trade-off re: Supervent standard vs "deluxe" rain caps

[bag of hammers]

There have been many suggestions on this forum to use a screen of some type on chimneys - as a spark arrestor and / or to keep critters out.

I have a Supervent 2100 chimney with the "deluxe" rain cap shown here. On my old chimney, just dismantled, this deluxe cap (15 years of service) still looks like new. Great quality.



Supervent (Selkirk) also lists a "standard" rain cap in their catalogue. Interesting that I have never seen this as a stock item in any of the box stores (Supervent is sold in a lot of places).



Note the spark arrestor screen included with the standard cap; it is also listed as a separate item in the parts catalogue (I suppose to replace a damaged screen).

The deluxe cap is pretty much rain proof - even the driving rains. They also mention a "venturi effect" that apparently improves draft. And it locks solid on the top of the pipe. It does seem to keep birds away (haven't had ever come down in either stove over the years) but the bats aren't phased by it.

The standard cap is more "universal", and the screen obviously is intended to keep critters out and keep sparks down.

Not sure if anyone considering a new install with Supervent will find this info useful before purchasing a cap. But I wonder what do you all think about the "trade-off" you have to make with this brand of chimney and cap - having to give up one that's more rain proof (and we've had some wicked rains this year) and (if their claim isn't bogus) gives you a better draft, in order to get some better critter (in my case, bat) protection?

Or is there a generic / hybrid cap out there that would do a better job attached to a Supervent chimney?

Or am I over-thinking this - should I just take a pill and find / order the standard cap?

 

[jeff_t]

We've had several birds come in with the deluxe cap. I would definitely go for the screen in a do-over.

 

[colin.p]

I have the ICC chimney and just a regular cap, no screen. I have an outside (up the wall) chimney and have several birds come down every summer. To keep them out of the stove (for the most part) I have started to leave the bottom clean out open and they fall right through. They do a "bang-up" job of cleaning the chimney too.

However, I also have a very large colony of bats, locally, that do a fairly reasonable job of keeping the burgeoning mosquito population down. Thank goodness, none (so far) have ever made the perilous journey into my stove. Not sure how that would go over, birds I can handle - bats not so much.

edit: I do have to put the clean out cover on before firing up the stove, so at some point, flying creatures may do, and have, come into the stove.
Also, I do like the new posting/edit feature, nice.

 

[Highbeam]

No screen here. No birds, bats, bugs, or democrats falling down the flue. I don't know why my flue isn't attractive. It has a pretty BK on the bottom and we have plenty of birds outside.

I don't believe in screens. They clog up. Not sure why abyone would suggest a screen if wildlife is not a concern.

 

[begreen]

The screen is also a spark arrester and required in some areas. Check with your local regs.

So just republicans fall down that flue?, figures. Democrats and independents are too smart.

 

[jeff_t]

Last week, my sister said she had one in the pipe. I was there yesterday and pulled it off, expecting to pull out the dead bird. All I found was some feathers and poop. The bird found its way back up 26' of pipe . Supervent Deluxe cap, by the way.

Ran the brush up while I was there, and gave her passing marks on her burning habits

 

[PapaDave]

Must be a crapshoot. I've got the Supervent "deluxe" apartment in the sky cap, and no issues with flying, feathered, or furry funny business.
Perhaps my time is coming?

 

[ScotO]

So just republicans fall down that flue?, figures. Democrats and independents are too smart.

Actually, they probably just open up the door and jump right in the firebox....

 

[Trilifter7]

I've got the standard screen cap and never had an issue with rain getting in my flu. Last summer the screen started to rust off and I had 3 birds fly in before I replaced the screen. I used chicken wire fence that I cut to size and crimped together. Worked perfectly and I picked a larger hole size on the screen to allow better flow. Def sticking with the screen cap here!

 

[bag of hammers]

As PapaDave says, it seems to be a crapshoot. Birds here seem to be more keen on flying into the living room windows, as opposed to dropping down the chimney.

Bats - over the years I've found them right in the stove firebox, up on top of the baffle plate (my old stove), a tiny one stuck in the primary air slot in the new stove (found him when I was spraying the graphite powder on the slider last year). In the house I've had a couple (same time) way up at the peak of the cathedral ceiling one night, another time I found one on the back of the old couch, then one clinging to a wall in a storage room, and the latest episode with one flying around my bathroom in the middle of the night. I'd think that those that come down the stove generally shouldn't survive the experience. I think maybe sometimes half asleep, middle of the night, I go let the dog out for a pee, a bat is out there gorging itself on the cloud of bugs out by the porch light - the dog goes out, the bat flies in. I dunno. It's no fun trying to capture one and get it out, but the mosquitoes this year have been (still are) horrendous with all the rain. So I guess the bats are in a feast mode. They eat something like a zillion times their own weight in bugs?

 

[Trilifter7]

Here are the pics of my old screen this February after I ran out of seasoned wood

I think the original wire screen was around 1/2" holes.

Here's the screen I bought at lowes to make the new mesh. It wasn't chicken wire but just a 3/4" or 5/8" hole wire fencing.

Has worked just fine and no birds in the flu since!