Frequently Asked Questions
A Chimney Balloon is the original chimney draught excluder – the first one that ever came to market. It’s an inflatable chimney stopper that has been carefully designed to expand and mould to the walls of the chimney. It then grips the inside of the chimney, forming a physical barrier – preventing warm air from rising up out of the home and cold air from seeping in, as if you’d popped a bit of double glazing up your chimney.
You can read more about the Chimney Balloon here.
We can say a resounding yes to this question! Not only is the product tried and tested, but various iterations of the Chimney Balloon have also been available since the 1980s. Meaning we have produced thousands upon thousands of balloons and reached many thousands of customers too. We receive lots of great feedback about the product every day.
Yes!
When it’s exposed to direct heat or naked flames it simply shrivels away. Meaning if you were to accidentally light a fire, your balloon would simply pop and unblock the chimney.
It’s estimated that the Chimney Balloon® could save you up to 5% on your energy bill. This equates to about £125.00 per year for the average household.
It can indeed help with wind noise depending on the circumstances. Wind noise in the chimney can be caused by a number of different factors and depending on the cause, a chimney draught excluder could be just the ticket to reducing that annoying howling. We have more information about wind noise in our blog. So, if you’ve got a particularly whistley chimney it might be worth giving it a read.
Yes, the balloon acts as a physical barrier, blockading the entrance to the chimney off, so if you’ve got chunks of chimney debris falling down, instead of dropping into the fireplace they will accumulate on top of the product instead. If you have a chimney that’s prone to dropping a lot of material, we recommend taking the Chimney Balloon out every few months just to make sure you haven’t got too much debris accummulating in there.
A balloon can certainly act as a deterrent to nesting bees and wasps if they’re entering your chimney. By inserting a Chimney Balloon® you’re putting a physical blockade in place which can help prevent insects from nesting inside the chimney – this is just because its more difficult for them to get inside. We can’t guarantee 100% effectiveness when you’re using the balloon for this method, but we’ve had plenty of positive feedback suggesting it can help!
We’re afraid the answer to this question is no! The Chimney Balloon is not designed to stay in place with a lit fire. Simply remove it when you want to light the fire, and put it back in when the fire’s gone out.
Gas Safe™ – the UK’s gas safety network – states that you should never permanently block a gas fire flue, that is linked to a live gas fire.
However, it is perfectly safe to fit a chimney draught excluder in the flue of a disconnected gas fire .
No. The balloon’s design means that a small amount of air can still flow past the product – meaning you still get a little bit of ventilation in your chimney, just enough to ensure no damp forms, but that you don’t notice the airflow. From past experience, provided your home has been built to Building Regulation standards, blocking the chimney off shouldn’t cause any issues with dampness as there are other methods of ventilation built into the home!
We strongly recommend that you measure your chimney! It’s a pretty simple process and we have some excellent advice available on our measuring page. Once you’ve got your measurements, take a peek at the size chart to get your recommended balloon size.
The Chimney Balloon is made here in the UK and manufactured by a member of the team at Watford Workshop. We are incredibly lucky to work with Watford Workshop, this wonderful organisation provides supported employment to people who have faced barriers in mainstream employment!
Only if you don’t already have one at home! We’ve found that most customers have a compatible foot or hand pump at home – so they don’t need to purchase a new foot pump. However, if you don’t have an available pump at home we’d recommend purchasing directly from us here.
Once removed from the chimney, we recommend you give the product a quick wipe-down with a damp cloth to remove any excess soot or debris. You can then gently fold the product and pop it inside any small box or bag. You can then just store it in any dry place. Ready for when you want to use it next time!
Most last several years without an issue- they’re a robust product designed to be used again and again!
Chimneys vary so much, some are smaller than a letterbox, and others larger than a door. Unfortunately, it just isn’t possible to cover this huge size range, with the materials available to make balloons. Which, is why we have different sizes of balloons. It’s incredibly important that you measure your chimney to get an idea of how big it is that way we can ensure you get the right size balloon for your chimney.
Unfortunately, it’s actually impossible at this time to produce a one-size-fits-all chimney draught excluder.
This will only disappoint! You might get lucky but there’s a good chance it won’t fit properly. Take the time to measure your chimney, then you will be sure of getting a Chimney Balloon that does an efficient job for you.
The Chimney Balloon® is unique and isn’t the same as any of the other inflatable draught excluders on the market. Many are based on the Chimney Balloon’s® design but they do not take into account the clever design tricks and nuances that make the product so effective.
Many of these copycat draught excluders use materials that are less safe than the Chimney Balloon® and don’t take into account the potential ventilation needs of the chimney.
If you’d like to read more about this we have a whole article available here.