Gas Hot Water Heater Venting

Atmospheric venting refers to a system in which exhaust from the water heater naturally rises out of the appliance s combustion chamber then travels up through a standard chimney style flue.

Gas hot water heater venting.

All water heaters that burn natural gas or liquid propane lp gas require a venting system. When installed correctly this venting arrangement works with an 80 gas furnace or lower than 80 gas water heater. The photo below shows typical combined furnace water heater venting. Gas hot water heater venting problems.

Most tank type gas water heaters are atmospheric vent type and they are required to vent vertically and above the roof of a home. Two specialized types of water heaters direct vent and mechanical vent also called power vent are exempted from this code requirement. The process of burning of the gas is called combustion and it creates heat exhaust gases including highly poisonous carbon monoxide and moisture the water heater s ventilation system removes these byproducts from the home making it a critical safety feature. Make sure that the ventilation direct outside the house or else there is a chance of fire or explosion in the house.

The venting system of the gas water heaters might consist of one or two pipes. With a replacement high efficiency furnace the existing vent pipe does not work for water heater only because the vent is too large. A water heater vent pipe can be used for this venting with a hot water heater vent cap for safety reasons. Back drafting is usually the result of an inadequate vent design.

The two pipe system might be further divided on the concentric pipe inside the pipe or two separate pipes and the vents can run horizontally vertically or combined.