Asked by: Gisele Fazenda
home and garden indoor environmental quality

How do you use fireplace vents?

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How to Use Fireplace Vents Properly
  1. Lay kindling twigs over the grate. Stack logs on top in perpendicular layers with air spaces between them.
  2. Open the vents and light the kindling. Close the glass doors once the kindling is in flames.
  3. Open the glass doors once the logs begin to burn.
  4. Close the vents once there is a bed of coals under the grate.


Consequently, how do the vents on my fireplace work?

A fire crackling in the fireplace adds to the ambiance while the heat it generates helps to warm the area. A closed vent can cause smoke to billow into the room, but using the fireplace vents properly ensures enough air feeds the fire and the smoke escapes up the chimney.

Similarly, how do you know if your fireplace vent is open or closed? Perform a visual check. Using a flashlight, poke your head inside the fireplace to look up into the chimney. If you have a throat damper, you can tell if it is closed if you see a barrier above your head. If you can see up into the flue, the damper is open.

Also Know, what is the vent at the bottom of my fireplace for?

Bottom Air Vent - The bottom air vent on Old-Style Heatilator Fireplaces are where cool room air is drawn into the fireplace. The air is then routed around the firebox and exits through the top air vent where it returns to the room as heated air.

Does a fireplace need a fresh air vent?

Fresh Air Vent Needed for Fireplaces It can easily be 250 to 350 cubic feet of air per minute. The fresh air vent in the hearth may be blocked or it may not be able to supply enough air to satisfy the appetite of the fire. The additional air to feed the fire must come from somewhere.

Related Question Answers

Tatum Uzin

Professional

When should I close my fireplace vent?

Close Damper to Save Heat
Instead, blocking the passage through the flue will result in smoke entering the home. The damper should be kept open until all embers are finished burning to prevent smoke from escaping into the home. When the fireplace is not in use, the damper should always be closed.

Reinhold Zschunke

Professional

Which way is a flue open?

If the handle is in the closed position, your flue damper should be closed. If the lever is in the open position, your flue damper should be open. Most damper controls are of the pull chain variety. In this case, the chain is in the lower position when the flue is closed and in the upper position when the flue is open.

Zayda Garay

Professional

What is the small lever on my fireplace?

That lever is the fresh air inlet. When not using the fireplace, it should be closed to prevent cold air entering the house. The lever should go up or down and you can feel when air is entering to see which way is open or closed.

Zhour Alarcoo

Explainer

How do I get more heat from my fireplace?

While you can minimize heat loss by adjusting the damper and create more heat by burning the right kind of wood, the best way to turn your fireplace into an efficient room heater is to install a fireplace insert. Burn seasoned firewood. Freshly cut or green wood burns inefficiently and produces large amounts of smoke.

Anselma Bliebenich

Explainer

Can I leave the flue open overnight?

Leave the damper open overnight. Yes, you will lose some heat up the flue, but you will save the occupants of the home from poisoning by colorless, odorless carbon monoxide. In the morning, stir the embers and check them for any hot spots.

Pantaleona Hazan

Pundit

What are the parts of a fireplace?

A fireplace may have the following: a foundation, a hearth, a firebox, a mantelpiece; a chimney crane (used in kitchen and laundry fireplaces), a grate, a lintel, a lintel bar, home overmantel, a damper, a smoke chamber, a throat, a flue, and a chimney filter or afterburner.

Yaritsa Menino

Pundit

Do all fireplaces have a damper?

Every Fireplace has a chimney damper. This is a movable plate that sits above the fireplace before the flue. If you pull the lever toward you, generally that will open most of the dampers. When the damper is closed, it helps to keep heated air from going up the chimney.

Tudor Shalimov

Pundit

What is a fireplace cleanout?

The chimney cleanout door is the back door of a chimney where the rubbish is taken out. This piece may be behind the fireplace or it could be located outside the house.

Natasha Forder

Pundit

How do you close a fireplace vent?

Push the lever up slightly to disengage it from its support tab and then pull it away from the tab horizontally as the damper lowers into a closed position. If your fireplace has pull chains, pull the longer chain to disengage the damper and then pull the shorter chain to close the flue.

Judy Agapito

Pundit

How does a fireplace damper work?

Fireplace damper position
For a fire to ignite, it needs oxygen. By opening the fireplace damper, you'll be allowing air to get in the chimney so that the fire can start. But leaving the damper fully open while the fire is burning also allows the heated air to escape causing your fireplace to operate less efficiently.

Olha Colman

Teacher

What is a firebox in a fireplace?

Your firebox is the part of your fireplace where the actual fire burns. Masonry fireplaces—which are built of bricks or other stone—typically have a brick firebox. If you have a prefab fireplace, your firebox is most likely made of metal.

Darinka Sourkes

Teacher

What is the trapdoor in a fireplace?

An ash pit is a compartment at the base of the fireplace that holds fireplace ashes. This compartment, usually a cavity surrounded by cinder blocks or concrete, is reached through a small metal access door mounted flush in the fireplace floor or wall.

Sergia Fievet

Teacher

How do I build a fire in my fireplace?

Steps
  1. Check that the damper is open.
  2. Air out the fireplace before lighting it.
  3. Check the draft.
  4. Set up the base of your fire with newspaper and other tinder.
  5. Stack kindling on your tinder in a grid.
  6. Stack one or two larger logs on top of your kindling base.
  7. Light the newspaper first.
  8. Open a window slightly.

Yi Waidlich

Teacher

How do you clean ashes from a fireplace?

To remove, simply shovel up the ashes, place them in a bag, and dispose in the trash. If your fireplace has an ash dump, push the ashes through the metal plate in the floor of the firebox. Use a vacuum to clean up the remaining ashes in the firebox and on the hearth.

Mieczyslaw Domingues

Reviewer

How does a fireplace ash dump work?

Ash Dump Door and Ash Dump
The ash dump door is located in the middle of the firebox and makes it easy to remove ash from the firebox. The dump door is opened to move the ash into the ash dump. The ash dump is the space directly below the ash dump door and is where the ash falls anytime the ash dump door is opened.

Ibrahima Kapadia

Reviewer

How does a fireplace work?

Nearly 80 percent of the heat a fireplace generates goes up the chimney rather than radiating into a room. Cut down waste with blowers, which move heat from the firebox out to the room, and tap into the chimney's radiant-heat potential with a grate that stacks logs up against the bricks.

Isolda Cercel

Reviewer

Is a flue and a damper the same thing?

The flue is simply the open middle of the chimney that the smoke goes up. Dampers are sometimes miss-called flues or flutes, but they are something entirely different than the flue. A damper is intended to shut off- either fully or partially- the chimney flue.

Justa Parantap

Reviewer

How do I know if my fireplace is safe to use?

5 Easy Steps to Make Sure Your Fireplace Is Safe
  1. #1 Examine the Firebox. Look for any cracks, gaps, or signs of wear in the lining of the firebox (the interior of the fireplace).
  2. #2 Look for Telltale Smoke Stains.
  3. #3 Make Sure Your Grate Is the Right Size.
  4. #4 Check the Chimney.
  5. #5 Double-Check Your Fire Extinguisher.

Maamar Tessler

Supporter

Should damper be open or closed in summer?

The importance of closing your damper in the summer
An open damper can seriously impact the air temperature within your home. During the summer, an open damper forces your air conditioner to work harder to compensate for the constantly incoming warm air; this, in turn, costs you more money through higher utility bills.

Co-Authored By:

EveryThingWhat Staff Editor

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17th April, 2020

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