When we moved into our new townhouse our neighobors had the same problem as we found out when the weather got cold here (we moved in in June)....but now we have the same magnetic strips as our neighbors and it works great....

Here is a link that might be useful: christywalkercreations

Thanks, we saw them at Lowe's (white ones) but opted to buy some fiberglass insulation to stuff inside the vent. If that doesn't do the job, I'll order those gold ones. Thanks!

This sounds very familiar. ....bought house in mild weather......seasons change.... fireplace spills cold air into house....
I fiddled with the dampers and still couldn't get rid of the cold draft.
I have a sheet of rigit insulation over the entire fireplace opening. I suspect that the installation was crappy, however, as the wall around and above the fireplace is cold. I am close to ripping out the entire thing, I should poke holes in the wall to see if I can do anything. If insulation can fix it, I might keep it, but if there are so many holes in the Majestic (Exhaust gas, combustion air, circulated air) I may just rip it out.

I also had cold air coming out through the lower vents on my gas fireplace (Heat & Glo). It was coming through a hole in the side of the fireplace where the gas pipe came in. I sealed the hole with duct tape and the draft is gone.

Closing off the ventilation for a gas fireplace is a dangerous thing to do.

The fireplace depends upon circulating air around the firebox to strip away the heat produced by the nurner. Blocking those air vents will overheat the fireplace and could cause a fire.

You might suggest that these would be removed when the fireplace is operated, but you can't depend on that happening. Don't leave equipment in an unsafe condition.

Outside air leaks indicate a poor job of installing the equipment. You need to track down the cause of the air leak, which can be difficult to do.

Seattle Pioneer

I appreciate your concern. There's just the 2 of us and I know we'll remember the fiberglass. Not to mention the gas FP is really pitiful compared to our woodburning ones - we have used it once and most likely it'll be the only time.