Chimney Balloon® Valve/handle Extension 16" (For Use with Any Size Chimney Pillow®)

First let me affirm that using a chimney balloon makes a significant difference in terms of heat loss and drafts from a conventional fireplace with a modern safety damper that does not close all the way. This tool is very useful for inflation because it allows you to place the balloon higher in the chimney, well past the damper, while still being able to reach whatever device you are using to inflate it. The original balloon design has a very short valve, which if you are to reach it to inflate it, might not allow the balloon to be out or range of interfering with the operation of the damper itself. This extension allows you to position the balloon much higher to avoid this problem.

However, you still need to make sure the balloon is within reach, since once you remove the extension, you will still need to close the valve at the bottom of the balloon before you can seal it in place above the damper. So there is still the need for fireplace gymnastics once you have the balloon inflated in place to remove this extension, close the balloon valve, and then close the damper off. Not a perfect solution, but perhaps better than nothing at all. In principle, if you could leave this in place, you would not need to do that, but the stiffness of the rod will probably prevent many dampers from closing, and it also could detach at the balloon end, leaving an exposed valve there so the balloon would lose pressure.

The ideal design would be a telescopic one, so you could leave the extension rod attached and shorten it if you want to close the damper, but then reach up and extend it when you need to inflate or deflate the balloon. Undoubtedly, such a design which was also reasonably airtight is beyond the price point that would be required for an accessory such as this.

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