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There are 4 vents around my fireplace. Two above, two below. I really dont know if they are connected to each other or what, but a recent blower door test indicated that they leak air. I would think that they wouldnt be connected in any way to the outside but apparently they are, or I dont think the test wouldve shown so much air coming from them. The air had to be coming from somewhere and my only guess is outside some how.
I would like to seal them up. I dont think they serve a real purpose. During the winter, when the fire place is going, ive put my hand up to them and really never felt much, if any warm air coming from them.
Any thoughts on this? Would it be safe just to seal them up?
Also, the area in front of the fireplace isnt completely sealed as some of the morter and tile has cracks/holes. Would it be as simple as using concrete to seal it up or would I have to use special materials?
My guess is that they're a passive heatalator system. I have the same although the upper ones aren't as high. Cold air is drawn in through the bottom vents, warmed behind the fire box and exits through convection (heat rises) from the top pair.
Have you had a fire in it yet? When you do, after the fire's been burning for a bit put your hand against one of the top vents, you should feel heat. The ones on mine get too hot to touch after a couple hours of burning.
EDIT: oops, saw that you have tried to feel heat from them. How old is your house? Newer houses are so airtight that fireplaces sometimes can't draw enough air for a good burn. Maybe, if they are connected to outside, it's a vent system to supply air to the fire.
My guess is that they're a passive heatalator system. I have the same although the upper ones aren't as high. Cold air is drawn in through the bottom vents, warmed behind the fire box and exits through convection (heat rises) from the top pair.
Have you had a fire in it yet? When you do, after the fire's been burning for a bit put your hand against one of the top vents, you should feel heat. The ones on mine get too hot to touch after a couple hours of burning.
EDIT: oops, saw that you have tried to feel heat from them. How old is your house? Newer houses are so airtight that fireplaces sometimes can't draw enough air for a good burn. Maybe, if they are connected to outside, it's a vent system to supply air to the fire.
I am pretty sure I didnt feel warm air before, but Ill try it again.
The house was built in the 50s.
If they are connected to the outside, I dont see where they would be.
I agree, looks like a heatalator system. We had one in our family home, never was impressed with it, although the vent above the firebox did get hot. If it leaks air, my bet is that the fresh air is coming from underneath or down along a multi-wall chimney pipe. I don't trust it. At a minimum, I'd be removing those vents and sticking a cellphone camera in there to take some pics where I could see what was going on. I would also have a licensed chimney sweep thoroughly inspect the chimney. Once those were done, yeah, you could seal the vents.
You don't need anything special for repair cements except in the firebox, which likely is metal anyway except for the firebrick floor of it.
I have a passive heatilator system from 1940 and I love it. Use a ceiling fan in conjunction with the fireplace in the winter to get the best circulation of the hot air.
During the winter, when the fire place is going, ive put my hand up to them and really never felt much, if any warm air coming from them.
It's slow but there is two key reasons this works well, one it's constant so you're heating a very large volume of air as long as you have a nice draft going through it. More importantly the air you're heating is at ground level which is cooler.
We have a heatalator fireplace with glass doors and a draught control. With the doors open you get that wonderful radiant heat but then how much is being drawn out of the room up the chimney? With doors closed and draught off you reduce the flow up the chimney but lose the radiant heat....unless, of course, the glass heats up a lot. Any expert advice?
This is an old thread, hopefully someone will pick up on my question.
I have a fireplace insert that has a passive duct system. The house is is about 34 years old and the insert is that old. I stopped burning some ten years ago, but before that I had enough output to move the air via ceiling fans from the living room to the back of the house. I'm not having the same luck since I started burning this year. It also doesn't feel like as much heat is coming out of the ducts as I remembered.
I am thinking of running a long vacuum hose down the duct to see if I might pull some debris out but I did a camera shot down the duct and It doesn't look terribly dirty. Any ideas?
I have vents above and below my firebox. There is push/pull lever on the side. No idea if it should be pushed or pulled. Looks like here was writing on it but rubbed off
I have vents above and below my firebox. There is push/pull lever on the side. No idea if it should be pushed or pulled. Looks like here was writing on it but rubbed off
That lever is for fresh air. If you were to look on the outside you should see a small venthood- that is where the air comes in. The firebox itself has the "valve" that controls the amount of air entering depending on how much you move the lever.
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