install a Chimney Balloon upside down from the top of the chimney when
they have installed an electric fireplace insert, or if they have decommissioned their fireplace completely, but I have strong reservations about
trying it with a vent free gas log.
My initial reaction is with the
vent free gas log burning I am certain that the temperature at the top
of the chimney will get to the 200 degrees Fahrenheit and trigger the
Chimney Balloon to melt, shrink, and release. The reason for my
certainty is that the damper you have is inevitably going to leak heat
or convect heat into the chimney and that heat will naturally rise and
collect against the Chimney Balloon.
My suggestion is to use the
Chimney Balloon conventionally and just install it while the fireplace
is not being used. Any amount of time you have the Chimney Balloon
installed will be saving you money.
There is one other thing you
should be aware of with your vent free gas log. There was a University
of IL 3 year study that was done on ventless gas units in homes in
Illinois. Here is a link to a blog article about the study and a link to
the study results:
http://www.chimneyballoonusa.com/blog/2009/08/3-year-univ-of-il-study-results-answer-how-safe-are-ventless-gas-logs.html
Personally,
I found this research to be eye opening and something that ventless gas
log users should be aware of. I will let you draw your own conclusion
from it, but pay particular attention to the NO2 level results in the
study.- Jason
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