Three Reasons Why Chimney Balloons Are Useless

Fireplaces provides warmth and a comforting ambiance during the colder months. But on normal days, other than giving your living room a rustic vibe, unused chimneys are gigantic holes that remove conditioned air from your home and let in the outside air in a very uncontrolled manner.

This is why draught-proofing a chimney is imperative in ensuring that your indoor heating sits at a comfortable level. If sealing an unused chimney is not a new concept to you anymore, then you’ve probably used Chimney Balloons for this purpose.

Because they were free and widely available as part of a government program, there are many thousands of Chimney Balloons installed in Victoria.  They were the go-to solution for the majority of homeowners who want to stop their chimneys from affecting their thermal comfort without structural change.  The plastic Chimney Balloons can be blown up manually and are inserted into the throat of the chimney.

However, while they were easy to use, these widely-used inflatables don’t actually perform well in preventing air leaks and helping you maximise your home heating and cooling!

Here are three main reasons why Chimney Balloons are not the best solution for draught-proofing your Chimneys:

1. They Don’t Fit Snugly Into The Chimney Throat

Chimney throats are commonly rectangular in shape, with corners each measuring 90 degrees. Meanwhile, Chimney Balloons are round and therefore will not fit snugly into the throat. There are always going to be gaps for air leakage to continue to steal your expensive heating and cooling.

2. They Don’t Last Long

Balloons can deflate over time and can be prone to puncturing. Re-inflating them every three months can become tiresome and even messy.  Unless you don’t mind getting in your hands and knees to re-inflate or re-install your balloon every 12 weeks, we recommend that you get a Chimney Draught Stopper.

3. They tend to Fall Into the Heath

A slightly deflated Chimney Balloon will lose sufficient tightness to fall. This means the balloon will fall into the hearth. On countless occasions, we’ve seen hapless Chimney Balloons sitting in the hearth. Worse, we have even found one outside in the garden having escaped via the chimney!

4. Chimney Balloons are made from Plastic!

And isn’t there enough plastic in the world already!   It is better to seek alternative materials that don’t harm the earth. If you desire a longer-lasting solution to stop draughts, pest infestation, and water leaks in your fireplace, a Chimney Draught Stopper is what you need.

What Is A Chimney Draught Stopper?

Draught-proofing your chimney is best done by installing a Chimney Draught Stopper into your fireplace.  

It is a medium density rubber foam that has been pre-cut to the general size of chimneys.  Measuring 1000mm long x 300mm wide and 100mm thick, a Chimney Draught Stopper is easily trimmed to shape and be inserted into the throat of your chimney.

Watch this video to see how to achieve an excellent result into stopping your open chimney.

Being made out of rubber, Chimney Draught Stoppers have a number of excellent qualities including not being impacted by water as well as being made from a renewable source.

If you wish to remove the plug, it can be easily extracted.  We suggest you attach a string around the plug if you wish to remove it on a regular basis. It is also a useful idea to include a reminder in the hearth that you have a plug inserted into the chimney – just in case you forget.

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