chimney cap ?

[hardwaregrrl]

Hey all, since I'm in the south my chimney may not always be warm enough to keep critters away. I used a piece of the expanded metal gutter guard around it to keep birds from hanging out. Can I leave it in place when burning? I'm just worried as soon as I remove it we will have a string of 60 degree days and someone may move in. tia

Oh yeah....first real fire.

 

[Nick Mystic]

I'm not sure what size hole the gutter guard you're using on your rain cap, so I can't comment on your setup. However, I can tell you that the screening in rain caps is often the first place that creosote will build up on a flue set up. This is because the cap is sitting out in the elements at the end of the exhaust stream where the gasses are the coolest. Cooler gasses passing through an even cooler screen and you can see why the creosote will deposit there. Therefore, you want to have the critter screen on your cap to have holes as large as possible without letting bird/bats, etc. into the flue. A screen with very small holes will clog rather quickly.

 

[hardwaregrrl]

Thanks Nick....I'll keep an eye on it and remove it when winter "really" gets here.

 

[BrotherBart]

If the openings in the expanded metal are 3/4" or more you should be fine.