Cold air coming in through Fireplace...please help.

[Adamflyers]

Hi all:

I moved into my new house over the summer and the woman who sold it to me had a Hearthstone Clydesdale installed a year or 2 before I bought the place from her (I think it is the Clydesdale, that is what it looks like when I compare to the pic on the site) Since it really started getting cold this winter, I can't seem to keep the living room warm with the central air because cold air is coming in through the fireplace.

My 1st thought was that the Flue is open and needs to be closed, but here comes my 1st question....how do you work the flue on this thing? I can;t find any sort of lever or knob for the flue. I don't believe the flue is open though because the one time I just tried to burn some paper in the fireplace to test whether the flue was open, I got a smokey living room.

I'm finding that the cold air is coming from the bottom of the fireplace. The insert is elevated off the ground as compared to the ones I saw in the site pics where they were on the ground.

I have searched high and low in this fireplace and I just don't know where this air is coming from and I don't know how to work this thing. I admittedly know nothing about these fireplace inserts as this is my 1st house and the fireplace I grew up with was fairly standard. If my questions are stupid, I apologize, but I need some help here. Please let me know how to work the flue and what the possible causes of the cold air coming in might be. Thanks very much!

Adam from Philadelphia

 

[stoveguy2esw]

sounds to me that the installation was done improperly, if the unit is connected to a liner with proper block off plate above the fireplace in the damper area, and lined all the way up with cap at the top , air could then only come in through the stove itself. this would allow the draft controls on the stove to be closed to minimise the airflow down the flue (actually you should not have cold air coming down the flue to start with) sounds to me like it was done as a "slammer" where they do not drop a liner or even direct connect, they just set the insert in place and seal the fireplace cover. far from a desirable installation. if this were done , the closure damper in the area above the fireplace was probably removed , or disabled so that it would not fall closed while the stove was burning. i'd suggest having a local chimney professional check it out, its likely not safe to burn if this is the case as its not going to draft correctly (hence the smoke in the room) maybe one of the guys here in the forum that knows your area could suggest a sweep or chimney pro in your area to check it out. dont burn the unit any more until you have this done , i always recommend new home owners of existing homes which have a flue or stove they wish to use have a pro check it out first simply because you have not used it before and there is no telling if there was a pre existing problem. please have it checked before attempting to use the insert again. im not trying to scare you , just want you to be safe and confident that the unit will perform if you need it. as well as solve your cold air problem. hope this helps ya
EDIT: another possibility is if the fireplace has a clean out door outside that is not sealed ,not sure if you have checked for that so i thought i'd bring it up, also , if you can contact the former owner and see how the install was done , or even better who did it to check with them you may find your answer that way

 

[elkimmeg]

Calling Corie to the answer desk. Man. what is happening we have recent post 13 pages long due to drafts around inserts ? about 5 or more this week and its Tuesday

Sorry had to say that. Have you checked out some of the recent post here please describe youe fireplace chimney as best you can is it onan outside wall age of the home might help

This might take a while to finally figure it out even harder because it is new to you

 

[Adamflyers]

Thanks for the reply. Honestly, I have no clue about these inserts. I only tried to burn it once and I was unsuccessful, but now I certainly will not try again if you think it might be unsafe. I guess my best bet is taking your suggestion and calling someone in to take a look at it. It is killing my energy bill to have all this air coming in, and I'd love to use the fireplace from time to time! I believe the former owner may have left the card of the person who installed it, I just filed all those papers away in my filing cabinet. So I'll dig up this guys number and get him to take a look at it.

Thanks very much for your help! I really appreciate it.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

ok good deal, by the way , if that is a clyde its a great unit , if done properly will serve you quite well, probably knock back some of that central heat bill. hope you can get it checked out soon.

 

[Adamflyers]

I will take a look through the posts and see if I can find someone with the same problem. It is a townhouse...I'm not quite sure how the Chimney is on the house, I'd have to take walk in the back and check it out. The house is about 15 years old. I wish I could give you better details, but it's snowing out there, I'm in my PJ's and it is 10:30 at night, so I won't be walking out there tonight! But I'll check on the details and get back here. Thanks very much for taking the time out.

 

[Adamflyers]

ok good deal, by the way , if that is a clyde its a great unit , if done properly will serve you quite well, probably knock back some of that central heat bill. hope you can get it checked out soon.

Good to hear! I guess it will be worth spending money to have someone properly fix everything up on it, if it is indeed installed improperly. Thanks again.

 

[velvetfoot]

Outside air vents?

 

[ecfinn]

Hi all:

I moved into my new house over the summer and the woman who sold it to me had a Hearthstone Clydesdale installed a year or 2 before I bought the place from her (I think it is the Clydesdale, that is what it looks like when I compare to the pic on the site) Since it really started getting cold this winter, I can't seem to keep the living room warm with the central air because cold air is coming in through the fireplace.
Adam from Philadelphia

Adam, Where do you live in the area? There are a number of us here in the greater philadelphia area. I live in Ambler. Philaphire is in Blue Bell. I'm sure we could recommend a sweep to come out and check things out. My first thought is that there is no top cap in the chimney and no block-off plate at the bottom. From what I could find around Philadelphia, noone routinely installs the bottom block-off plate around here. If you want, contact me via PM and I'll be glad to discuss it off line.

Later,
Eric