Hot Water Heater Venting...need suggestions
 

Our natural gas hot water heater is about to lose the chimney through which it passively vents as the chimney needs to be removed. Due to a planned replumbing project, I can move the water heater away from the "central" location in our basement and toward an outside wall.

We do not want to go to the expense of purchasing a power vented water heater, but would prefer to passively vent through an exterior basement vent.

The foundation walls are brick; no combustibles in wall that the exhaust pipe would encounter. There are however a number of windows in the two rooms above where the hot water heater needs to be located. One concern here are exhaust gases finding their way into the house via an open window. The second concern is "I don't wanna look through my kitchen window and see some ugly-azz galvanized exhaust stack".

According to the water heater install instructions and local code, a 1/4" per foot grade for the exhaust pipe is called for. OK...so can I do that for 8 horizontal feet (making for something over a 2" rise), vent out of the brick foundation wall, mount the pipe to the side of the house (how far should it be held away from the wall to prevent fire hazard? and with what?), and up and around the gutters til it's above the roof line?

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for the assistance.

p.s. the paint cans, etc on the shelves aren't there anymore. And the downward sloping 6" rigid metal duct work is for a downdraft cooktop in the kitchen above. This is the exterior wall to which I was referring.

Your best bet is to get in touch with the WH manufacturer, and ask them for their venting instructions; you can probably just download it from their web site. Typically you need to be a minimum of 4 feet from any windows and doors, but there's more than that to consider: Running up along the exterior wall (aka - "snorkelling") may not be allowed by your local code or the manufacturer's recommendations. There's also a limit as to how far you can run the vent horizontally, and the number of bends you can make.

All good information Ishmael (May I call you that? :)). Sounds like a visit from the county inspector wouldn't hurt either. Any other ideas, information or suggestions?

That's about it...start with the manufacturer's specs/recommendations, and (as you said) check with your local inspector to make sure there aren't some local/state codes that supercede what the manufacturer suggests.

Anybody else?

first of all if the water is already hot why do you need to heat it again?

Say what??:eek:

Kind of off the topic( I cannot add any more insight) but I see that the paint you got rid of was a brand I will not name,:whistling2: go to a real paint store and use quality paint products:yes:

I would think about making a small chase for a B vent chimney to be ran where the old one is.

Sorry. "B vent"? I don't know what that is. Would you mind sharing please?

You may wish to read about it Here.

how about an electric water heater? :thumbsup: