An Absence of Monsters, Almost

[vakkotaur]

I don't recall having the oft-mentioned childhood fear of a monster under the bed or monsters in the closet. Certainly part of that is that you just can't have a proper closet monster without a closet. And "under the bed" was a place a little kid could go and explore. It wasn't a place for monsters, it was a place for me. I imagine that if there had a been a closet it would have been much the same. It would also have a been a space I explored and considered mine rather than some strange thing of mystery. It certainly helped that I do not ever recall being claustrophobic. Then, in some of the places I've lived, claustrophobia simply wasn't option. There wasn't room for it.

I do recall one thing which was a bit of a phobia and seemed something of a monster when I was very young. I grew out of it, but even as I did so there was a period when I logically knew it was no big deal, but still had this odd feeling about it. This thing couldn't move about, and it was harmless when anyone else was around, but when I was alone... I kept my distance.

It lived in my grandparents basement and it was part of the furnace and chimney arrangement. At the time, my grandparents had an oil furnace and the monster was the barometric damper* (also called a flue damper, draft damper, or flue regulator) and it would seem to move on its own. I've found pictures of similar barometric dampers (Example 1 Example 2) but none that looked exactly like the one I remember. It was a circular metal flap, hinged at the center diameter, with an adjustable weight on a bent threaded rod. It looks vaguely like a face with a hooked nose.

Got that? Little kid. Thing looks like a face, but not a very nice one. It moves by itself (alright, it was the wind, but little kid, remember?). BUT... it couldn't move about, so you could deal with it by keeping back. Work up courage to get closer and if it moved too much, it was easy to get away again. That damper was the one "monster" I recall that wasn't a big fuzzy friendly Muppet from Sesame Street.

As I got older (still a little kid) I realized more of what the thing was: a metal flap that moved with air pressure. Wind moved it. For a while I knew this, but it still was a bit of the old monster. And later the monster faded into distant memory and it was just a bit of metal. And then I pretty much forgot it until a while ago there was something about childhood fears going around. I might have posted this sooner but I had to find out what the thing was. It took me a while (and a couple phone calls) to hit on the right search terms to get me to the name "barometric damper." And now I wish I had a picture of the thing.

I haven't seen such a damper in some time. Mainly because I haven't seen an oil furnace in some time. Wood stoves don't need (and should not have) such a thing. Gas furnaces don't need it. The high-efficiency gas furnaces don't even use a traditional chimney.

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* There are a few explanations of the purpose and action of barometric dampers on the web, but the best I've found seems to be hidden well down on this page. Search for "barometric damper" to get to the right section.

Comments

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

Have you seen Home Alone? They had a scary, demonic furnace in that movie that might be the same kind.

My biggest childhood fear was lightning, because I had a very realistic nightmare where I was struck by it. Unfortunately, lightning isn't one of those things that you learn to be harmless as you get older. The only thing that helps is that you learn the probability of getting struck is low, and that by taking proper action, you can make the probability even lower.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

I have seen Home Alone but not for some time. I don't recall the furnace in that movie.

The furnace itself was no big deal. It was just a big metal box and some ducting. It didn't do anything (well, a blower motor would run and such, but that was no big deal either). It was just the barometric damper that I had to keep an eye on.

[thecanuckguy.livejournal.com]

My big childhood (well, teen-hood) fear was lightning too. Not because of any nightmare or anything, but I remember when I was around 14 or so reading a story in Reader's Digest (one of those True Life Tales or whatever they're called) about a boy who was playing soccer and got struck by lightning. What he went through for the next year or so was *not* pretty (was pretty gruesome to this 14 year old reader - he did wind up living though) and gave me quite a fear of it (especially since I was the same age as the unfortunate child). The fact that I am (and was at the time) quite tall probably doesn't help matters (if Danny DeVito and I are in the middle of a field in a lightning storm, guess whose more likely to be hit?) I also like to cycle, so all that metal under me again probably doesn't help things. I had this fear for a long, long time - however, today there was a pretty severe lightning storm in the city (I rode my bike to work (before it started) and I could hear a loud crack and see a big flash of light from my workplace on the 16th floor) and it didn't scare me nearly as much as it used to. I've always stated that lightning is my greatest fear because of the above, but maybe I'm over it now. Have to find a new one, I guess ...