Went through this awhile ago.
One consideration is you do not want a water heater to
vent on a side wall right near a window or door (and
risk drawing the vent gases into the house.
Normal water heater, the vent gases are hot, typically
double wall pipe that you can place inside a stud wall. (sorry
doesn't help as much with the block wall.
Venting action is achieved by heat rising through the vent pipe.
Power vent water heater, more heat is extracted, the
vent gases are cooler, and you can use plastic vent pipe.
Since its colder, a fan is used to help push the gases out.
In both cases, the vent gases include carbon dioxide or monoxide,
which you want to disperse into clear air, not be drawn back
into the house.
In general, its more risky to vent several sources
into a common chimney, if only one source is in use, vent
gases may flow out around the other sources, rather than
venting outside.
You may still end up with a chimney in the kitchen, but you
might be able to reduce it to a smaller vent pipe, encased
in 1x4 or 1x6 trim.
You would want to check what the ratings are, clearance to
combustible surface.
dave
On 02/01/2012 09:25 AM, Michael Baldwin wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
> I currently have an electric water heater that I can not wait to get rid
> of. I am thinking of converting back to natural gas. My issue is I want
> to get rid of the chimney that takes up a large corner of my kitchen,
> and the water heater would vent through with the furnace. I know there
> are regular water heaters and power vent water heaters. If I go with a
> regular water heater, do I still have to use the chimney, or can I punch
> a hole in the wall and vent it outside that way with chimney pipe. Or do
> I have to use the direct vent water heater if I want to get rid of the
> chimney and put the vent out the wall. The walls of my basement and
> first floor are block, so I will have my work cut out for me making the
> hole. I really want that damn chimney gone though.
> Are there any codes that regulate vent location, and how many vents can
> be on one side of the house, or vent spacing, etc. My new furnace will
> be direct vent as well, but that will not happen until this summer at
> the earliest. I live in a small town, and no inspection or permits are
> needed, but I still want to do it to generally accepted codes if possible.
> Thanks,
> Michael
>
--
Dave Uebele (daveu@sptddog.com)
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