Your chimney is a stalwart of service. It’s always there when you need it, venting smoke and deadly gases from your home. It is exposed to a gauntlet of conditions throughout the year, burning sun rays, high winds, rain, hail, and snow. To protect your chimney from these elements, a small but powerful device known as a chimney cap should be installed. Inexpensive yet effective, a chimney cap will help keep your chimney in good shape for years to come. Let’s explore more about the benefits of a chimney cap.
What is a Chimney Cap?You’ve probably seen a chimney cap atop a chimney; it can be rectangular or a stovepipe type topped with a cone, and indeed looks like a cap. Chimney caps have been in use for hundreds of years, a testament to their effectiveness. What does it do? It is there to protect your chimney from the unforgiving elements. It can be made from a number of materials, such as copper, stainless steel, aluminum, and galvanized steel.
A chimney cap fulfills a number of duties to protect a chimney. Here is how the little sentinel can benefit your chimney.
The first and most important reason to invest in a chimney cap for your home is water damage. Nothing is more destructive to a chimney than moisture. If your chimney’s flue is left exposed to the sky, then there will be water damage. Over time, your chimney is baked by the sun at its apex without a cap to protect it. Year after year of blazing rays cook your chimney to a point where it absorbs moisture like a sponge. When water gets into the brick and mortar of your chimney, a highly destructive action happens. Every time the temperature drops below freezing, the water in your chimney’s masonry structure expands, and then when the weather warms, it contracts. It is a phenomenon known as the “freeze-thaw cycle.” It can lead to cracked, broken, or loose bricks, not to mention the mortar that holds them together can disintegrate.
One of the main benefits of a chimney cap is that it guards against foreign objects entering your chimney’s flue. What kind of objects, you ask? It prevents debris, such as leaves, needles, and trash, from forming a matted mass in your chimney. It also keeps your neighborhood wildlife from making it their winter getaway, complete with warm weather courtesy of your fireplace. Nests can block the entire flue if a critter can infiltrate it.
Why are blockages in your chimney an issue? It is because it prevents smoke and toxic gases such as carbon monoxide from entering your home. When there is a blockage, the smoke chamber in your chimney will fill with smoke, momentarily containing it. Once the smoke hits the blockage, it will drift back into your home, making you, your family, and your pets sick or worse. A chimney cap features a small cage that surrounds the flue, known as the flue cover, cowl, or spark cage, which prevents debris and wildlife from creating a blockage in your chimney. Additionally, it has the added benefit of keeping hot embers from escaping.
Having a chimney cap properly installed will help with airflow, letting smoke vent more efficiently, and allowing fires to light more easily and burn longer.
Having a chimney cap installed guarantees that your chimney will be around for the long run and that you won’t need costly repairs to keep it that way.
If you want to install the little marvel known as a chimney cap to protect your chimney, then contact us today. We have been serving homeowners just like you for over two decades. We will discuss the various types of chimney caps and choose the ideal type for your chimney. Don’t wait until the cruel elements take a toll on your chimney; get in touch right away.
