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What Is a Flue? Your flue liner (located inside your chimney) is the vertical passageway that transports the waste gas to the outdoors. Think of chimney liners as an exhaust pipe that transports smoke and combustion products safely outdoors.
Where is the flue in a fireplace?
A chimney flue is a vertical passage or duct that runs from the firebox (where the fire burns) to the top of the chimney. Technically, a flue is any open vertical space in a chimney that allows smoke to escape the home from the firebox.
How does a flue work in a fireplace?
Chimneys operate on the principle that hot air rises above cold air. The movement of hot gases rising from the fire creates a pressure difference between the inside of the flue and the room. This is called a “draught” and it forces air into the fireplace, this air feeds the flames as it rushes past the fire.
How do I know if my fireplace flue is open or closed?
Before lighting a fire, you can tell if the damper is open by placing your hand into the fireplace. If you feel a draft coming down the chimney, it is a good indicator that the damper is open. If you don’t feel any cold air coming down the chimney, it means that the damper is closed.
What is the difference between a flue and a vent?
Vents are similar to fireplaces and flues in that they may pass through other parts of the house and they do need temperature protection to prevent a transfer of heat from the vent to the surrounding building materials. However, vents are not designed to handle the high heat produced by wood burning fires.
What happens if flue is closed?
Operating the fireplace with the damper partially closed will not generate more 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.
Is a damper and flue the same thing?
A damper is located in the flue of your chimney. The flue is where the smoke escapes when the fire is going. Dampers are placed inside of the flue to help control ventilation.
Is it OK to leave the flue open overnight?
The smoke from burning wood contains carbon monoxide, so in order to prevent this toxic byproduct from entering your home, it is important to leave the flue open overnight. This enables a draft to carry the compound out into the atmosphere, instead of sinking down the chimney and saturating the room.
How does a flue pipe work?
The purpose of the flue pipe is to remove harmful byproducts of the combusted, or burned, fuel from inside your home. If the byproducts are not properly ventilated from inside the home, then you can have a dangerous buildup of carbon monoxide.
When should you close the flue after a fire?
Close Fireplace Damper When Fire Is Completely Out. Shut the damper when the fire is completely, absolutely out. That means ashes are cool to the touch even when stirred. If you close the damper before that, you risk carbon monoxide poisoning.
Should the damper be open all the way?
When should the damper be kept open or closed? The fireplace damper should always be in the open position whenever you have a fire in the fireplace. Close the damper when the fire is extinguished. This will prevent the heated air from escaping through the chimney and will keep water and other debris out of the flue.
How do you close a flue?
How to Close the Chimney Flue Turn off the gas to the fireplace or wait for wood to burn out. Put on work gloves to keep your hands free of soot. 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.
Why is it called a flue?
Historically the term flue meant the chimney itself. In the United States, they are also known as vents for boilers and as breeching for water heaters and modern furnaces. They usually operate by buoyancy, also known as the stack effect, or the combustion products may be ‘induced’ via a blower.
Is a chimney the same as a flue?
A flue is the channel, pipe, or tube through which gases and smoke travel from a source of combustion (fireplace, furnace, boiler) to the outside environment. A chimney is, on the other hand, in its simplest definition, the housing that encases the flue. It is usually made of masonry, brick, or stone.
Is a flue pipe a chimney?
A flue is simply a passage for conveying exhaust gases from an appliance to the outdoors. A flue may be a duct, pipe, vent, or chimney. An unlined chimney is technically a flue, even though an unlined chimney is a fire hazard.
What happens if you don’t open the flue?
Our research shows that the flue on a gas fireplace should remain open during use or when the pilot light is lit. If the flue is closed in either instance, you risk a greater chance of carbon monoxide poisoning or a spark induced structure fire due to a buildup of toxins emitted by propane or natural gas burners.
