How to keep cold air from coming in my fireplace

[Luck e 1]

The flue is shut but there seems to be a little gap on one side...consequently lots of cold air seeps in.

I don't have the money to have the flue repaired so I am looking for temporary/short-term solutions.

Can I put some insulation on the inside of the fire place to kinda fill the whole fireplace area (and just take out the insulation if I was going to use it)?

[SkunkedAgain]

Yes. There were some folks on here recently that talked about getting that pink foam board, cutting it to size, putting a handle on it, and stuffing it up into the flue opening. Then you can just pull it out when you want to have a fire.

[solbes]

That's a pretty good idea. Would actually return a decent savings I would think.

Just have to rememeber to remove it, or it would not be pretty. Maybe leave a reminder of some sort.

[troutned]

There's something out there called a "chimney balloon" that is designed to stop such drafts. It's basically a plastic bag that you can stuff up there and inflate. Do a search for chimney balloon.

[mn_bowhunter]

Use newspaper. Then if you forget about it no big deal. That's what we use for the air intake.

[reddog]

Are you sure it is the fireplace that is leaking the air and not the surrounding walls and ceiling? It is very common the to only have insulation in the walls, but no air barrier. It is also common to just have the flue go up the chase, and not have any kind of air barrier where it transitions from conditioned air to outside air.

These types of chases are actually large chimneys by themnselves. The leak warm, conditioned are out, and let cold exterior air drop down into your conditioned space. It can appear to be the chimney that is leaking, when in actuality it is the enclosure.

Something to think about..

If you are building a new house with a fireplace chase, insulate it, drywall it (including the ceiling) and then cut the flue thru and seal it to the drywall with high temp caulking.