Questions around chimney wind noise are some of the most common queries our customer assistants get. We’re asked, often multiple times a day, how to stop, prevent and reduce chimney wind noise. We understand that chimney noise is annoying and can echo through the whole house – so we’ve outlined some useful information below on how best to tackle wind noise.
The different types of chimney wind noise.
Chimney wind noise can be caused and effected by a number of factors, only some of which are within your control.
The first major cause of chimney wind noise is blowing down your chimney stack at incredible speeds. The telltale rumbling of air often accompanies this issue. An uptake in airflow rate, for example during high winds or storms, often sees a large increase in the noise volume, as well as a vast decrease in the temperature of your living room, leaving you not only cold, but also annoyed by the noise.
As well as this, having an open chimney is equivalent to leaving a window open year round. You might find your chimney noise is just sound from the outside world entering your home through the chimney – it is after all, just a long open tunnel to the great outdoors, the perfect entrance for unwanted noise pollution.
Wind noise in the chimney can also be caused by wind whistling across the top of your chimney pot. Not unlike blowing across the top of a bottle, this whistling noise can be amplified by your chimney stack, and can echo into your living room.
The final main cause of wind noise in the chimney is all your lovely warm air being pulled up and out of your chimney due to the stack effect. Variables that increase this include: terrible weather, a tall chimney, as well as a large temperature gradient. So if your living room is toasty warm and the outside rather cold, all your lovely hot air will rise up and out the chimney at an unimaginable rate, causing alongside it a terrible rushing noise.
Warm air rushing out of your home certainly isn’t what you need this winter, especially with the price of energy increasing. On average blocking your chimney can save you up to 5% off your heating bill depending on the products you use. Why not take a peep at your chimney and give it a measure?
Unsure how?
How to stop chimney noise
An easy fix? Fit a Chimney Balloon®. An inflatable Chimney Balloon® chimney draught excluder will reduce the amount of air flowing in your chimney by 83%. Leaving 17% of air still flowing in the chimney to combat damp. By fitting a Chimney Balloon chimney draught plug you should find that not only will the rumbling wind noise be drastically reduced, but your room is also significantly warmer as the hot air stays in the room.
A Chimney Balloon chimney draught stopper also acts like double glazing. It provides a double layer of insulation from noises travelling down the chimney and you should find that it is very effective at deadening any echoes from your whistling chimney top, or the great outdoors.
Chimney Balloons are suitable for almost all fireplace and chimney set ups. But, in cases where the bottom of the fireplace has already been blocked, or you’re finding it impossible to measure a C- Cap chimney cap may be a great alternative.
They sit on top of the chimney pot and prevent wind whistling over the pot, while still allowing a little bit of ventilation. They should help eliminate any whistling wind noise at its source and help to reduce chimney wind noise in general.
Whilst blocking off your chimney could well eliminate a large amount of unwanted noise in your home, you may wish to consider draught proofing other areas too. Specific areas to take a look at would be leaky letterboxes and doors.
Shop our other draught excluders
Will blocking my chimney stop all the wind noise?
It very much depends on the chimney and the cause of the wind noise. From experience, in some instances, fitting a balloon inside a chimney with an incredible up or down draught, accompanied by terrible wind noise, causes both the draughts and noise to stop entirely. Air is no longer moving up or down the chimney, so the vibrations causing the noise are stopped.
However, in other situations, especially when the wind noise is being caused by wind whistling across the chimney pot, or outdoor wind noise echoing down the chimney, we tend to find that the balloon will insulate against the noise, in the same way double glazed windows soundproof the outdoors somewhat. But it does not eliminate it completely.
The Chimney Balloon® chimney draught stopper acts as a physical blockade and insulator to the sound waves, but some waves can still pass through the balloon despite it absorbing many – meaning you may still get some wind noise despite fitting a Chimney Balloon®.
Shop Chimney Balloon® chimney draught excluders
If you need any further help or advice regarding your windy chimney, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.