When did they start putting dampers in chimneys?

At one time fireplace chimneys went straight to the top with nothing
interfering, right?

But my fireplace chimney has a damper, which I use to keep the indoor
air from escaping when there is no fire.  

It can also be used to slow down a fire, perhaps?  Hence the name?

Aren't dampers universal in chimneys therse days. 

When did that start?

On Sep 2, 6:01=A0am, mm  wrote:
> When did they start putting dampers in chimneys?
>
> At one time fireplace chimneys went straight to the top with nothing
> interfering, right?
>
> But my fireplace chimney has a damper, which I use to keep the indoor
> air from escaping when there is no fire. =A0
>
> It can also be used to slow down a fire, perhaps? =A0Hence the name?
>
> Aren't dampers universal in chimneys therse days.
>
> When did that start?

It's not normal practice to put dampers in chimneys these days. The
reason being there has been cases in the past where the damper has
been left closed or material has fallen on to the damper and blocked
the chimney.  People have been gassed with CO.  I bought a wood stove
a few years back that had a damper which I removed.  It was of third
world manufacture.

On Sep 2, 2:53=A0am, harry  wrote:
> On Sep 2, 6:01=A0am, mm  wrote:
>
> > When did they start putting dampers in chimneys?
>
> > At one time fireplace chimneys went straight to the top with nothing
> > interfering, right?
>
> > But my fireplace chimney has a damper, which I use to keep the indoor
> > air from escaping when there is no fire. =A0
>
> > It can also be used to slow down a fire, perhaps? =A0Hence the name?
>
> > Aren't dampers universal in chimneys therse days.
>
> > When did that start?
>
> It's not normal practice to put dampers in chimneys these days.

So, you just let heat from the house flow out the chimney when the
fireplace isn't being used?   Don;t know about what you do in the UK,
but here in the USA woodburning fireplace chimneys have commonly had
dampers for half at least a half a century.  And I've seen the guys on
This Old House replacing old ones that didn't work correctly with new
ones that fit over the top of the chimney from the outside, with a
pull chain going down inside the chimney.   Or is this just another
case where harry doesn't know what he's talking about?




>The
> reason being there has been cases in the past where the damper has
> been left closed or material has fallen on to the damper and blocked
> the chimney. =A0People have been gassed with CO. =A0I bought a wood stove
> a few years back that had a damper which I removed. =A0It was of third
> world manufacture.

t...@optonline.net wrote:
> On Sep 2, 2:53 am, harry  wrote:
>> On Sep 2, 6:01 am, mm  wrote:
>>
>>> When did they start putting dampers in chimneys?
>>
>>> At one time fireplace chimneys went straight to the top with nothing
>>> interfering, right?
>>
>>> But my fireplace chimney has a damper, which I use to keep the indoor
>>> air from escaping when there is no fire.
>>
>>> It can also be used to slow down a fire, perhaps?  Hence the name?
>>
>>> Aren't dampers universal in chimneys therse days.
>>
>>> When did that start?
>>
>> It's not normal practice to put dampers in chimneys these days.
>
> So, you just let heat from the house flow out the chimney when the
> fireplace isn't being used?   Don;t know about what you do in the UK,
> but here in the USA woodburning fireplace chimneys have commonly had
> dampers for half at least a half a century.  And I've seen the guys on
> This Old House replacing old ones that didn't work correctly with new
> ones that fit over the top of the chimney from the outside, with a
> pull chain going down inside the chimney.   Or is this just another
> case where harry doesn't know what he's talking about?
>
>
>
>
>> The
>> reason being there has been cases in the past where the damper has
>> been left closed or material has fallen on to the damper and blocked
>> the chimney.  People have been gassed with CO.  I bought a wood stove
>> a few years back that had a damper which I removed.  It was of third
>> world manufacture.
>
Fireplaces are a piss poor form of heating anyway. Put in an air tight 
stove and you won't have to worry about it.

-- 
LSMFT

I look outside this morning and everything was in 3D!

mm <N...@bigfoot.com> wrote:

>When did they start putting dampers in chimneys?

The 1700's house we lived in when I was a kid had dampers in all 6
fireplaces.    No one had lived in it since the Civil War- so the
dampers were installed before that.  They appeared to be original.

>
>At one time fireplace chimneys went straight to the top with nothing
>interfering, right?

Caves and teepees had no dampers.     I think Franklin writes about
the value of a damper in his patent on his friend's stove.  [around
1750 and not much like the 'Franklin' stove we know of today]

>
>But my fireplace chimney has a damper, which I use to keep the indoor
>air from escaping when there is no fire.  
>
>It can also be used to slow down a fire, perhaps?  Hence the name?

Originally, maybe.    Houses don't usually have enough airflow to try
that today--  you could open a window in the room.   

>
>Aren't dampers universal in chimneys therse days. 
>
>When did that start?

I would guess mid-1800's-- but that's just a guess.   

Jim

On Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:20:09 -0400, Jim Elbrecht <e...@email.com>
wrote:

>mm <N...@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>
>>When did they start putting dampers in chimneys?
>
>The 1700's house we lived in when I was a kid had dampers in all 6
>fireplaces.    No one had lived in it since the Civil War- so the
>dampers were installed before that.  They appeared to be original.
>
>>
>>At one time fireplace chimneys went straight to the top with nothing
>>interfering, right?
>
>Caves and teepees had no dampers.     I think Franklin writes about
>the value of a damper in his patent on his friend's stove.  [around
>1750 and not much like the 'Franklin' stove we know of today]
>
>>
>>But my fireplace chimney has a damper, which I use to keep the indoor
>>air from escaping when there is no fire.  
>>
>>It can also be used to slow down a fire, perhaps?  Hence the name?
>
>Originally, maybe.    Houses don't usually have enough airflow to try
>that today--  you could open a window in the room.   
>
>>
>>Aren't dampers universal in chimneys therse days. 
>>
>>When did that start?
>
>I would guess mid-1800's-- but that's just a guess.   
>
>Jim

Thanks all.  Thats' what I sort of thought, not counting what Harry
said. 

On Sep 2, 10:46=A0am, mm  wrote:
> On Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:20:09 -0400, Jim Elbrecht 
> wrote:
>
>
>
> >mm  wrote:
>
> >>When did they start putting dampers in chimneys?
>
> >The 1700's house we lived in when I was a kid had dampers in all 6
> >fireplaces. =A0 =A0No one had lived in it since the Civil War- so the
> >dampers were installed before that. =A0They appeared to be original.
>
> >>At one time fireplace chimneys went straight to the top with nothing
> >>interfering, right?
>
> >Caves and teepees had no dampers. =A0 =A0 I think Franklin writes about
> >the value of a damper in his patent on his friend's stove. =A0[around
> >1750 and not much like the 'Franklin' stove we know of today]
>
> >>But my fireplace chimney has a damper, which I use to keep the indoor
> >>air from escaping when there is no fire. =A0
>
> >>It can also be used to slow down a fire, perhaps? =A0Hence the name?
>
> >Originally, maybe. =A0 =A0Houses don't usually have enough airflow to tr=
y
> >that today-- =A0you could open a window in the room. =A0
>
> >>Aren't dampers universal in chimneys therse days.
>
> >>When did that start?
>
> >I would guess mid-1800's-- but that's just a guess. =A0
>
> >Jim
>
> Thanks all. =A0Thats' what I sort of thought, not counting what Harry
> said.

=3D=3D
Dampers controlled the rate of combustion in all kinds of stoves and
fireplaces. Without them a good many homes would have burned down. If
all the fireplaces in North America were closed off or removed we
could save one pile of money on energy. The wasted heat from
fireplaces is totally unnecessary.
=3D=3D

On Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:16:29 -0700, trader4 wrote:
>> > Aren't dampers universal in chimneys therse days.
>>
>> > When did that start?
>>
>> It's not normal practice to put dampers in chimneys these days.
> 
> So, you just let heat from the house flow out the chimney when the
> fireplace isn't being used?   Don;t know about what you do in the UK,
> but here in the USA woodburning fireplace chimneys have commonly had
> dampers for half at least a half a century.  And I've seen the guys on
> This Old House replacing old ones that didn't work correctly with new
> ones that fit over the top of the chimney from the outside, with a pull
> chain going down inside the chimney.   Or is this just another case
> where harry doesn't know what he's talking about?

I've lived in a few UK houses with 'open' fireplaces, the youngest 
probably a mid-1970's build. None of them had dampers. I've not seen many 
in the US, but the few that I have had all had dampers (and also doors 
that could be closed)

At a few of the UK places, we did have covers that would fit over the 
fronts of the fireplaces and at least stop air movement and stop some of 
the heat from escaping up the chimney.

cheers

Jules

On Sep 2, 1:01=A0am, mm  wrote:
> When did they start putting dampers in chimneys?
>
> At one time fireplace chimneys went straight to the top with nothing
> interfering, right?
>
> But my fireplace chimney has a damper, which I use to keep the indoor
> air from escaping when there is no fire. =A0
>
> It can also be used to slow down a fire, perhaps? =A0Hence the name?
>
> Aren't dampers universal in chimneys therse days.
>
> When did that start?

re: "It can also be used to slow down a fire, perhaps?"

I had a friend that moved into an renovated farmhouse. It had a great
room that was both the living room and dining room, separated by
furniture. There was a huge fireplace in the living room area and a
coal burning stove in the dining room.

They had been using the coal burning stove for a few weeks (topping it
off 3 times a day) and had used the fireplace for small fires on
occasion.

One wintry evening they threw a party and built a huge fire in the
fireplace, leaving the glass doors open for effect.

The house kept getting colder and colder so the husband went to check
the coal stove. The temperature was down and the coal was almost out.

Curious as to what was going on, he opened the door on the stove,
coating himself and most of the dining room area with coal dust.

Turns out the fireplace was pulling air down the coal stove chimney
and putting the coal out. Once he opened the door, the rush of air
spewed coal dust everywhere.

What a mess!

Years ago, I was helping my boss install a furnace. Of course, it was 
cold. So, the folks lit a fire in the fireplace. The make up air came 
donwn the furnace chimney, which was drawing pure fireplace smoke. The 
bitter acrid smoke was really killing me. I ended up wrapping a 
shopping bag over the end of the flue, and some duct tape. And then go 
open a cellar window to let some make-up air in.

-- 
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
  www.lds.org
.


"DerbyDad03" <t...@eznet.net>
wrote in message news:b8efb838-4b44-4344-9082-

Turns out the fireplace was pulling air down the coal stove chimney
and putting the coal out. Once he opened the door, the rush of air
spewed coal dust everywhere.

What a mess!