Winter is here! And if your home has a chimney this blog post is for you!  Check out our winter energy saving tip to help keep you and your family a little warmer and save you money this winter. Santa will be coming down the chimney in a few days, but did you know that closing your chimney flue can help save you money on your energy bills?

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So what exactly is a chimney flue?

A chimney flue is a duct or opening in your chimney that allows for exhaust gases that are created from a fireplace, furnace, water heater, boiler, or generator to escape outside.

chimney flue
Take a look at this masonry chimney diagram to visually see what the chimney flue is and how it impacts your fireplace

A good point for homeowners to realize is that if you don’t use your fireplace regularly in the winter, that heat is escaping outside through your chimney. An open chimney flue allows for heat to directly leave your home. This obviously wastes the heat and increases your energy costs during the winter. To save energy and money, make sure to keep your chimney flue closed when not in use. If you never use your fireplace or don’t want to use it anymore, consider having your flue permanently sealed to prevent heat from escaping. Choosing to have your chimney flue permanently sealed means that you will no longer be able to have a fire going in your fireplace.

If your chimney or heating system can’t expel exhaust properly this can be dangerous to you, your family, and your home. This can cause a dangerous build up of gases. During your winter maintenance tune-up, your chimney flue should be checked to make sure that everything is performing correctly.

When Holland Heating and Cooling  performs your heating maintenance, we will check your chimney for you!  If you’re not into contracts, but would like a tune-up, we offer a $99 standard equipment tune-up.

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