If your home doesn’t have a furnace for heating, it may well have a boiler. Regardless of what type of boiler you have, you could benefit from having a flue damper installed. If your boiler functions by burning fuel, then you need to be sure the fumes from the burned fuel can escape from the home. Most of the time, these fumes are directed up and out through the chimney. In many cases, this path is left open at all times, thus resulting in heat loss.
When you have a flue damper installed, it will automatically open when fumes need to escape, then close again to prevent additional boiler heat from escaping.
Steam boilers and flue dampers
A flue damper is incredibly useful when you have a steam boiler installed in your home. These heating systems make use of steam that is pushed through pipes into radiators of your home. When hot water is needed to generate steam, the boiler will come on. When this process happens, there is already air inside the pipes leading to the radiators. The air in the pipes needs to escape through a vent, such as a flue damper, which will automatically open and close when excess air needs to be released.
Cost of installing a flue damper
A flue damper will normally cost a few hundred dollars to have installed, depending on which type you select. Even if you consider yourself a handy individual, installation of a flue damper is better left to a heating professional. They will know where to cut the hole for the damper, as well as which type of damper you will need based on your home’s unique heating requirements.