DIY chimney baloon using two heavy-duty plastic bags filled with attic insulation?

A

ajapale

Moderator
Messages
7,700
horusd said:
I bought one of these from a Scottish company for around €30.00 odd , and it broke within a few weeks. I made my own "ballon "using two heavy-duty plastic bags filled with attic insulation. It works a treat.
Click to expand...

Thanks horusd for this suggestion. But is it effective and safe and how does it work out in the long term?

aj
 
In our small end tce house there is two fireplaces, one in Kitchen and one in Sitting room, there is a strong upward draft from these.

I got two of those chimney balloons recently and they were quite effective but on calm or warm days I wished the chimneys were open so as to get a bit of air change through the house as opening windows is not always suitable.

Anyway I've dumped the balloons and got a mdf board about 1/2" thick to give it some weight so it will stay in place and on the back I have glued 1" Polystyrene board. Its great and on days I want a bit of air I can just pull back the board a bit or remove it completely.

Must get a tin of paint now to spray it.
 
Hi aj, I've had mine in for nearly two yrs and never a draft problem since. You can easily fiddle them to fit into awkward corners etc, so I think they are much more effective than the balloon.
 
I was on a service visit to a house where something similar was used to block the chimney, it had been fitted by the previous owners, the new ones were there 3 weeks
and all were suffering carbon monoxide poisoning from using the gas fire!

They were very very very lucky that their boiler broke down and I checked the chimney as part of a routine visit.

Blocking a chimney is a very dangerous practice, I understand the heat loss implications
 
DGOBS said:
I was on a service visit to a house where something similar was used to block the chimney, it had been fitted by the previous owners, the new ones were there 3 weeks
and all were suffering carbon monoxide poisoning from using the gas fire!

They were very very very lucky that their boiler broke down and I checked the chimney as part of a routine visit.

Blocking a chimney is a very dangerous practice, I understand the heat loss implications
Click to expand...

That's quite frightening for anyone who uses gas. We have two unused chimneys and I was considering getting chimney balloons to block them. Now, I'm having second thoughts. How much heat can be lost through the chimney anyway?
 
Our solution is in place for 6 years now - stuff a pillow up the chimney - great! Mind you, don't expect to use the pillow again :rolleyes:
 
Stephanno said:
I've always thought you needed to allow a bit of ventilation into the chimney.
Click to expand...

That's correct. Blocking it completely will result in condensation issues within the chimney that left untreated will result in structural issues over time.
 
For ventilation, it is best to have a 2" plastic pipe inserted with the plastic stuffed bag.
Tip to avoid DGOBS's problem - make sure the pipe sticks down a good way into the fireplace - so it is obvious if anyone goes to make a fire.
 
I've got a mesh cover on the chimney to stop birds from coming down. Also, it's a feather pillow which I think is probably porous to a certain degree, allowing some air to flow - it just keeps out those awful Irish wet draughts!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top