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The simplest way to tell whether your chimney damper is open or closed is to put your hand near the fireplace opening. If you feel a breeze, the damper is open. But if no draft comes from the chimney, the damper is closed.

In homes that have a gas furnace, it's typically the heating system that uses the most gas. That explains why your gas bill is almost always higher in the winter and other colder months than it is in the summer. Other appliances that may use gas include your water heater, clothes dryer, and stove.

The best time to clean your chimney is before you actually need to use it. For most of us, that means getting your chimney cleaned in the spring, summer, or early fall. You may find that chimney sweeps are booked up when the winter months fade and the first round of customers begin to hire them for cleanings, but you also don’t want to wait until too late in the fall when chimney sweeps might be responding to other customers who waited until the last minute. Thus, the safest bet may be the summer.

It’s best to install a wood-burning stove in a central location on the ground floor of your home. For many people, this means putting it in the living room. It also makes sense to install a wood stove in your living room if it has a working chimney that you can use to vent the stove’s exhaust.