Expert: James Ball - 1/21/2009

Question
My fireplace I believe is a fireplace insert.  With the flue closed, a very small amount of air will come through the flue.  I am getting a very large amount of cold air coming from the front top of the fireplace, near where the top of the doors would be.  There are what appears to be little vents all along the front part of the insert. When I first start a fire until it gets build up good, air will come rushing out these vents and blow smoke into the room.  Can I block off the vents to prevent cold air coming in?  The only thing I can think that they may be are vents to cool the chimney piping.  I believe it is double wall pipe to the roof.  How can I correct this problem.

Answer
Hello Adam, I am not sure by what you explain what you have or how to correct it, I would have a local Certified Chimney Sweep (www.csia.org, there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have, they should  be able to help
James