Is a Storm Collar Right for You?
As a home or business owner you want to take all reasonable measures to prevent damage to your chimney system. If your home or business has a pre-fabricated chimney, you will need a storm collar, sometimes called a chimney collar.
Courtesy Jerry Isenhour
What Is It?
A masonry chimney will have a chimney cap on top of the masonry that keeps the outside OUT. The chimney cap is designed to allow smoke and gas to vent out, but keep moisture, weather, debris, and animals from entering the chimney opening. The chimney cap fits specifically onto a masonry chimney.
Similarly, the storm collar, or chimney collar, is specifically designed to fit over a pre-fabricated chimney. Unlike the chimney caps which fit to the top of the masonry chimney, the storm collar fits over the chimney piping of a pre-fabricated chimney. It should be professionally installed, and works with the flashing to keep the water running away from the chimney and roof intersection as well as to keep it out of the chimney opening.
Do You Need a Collar?
The short answer is YES. If you have a pre-fabricated chimney you need a storm collar. This is not an area where home owners should cut corners. Without the collar, weather and debris can fall into your chimney, allowing for accumulation of soot and debris that eventually restrict air flow. This will slow the ventilation of hot gases and can cause chimney fires. It can also cause a smoky fireplace as well as make it harder to start and keep a fire burning hot. When you depend on your fireplace of stove for home-heating, it is important to make sure it is efficient.
Benefits
Our CSIA Certified Chimney Sweeps at Chief Chimney Services have experience in the Long Island, New York area since the 1980s. We are familiar with the climate, seasonal patterns and risk factors of having a chimney system in the area. We recommend storm collars to our customers with pre-fabricated chimneys and provide expert installations, repairs, and replacements of these products. Long Island can have heavy snow and strong gusts of wind, especially during fire-burning season. Providing the same function as a chimney cap, a storm collar:
- Prevents animal inhabitation, so that animals aren’t nesting (or dying) in the chimney, causing obstruction.
- Prevents water damage that wreaks havoc on a masonry chimney, and can cause creosote buildup in pre-fabricated chimneys.
- Prevents wind gusts and draftiness that keep the smoke and gas from rising up the chimney as it should.
- Prevent flue blockages. Covering the chimney can prevent flue blockages for all the reasons mentioned above, and more. When the chimney is unprotected, debris can also fall into the chimney opening, causing blockages.If you’re ready for your annual chimney inspection and have questions or concerns about your chimney and storm collar, a Chief Chimney Services expert is standing by. Call or schedule an appointment today.