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Here we discuss Procedures for opening and inspecting heating flues through Draft Regulators or Barometric Dampers. In addition to this detailed damper inspection procedure, readers should be sure to review Barometric Damper Defect List.
This website answers most questions about central heating system troubleshooting, inspection, diagnosis, and repairs. We describe how to inspect residential heating systems to inform home owners, buyers, and home inspectors of common heating system defects.
The articles at this website describe the basic components of a home heating system, how to find the rated heating capacity of an heating system by examining various data tags and components, how to recognize common heating system operating or safety defects, and how to save money on home heating costs. We include product safety recall and other heating system hazards.
Details about draft control on oil fired heating systems (such as the oil fired heater shown in the photo above), including furnaces or boilers, are discussed at Draft Regulators barometric dampers on oil fired equipment. (Details about draft control for gas fired heating systems, including furnaces or boilers, are discussed at Furnace Draft Hood on gas fired equipment.
Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution. © Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
How to open and inspect a barometric damper for Inspection
This article discusses the simple but very useful step of just taking a quick look into the flue pipe through the barometric damper opening on oil fired heating equipment. Other damper and venting problems are discussed at the root page DRAFT REGULATORS - barometric dampers. At Measure Draft we also discuss how and where to actually measure the heating equipment draft in the course of checking on (or adjusting) the draft regulator. The barometric damper or draft regulating device we are discussing here is normally used only on oil-fired heating equipment, not on gas-fired equipment. The equivalent draft control on gas fired heating systems is discussed at Furnace Draft Hood on gas fired equipment. Barometric dampers are devices used to regulate the draft on oil-fired heating equipment such as furnaces, boilers, or water heaters. On oil fired equipment the barometric damper, or draft regulator is typically a round Tee inserted in the flue vent connector between the heating appliance and the chimney. The face of the tee contains a round "door" with an adjustable weight. In our photo you may not be able to open this barometric damper - it is improperly installed (out of level), and has been improperly modified, indicating a draft problem with this heating system or its chimney. The implications of sealed barometric dampers are explained at Draft Regulators for oil fired equipment. |
How & Why Should You Open & Inspect the Barometric Damper:
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When I, the author (DF) first owned a home with a heating boiler I was so terrified of this rumbling flickering box in my basement that I didn't even walk near it. That was a mistake. And we wasted lots of money on oil before we learned that just a few simple visual checks can tell a lot about how well our heating equipment is running. So don't worry: it's easy to perform this step - anyone can do it if a barometric damper is actually installed where it should be. Just gently push the hinged door open with a finger, and shine a good flashlight inside to see what you can see. Warning: of course if your oil fired appliance has been running recently, these parts are HOT and you could get burned. If the damper door itself is hot you can still look inside - just use a screwdriver or wire to push the door open rather than your finger as shown in our photo at left. A barometric damper installed on a horizontal flue pipe will give a good view of the cleanliness of the flue interior as well as clues about rust and damage in the flue. A barometric damper installed on a vertical flue pipe may still give a good view of the top of the heating boiler, furnace, or water heater, where you may see accumulated soot or debris, rust stains, or perhaps better news. |
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If the heating system has "just been serviced" this debris means that service was incomplete. A flue vent connector ((also called the "stack pipe" or "flue pipe") is the metal pipe that connects the oil fired heating appliance to a chimney in order to safely vent combustion gases outdoors. A proper service procedure for oil fired heating equipment includes removal of the flue vent connector and thorough cleaning of all debris from these components as well as a visual inspection of the condition of the chimney to which the flue vent connector joins to send combustion products outside. Our photo shows what was probably several years of accumulated soot, rust flakes, and debris in the flue vent connector of an oil-fired horizontal furnace in a wet moldy crawlspace. The owner thought that his system, which was almost impossible to access, had "just been cleaned". Opening this damper and looking inside meant we literally "hit pay dirt". The dirt meant that the system needed to be cleaned, that the owner was paying for heat, but the heat was going up the chimney, not into the home -- as we explain a bit more below. A hard to access heating system in a cramped nasty area rarely receives thorough cleaning and service. That was the case for this system. |
Why is soot or crud in the oil fired boiler or furnace flue a problem?
When we look in to the flue close to the heating boiler or furnace, such as at the barometric damper shown here, it's normal to see a thin coating of soot on the interior of the metal flue pipe. But thick soot in the flue, the chimney, or inside of the boiler or furnace heat exchanger is a problem.
Because soot acts like an insulating coating, too much soot in a heating system causes both system operating problems problems and increased heating cost for the building. These soot problems on oil fired heating equipment are discussed in detail at SOOT on OIL FIRED HEATING EQUIPMENT.
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CARBON MONOXIDE/DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE WARNING
CHIMNEY INSPECTION DIAGNOSIS REPAIR
CHIMNEYS & Flues - Asbestos Transite Pipe
COOL OFF HEAT Thermostat Switch
COMBUSTION AIR
COMBUSTION AIR for TIGHT BUILDINGS
COMBUSTION GASES & PARTICLE HAZARDS
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS & IAQ
COMBUSTION GASES & PARTICLE HAZARDS
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS & IAQ
DRAFT REGULATORS - barometric dampers
Purpose of Barometric Draft Regulator what is a barometric damper and why do we need them
Measure Draft - how when where and why we measure draft and how we set the draft regulator
Barometric Damper Defect List
How to Inspect a Damper - how to look into the flue, what you'll see, what it means about heating system economy and condition
Automatic Vent Dampers - how an automatic vent damper saves heating cost
Define flue damper, duct damper, & fire damper
Draft Inducer Fans - for solving draft and chimney problems
- Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
- Dirk Faegre, Camden, Maine (207) 232-9494 is a certified BPI energy auditor and certified Envelope technician who kindly suggested draft regulator and flue vent connector inspection defect additions 6 Sept 09
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More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs
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- Home Heating System Should Be Checked [for proper venting and for CO Carbon Monoxide Hazards - DJF]
- Inspection Procedures for Oil-Fired Heating Systems Detailed step by step approaches for inspecting complex systems]
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- Weil McLain Model GV Gas Boiler/gas valve CPSC recall/repair
- Domestic and Commercial Oil Burners, Charles H. Burkhardt, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York 3rd Ed 1969.
- National Fuel Gas Code (Z223.1) $16.00 and National Fuel Gas Code Handbook (Z223.2) $47.00 American Gas Association (A.G.A.), 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209 also available from National Fire Protection Association, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269. Fundamentals of Gas Appliance Venting and Ventilation, 1985, American Gas Association Laboratories, Engineering Services Department. American Gas Association, 1515 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22209. Catalog #XHO585. Reprinted 1989.
- The Steam Book, 1984, Training and Education Department, Fluid Handling Division, ITT [probably out of print, possibly available from several home inspection supply companies] Fuel Oil and Oil Heat Magazine, October 1990, offers an update,
- Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning Volume I, Heating Fundamentals,
- Boilers, Boiler Conversions, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23389-4 (v. 1) Volume II, Oil, Gas, and Coal Burners, Controls, Ducts, Piping, Valves, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23390-7 (v. 2) Volume III, Radiant Heating, Water Heaters, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, Heat Pumps, Air Cleaners, James E. Brumbaugh, ISBN 0-672-23383-5 (v. 3) or ISBN 0-672-23380-0 (set) Special Sales Director, Macmillan Publishing Co., 866 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022. Macmillan Publishing Co., NY
- Installation Guide for Residential Hydronic Heating Systems
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