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Download the Fireplace Draft Stopper Brochure
Download the Fireplace Draft Stopper Retailer Info Sheet
NOW AVAILABLE - ONLY $54.95!
OVERVIEW
65% or approximately 100 million
homes in North America
are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Fireplaces bring ambience, warmth and a primal survival nostalgia.
Unfortunately there are negative side
effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season.
Fireplaces
are energy losers!
Researchers have studied this to determine
the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing!
One remarkable documentation of this
is a research study that shows that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall
heating energy consumption by 30%!
Researchers calculated that a home with
an active fireplace in it, consumes approximately 3,500 kWh per year more than an equivalent house without a fireplace.
In fact, house designers allow for an
extra 3,400 BTU/hr (1 kW) of additional heating for each fireplace added to a home. For homes heated with electricity
for an average electric utility rate of $0.15 per kWh, that would amount to approximately $525 extra per year in home
energy costs.
Gas and fuel oil heating at one time
was considerably cheaper than electric heating, however with today's gas and fuel oil prices, the cost of heating a home with
a fireplace could be an additional $450.00 more than a home without one.
Of course gas, fuel oil and electric
heating prices vary widely across North America. But for many consumers, their heating bills may be
more than $500 higher per winter just due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces!
Why
Does a Home With a Fireplace Have Higher Heating Bills?
The technical
answer to this question is the "stack effect". The stack effect is the movement of air due to convection currents within your house's
building envelope.
In simpler terms
- hot air rises! Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when your warm heated air is drawn out of your
home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace accelerates the normal stack effect, like a giant straw
- sucking the heated air from your house.
The greater the
difference between the outside and indoor air temperature, the greater the air movement due to the stack effect. For example,
if the outdoor air temperature is 15 degrees F (-10 degrees C) and the indoor temperature is 68 degrees F (+20 degrees C),
the stack effect of the fireplace chimney would be the same as a 300 CFM bathroom fan running continuously.
This is like leaving a large window open all winter long!
The
Solution - Install a Fireplace Draft Stopper
Most fireplaces have metal damper plates designed to prevent both cold downdrafts and space heating losses.
These damper plates however provide little help after the fireplace has had a few roaring hot fires which cause the metal
plates to warp and become misaligned.
Glass doors are
also installed in some homes to stop downdraft problems but unfortunately they are not designed to be air tight because the
glass would shatter when a fire is lit in the fireplace. These problems cause energy waste and subsequent higher heating bills.
The solution to
this problem of higher heating bills is to install a fireplace plug to eliminate air leakage.
The Fireplace Draftstopper
a unique product that has been designed to be a removable plug for the fireplace. The Fireplace Draft Stopper has been used
in tens of thousands of fireplaces since 1992.
The Fireplace Draftstopper is
designed as a durable inflatable plug, made of a specially formulated nylon-urethane material. Research testing and studies
have verified that the Draftstopper seals the fireplace site to an effective 95-98% seal. At a price of under $50.00, the
Fireplace Draft Stopper is a wise investment that could provide a potential payback in just one heating bill.
What is the Fireplace Draft Stopper?
The Draft Stopper is an inflatable
urethane pillow measuring 21" x 43". It is quickly and easily installed in the fireplace just below the damper level.
The Draftstopper is provided with 5 "slittable" areas that can be cut
to provide an opening for a damper handle. As the Draft Stopper is inflated it seals around the damper handle sealing the
opening!
The Fireplace Draft Stopper can be adapted to work in almost all fireplaces. Even if you have an unusual construction,
the Draftstopper can be successfully installed in less than 2 minutes.
The Draftstopper is one of the best investments you can make. It is the easiest
and most inexpensive way to stop valuable warm air from leaving your home and minizing drafts from your fireplace.
How
Does the Fireplace Draft Stopper Work?
The Fireplace Draftstopper is
easy to install, and also easy to remove in order to have a fire. A Tee-shaped adjustable prop is included with the Fireplace
Draft Stopper to simplify the installation and to support it in the event of heavy down drafts.
When the Fireplace Draft Stopper
is removed it is placed in a FREE storage bag that comes with the package. To prevent possible puncture of the inflatable
plug the firebox must first be inspected for any sharp surfaces or protrusions. The inflation process requires approximately
5 good breaths of air to give the plug some shape.
Then it is placed centered in
the firebox and directly below the fireplace damper. An additional 2-4 more breaths of air are required to seal the firebox
cavity.
The Fireplace Draft
Stopper Has Been Tested
The Fireplace Draft Stopper is
recommended for use in wood burning as well as gas fireplaces, and especially conventional fireplaces with gas fire logs.
It has been tested by Warnock Hersey (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada
office) for the BC Gas Safety Branch for gas fire log applications.
What they were mainly concerned about was the possibility of someone starting
the gas fire log with the Draftstopper in place. They destroyed several cases of Draft Stoppers to determine that even
if the fire log is started the worst impact that could be expected was that the Draft Stopper would be melted.
As far as CO is concerned there was not any hazard potential identified
or concern raised.
Benefits
of the Fireplace Draft Stopper
- Saves up to 30% on heat and air conditioning costs!
- Stops uncomfortable chimney downdrafts!
- Reduces entry of odors and harmful toxins!
- Seals fireplace so that rodents, insects, etc. can't enter!
WHY NOT CONSERVE ENERGY, SAVE $$$ AND
MAKE YOUR HOME MORE COMFORTABLE?
BUY ONE TODAY FOR EACH FIREPLACE IN YOUR HOUSE!
PLEASE
NOTE THE COLOR OF THE DRAFTSTOPPER IS BLACK.
(The Draft Stopper is installed
within the fireplace cavity below the damper and when installed can be difficult to see. The flourescent orange
blow tube sleeve helps to alert the user that a Fireplace Draft Stopper is installed when going to start a fire.
This helps to remind the user to remove the Draft Stopper and place it into the FREE storage bag when using the fireplace!).
| Color of pillow is black. |
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| The Draftstopper comes complete as shown. |
| Installation Instructions |
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| Click On Drawing To Enlarge | | 
