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Purchased 36x15 balloon through their website. I had a very hard time getting it in place. I probably ended up scraping it in the process, because the balloon would not hold air for more than a few days. I emailed Chimney Balloon last night. Within 12 hours someone called me, walked through my chimney dimensions (which were a little unsual). He offered a free replacement with a custom sized balloon!
***1 year update: balloon is still in place, holding air. Don't forget to check if it needs more air when it gets cold out (just like your car tires)
***UPDATE: getting close to 2 years, balloon still in place, no problems
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I recently bought three of these products directly from the manufacturer and have so far installed two of them. They are the proper size for each fireplace.
Here are some observations that may be of help to people considering purchase of this product. The fireplaces here are traditional (non-gas) wood-burning fireplaces with a metal damper just above the firebox.
For starters, after a number of attempts, I realized that I could not install the balloon well with the damper plate still in the flue. Why? My dampers are shaped like rectangles, with the long side parallel to the front of the fireplace. There is a rod that goes through the middle of the damper plate, left to right, and serves as a pivot to rotate this rectangular plate so that, when as open as it can be, perpendicular to the bottom of the fireplace, it leaves an opening on either side of only about 1 1/2"-2". You then have to insert the uninflated balloon through this very narrow opening and then, with your hand (mine is on the small side), which can barely fit through the opening, try to fit it to the opening so that , when inflated, it will form a good seal with the edges and so prevent air from escaping up the chimney. After a number of attempts I realized that I couldn't get a good enough fit. I would blow the balloon up partly until it started to shape itself to the sides, then test it to see how much leakage there was. I could not get a good seal. The way I figured out the fit is by using an incense stick, which I lit until there was a flame, which I then blew out, allowing a plume of smoke to rise from it. I then used a flashlight to see how the rising smoke would behave. I held the end of the stick about an inch away from the area being tested (be careful not to touch the balloon) . What I learned is that sometimes you would get the smoke curling up and sort of dawdling there as though it didn't know where to go. This was a sign of a good seal. Other times, the smoke would go straight up quickly in a thin plume through the opening that it found. No matter how often I awkwardly tried to reposition the balloon above the damper opening I wound up with a number of poor seals through which air just rushed out. Another problem with getting a good fit with the plate in place is that the "handle" through which you blow air extends down below the body of the balloon and so sticks out and into the damper opening below it, right next to the damper plate. (This is after removing the long tube used to blow air into the balloon.) I then examined the damper plate and realized that it could be removed by lifting up one end, angling that end up into the chimney about a foot (your proportions may well be different) and then pulling the rod out of the socket into which it fit on the other side. I could then bring the plate down through the opening, removing it.
After doing this it became possible to position the balloon, going through the same process as described above, but with much better success. By blowing it up partially, testing, sucking out some of the air, very gently repositioning it, and so on, I achieved a decent but still not great fit. At this point I realized that especially in some corners the balloon could not form itself tightly around the edges of the opening. I then came up with the notion of using polyfill (a cotton-like material) to seal up those particular areas. Now, when tested, I got a tight seal all around.
As I now see it, the main advantage of this system is that, if you want to start a fire in the fireplace, you could take the balloon down and then, with some hassle, put it back in later. It's not clear to me that, if you did not want to use the fireplace at all, this would be any better than fitting either a metal or wood covering above the firebox and sealing the edges with some sort of fire-resistant foam. You would, at least with my kind of set-up, have to remove the damper plate.
I might add that the instructions that come with the balloon make no mention of having to remove the damper plate. Perhaps it isn't necessary in all cases but it certainly was in mine. If you do decide to install one of these do wear safety glasses and an aspirator rated for fine toxic dust would probably be a good idea as stuff can come down on you as you face upward. Others have remarked that this is a dirty job. True, and then some. I would suggest putting some plastic sheeting on the firebox floor and the parts of the fireplace exterior to that floor.
As time allows I will post some additional remarks.
As always, constructive criticism is more than welcome.
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It fit our chimney perfectly and was easy to install. Great product to reduce heat loss in the winter and cool air loss in summer.
Honest reviews on Chimney Balloon Fireplace Damper 36"X15" Draft Stopper Pillow Plug
This was a gift and my friend really like it. It was simple to install and helped to keep the house warmer.
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I purchased this item directly from the manufacturer. I had wasps coming down my chimney and they managed to get around the flue. I was able to seal my fireplace doors but would have maybe 60-70 dead\dying insects in my fireplace by the end of summer. This item has solved my problem. Installation and removal is simple and take about 5 minutes in my situation. This is the 3rd summer I've used this with no problems. Highly recommended.
Update: I noticed when removing CB last fall that the balloon was slightly deflated. After contacting the company and doing some simple diagnostic tests we were able to determine the valve on the extension was leaking. Even though this part was long out of warranty the company sent me a new replacement part at no cost.
