4 Tips for Insulating Fireplace Doors

A fireplace door.

Properly insulating fireplace doors is very important for everyone’s safety around the home while enjoying the comfort and warmth of a fireplace and avoiding any injury or fatal fire-related accidents.

When a door is in place in front of a fireplace, it already comes insulated. It is often called a fireplace screen insulation and comes in a form of a glass door. These glass doors are used specifically for masonry fireplaces and are much valued because they can help reduce the escape of heat inside a room and allow more efficient air control.

A fireplace door can come insulated and be permanently installed on the fireplace door or can be something temporary. But whatever you choose to do, always consult a fireplace expert to determine what your home needs for proper heating. It will depend on the type of fireplace you have, what you burn as fuel, the size of the fireplace, wind draft and so on. Here are some tips for installing a fireplace door.

1. Foam Insulation

Use can use polyurethane foam for foam insulation for your fireplace door. This is the most widely used form of insulation in the market and a preferred choice for fireplaces. This foam insulation is very good in sealing little or large gaps that exist in a chimney door. Properly insulating fireplace doors is very important to conserve heat inside your fireplace. If needed, purchase extra weather stripping. This will help seal off your fireplace and conserve heat inside your fireplace.

2. Choose the Appropriate Size of Insulation

Choose insulation that is appropriately sized for your fireplace. It is not just the door that needs the insulation but the rest of the fireplace and the chimney too. Since a chimney is an open vessel, the whole chimney should be properly insulated. You may also add an inflatable chimney plug that can be placed under your damper. This option is good if you want to seal off your chimney for a short period of time since it can be easily inflated and deflated.

3. Prevent Draft

Prevent draft from coming through your chimney or fireplace. Drafts can enter your home when your fireplace is not being used so this means that it is possible to get colder inside the home. Make sure that there are no gaps between your insulation and fireplace frame to avoid any draft coming into the home. If this happens, it is likely that your heating bill will increase. Good insulation will keep drafts out and help avoid raising heating bills.

4. Install a Chimney Damper

Install a chimney damper if your fireplace does not have one and keep it closed when your fireplace is not in use. Dampers allow you to easily control the air coming in and out of your chimney. If you are starting your fire, the damper should be open to allow oxygen to come in and help start the fire. If you want to keep the fire going, keep the damper slightly opened to have a good balance of oxygen. When your fire is out and you to want to keep the heat going, fully close the damper.