Regardless of whether you use your chimney or not, every chimney needs a cap. A chimney cap does several things. It keeps animals like racoons, bats, and squirrels from entering the chimney. It also prevents rain and other moisture from dripping down into the chimney flue or seeping into the insulation between a metal flue liner and the masonry surface. A chimney cap can prevent heat loss in the winter and loss of your air conditioning in the summer months and will protect your chimney’s crown from the elements, including ice, extending its life and decreasing the risk and likelihood of cracks.
A couple of things you should be aware of when installing a chimney cap:
- Improper design or installation may restrict the draft of your chimney. This will increase the likelihood of smoking problems down the road. Make sure that the chimney cap you are installing is compatible with your chimney type and that it is installed according to the manufacturer’s directions.
- Often times, the screen on your cap can become clogged with chimney byproducts, further decreasing the draft of the chimney. After installing a chimney cap, check it at least once a year to make sure the screen is not clogged.
- In high winds, caps can potentially blow off, so make sure that the cap is fastened securely to the chimney.
Prevent Water Leaks With a Chimney Cap
If water is leaking inside your flue, it can actually increase your allergies. A damp, warm environment are the perfect conditions for mold and mildew growth. Also, rain will rust away your metal flue or the grate that your gas logs rest on. If you’ve ever had a leaking chimney, you may have noticed an odor coming out of your chimney. During the warm summer months, creosote inside the chimney can evaporate with the water leaking into the chimney, creating a foul odor. By capping your chimney, you can prevent water from entering your chimney, thereby reducing or eliminating any odor.
Stainless Steel Caps
There are many different types of stainless steel chimney caps available. Standard caps usually come with screens to keep animals out. Stainless steel is the most common cap material, as it doesn’t rust and discolor the brick or stucco on your home. It also hold up to the elements better. Stay away from painted metal chimney caps, as runoff can stain the chimney.
Galvanized Chimney Caps
Galvanized chimney caps are frequently used because they’re inexpensive, but the downside to these is that they have to be constantly repainted. If you do choose this type of cap though, it’s best not to use it with gas logs. The exhaust from the logs, which is very caustic, will eat right through the cap in a few years.
Copper Chimney Caps
If you use gas logs, you may consider using a copper chimney cap. This type of cap can withstand the corrosive exhaust from the gas logs. Copper chimney caps are the most expensive type and while they look very nice when first installed, after a few storms they begin to look like an old penny.
Draft Increasing Caps
Another type of chimney cap is designed for draft increase. If you have draft problems in your chimney, you may want to consider this type of cap. They are designed to increase the draw in your chimney, preventing smoke from entering your home. Stay away from mechanical caps which rely on windvanes or turbines. The creosote and smoke coming out of your fireplace will clog up the mechanics and quickly gum up the workings of these caps.
Caps With Internal Damper Systems
Some caps come equipped with internal damper systems. While more pricey, these types of caps can be great at preventing energy loss in your home. Lock-top and Seal-tight are two great manufacturers of this type of cap. These caps are retrofitted to the chimney and controlled by an inside mechanism. When closed, you can rest assured that none of your energy is floating up and out of your chimney.
Precautions
If you are installing a cap on your own, be sure to take these precautions under consideration. Wearing gloves is essential, seeing that sheet metal may have sharp edges. Be sure not to use silicone sealants on metal flues. The metal will get hot enough to ruin the sealant. If the cap you purchase comes with screws or adhesives, use them! This will protect you from possible fires and will better ensure that your cap will stay attached despite the elements.
No related posts.
My husband and I didn’t think we needed a cap because we burn our fireplace almost year round. We figure we’d smoke out any critters that may decide to nest. We had to pay a service fee for a company to come out and remove nesting materials from the chimney that could have caused a chimney fire. We bought a cap and paid to have it installed same day so we won’t have to pay for critter removal anymore.
Have a ROHN wood stove Pipe is straight 6 inch flue, I burn real hot fires I use seasoned oak, everything works great , been burning wood for years. my problem is on the outside of the stainless chimney ther is tar running down on the out side of the pipe, have to get up there and wipe it down so it doesn’t get all over the shingles,at least 3 times a year. Burnt about a cord of wood just brushed it down got about 1 and a half cups of crap , inside the chimney looks great, can not think of any reason except the Cap. Help Me Jack
Hey Chimney Expert~
I really need your help…!!! We have a cap on our chimney that is operated from the fireplace by a chain that’s attached to the top of the cap. I wasn’t able to have a fire going when this snowfall of the century dumped two feet of snow on us. Now I can’t get the cap to open in order for us to make a fire. It’s a spring loaded dealy. I have had a space heater going up the chimney for a couple of days, if anything’s melted, you can’t tell. I also thought about having the neighor kids throw footballs at the snow piled up on that stainless steel cover. How in the world am I going to get that snow off there sooner than later? Any bright ideas? Should I try starting a small fire and yanking on the wire?
Thanks for your quick response, the second storm is here and I hate wasting a prefectly good snowy day/night w/out a crackling fire!
Teddy
For your very unique situation I don’t have any bright ideas. Your football idea sounds interesting. Sorry for your snowed in situation.
We have only a wire mesh cover on our chimney, but also had the big Washington DC area storm. Have lived in this house for over 30 years and just got to wondering WHY we have never had any snow or rain come down the chimney ??? We don’t use the fireplace so the damper is closed, but it is certainly not tight enough to prevent water from heavy rains and snow melt from coming through. ???
Linda,
Snow and rain very rarely falls straight down the chimney, which may be the reason why not having a cap has not affected you personally. Also, air flow patterns as the wind blows across the roof of the house, through surrounding trees, and over nearby hills can cause air to blow precipitation. Unless you begin experiencing weather issues with the chimney, the wire mesh should be sufficient at keeping out debris and critters. However, be sure to have the whole chimney inspected regularly as creosote buildup can occur in the openings of the mesh causing drafting problems and gasses to build up in the flue system.
Jack,
Be sure that the flue has time to warm up before you burn extremely hot fires. During the combustion process, vaporized creosote floats up and out of the chimney. If the pipe is cool up at the top, even if only in the beginning, the creosote vapors will cool and harden and a combination of downdraft and the chimney cap can cause it to condense on the area you have indicated. Try warming up the flue system by burning a little newspaper- this will efficiently warm up the flue and hopefully prevent your problem!
Dear Sweep
We have a problem that we just can’t solve. We have yellow oily looking drips continually staining our chimney from top to bottom (on the exterior of our home). it’s driving us nuts. what can we do?
Hi I hope you can help me, we have a chimney cap, during stormy weather we have severe smoke and the mess it leaves is awful. Please suggest which cap I should install and solve my problem. Thanks Nora…Ireland.
For the smoking problem, it is forseeable that the barometric pressure outside of the home is higher than inside of the home during stormy weather. This will create a negative pressure in the home, causing the home to have to draw air from outside of the home by any means necessary to balance out the pressure disparity. Try cracking a window or to when you are burning a fire to replace the oxygen in the home that the fire is burning up. Please revisit our articles on smoking problems for more clarity. This should help significantly.
Michelle, in thirty years I have never heard of anything like this. The only thing I could think of is liquid creosote, which may be an amber color. You can try applying a product called Anti-Creo-Soot (ACS) into the flue system and check to make sure that the screen on the top of the chimney is clear. The ACS will break down any creosote deposits and allow you to brush the creosote out of the chimney.