One of the most common service call we get concerns the “damper” of the fireplace. This is the part of a fireplace that you open to have a fire and then close afterwards to “try to” keep from losing your “prewarmed” house heat (or air conditioning during the summer months) from “going up the chimney! Folks think that it is “broken” for whatever reason and want someone to fix or replace it. When in reality, It’s not broken! 99 times out of 100 the damper “plate” has simply fallen down or became unhinged or “dislodged” from it’s location within the damper “frame”, and can readily be re-installed in a matter of moments.
Please Note: That “loose fitting” plate style damper is in no way, energy efficient!
It is based on a damper design over 200 years old, in times when “Energy efficiency” didn’t mean a thing! Folks today are concerned with how they consume energy and want to do everything they can to prevent it’s needless loss!
If you fall into the category of conscientious folks that are trying to conserve energy anyway they can, you may want to follow this link to see what today’s energy efficient fireplace dampers look like.
