Home Page link

Hi Effic Furnace vent Pipes covered with snow

Home| Search | About
Login Password
Register Now! Lost Password?

Home Repair - - If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Otherwise look here. 

Page 1 of 4       1 2 3 > last >> Bookmark this page:  YahooMyWeb Yahoo!  Google Google  Windows Live Favorites Windows Live  del.icio.us del.icio.us  digg digg  Add to Netscape Netscape
Subject Author Date
Hi Effic Furnace vent Pipes covered with snow dannydee 02-13-2008
If you were  Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Posted by on February 13, 2008, 3:28 am
I just got a call from one of my relatives. They live quite a
distance from me but I am familiar with their house because I once
lived in it. Back when I lived there, the house had a traditional
natural gas furnace that vented out the chimney. Two years ago they
had a High Efficiency furnace installed.

The furnace vents out thru the sillplate, where the two PVC pipes exit
outside. I know there are less than two courses of concrete block
showing, so that means these pipes are a maximum of 14 inches from the
lawn.

They have had extreme snow this winter and the woman has had to call
in a furnace repairman 3 times, each call costing her around $150, and
each time these pipes were buried under the snow. Each time she has
nearly frozen to death because it always happens at night and she
believes that she can not call during the night and must wait until
morning. The woman is not in good health as it is, and she is unable
to go outdoors, much less shovel snow. She has a caregiver come daily
to help her, but they dont look at things like this. Besides that,
the snow turns to a block of ice from the heat and moisture and
requires lots of chipping to clear it.

Anyhow, she knows that I am handy and have done all sorts of home
repairs. They told me she is really upset because the repair guy told
her she could get carbon monoxide poisoning, and she must dig out the
snow. She said she wishes she would have kept the old furnace that
vented out the chimney.

While I am handy, I have not dealt with these H.E. furnaces, but I do
know how they work and the way they put 2 pipes out the side of the
house for intake air and exhaust.

Immediately after the call I got to thinking about extending the pipes
higher up the house siding. I think they are too low. It would be
easy enough to use a few PVC elbows pointed upware, add 2 or 3 feet of
pipe, strap it to the house, and put some traps on top so the pipes
dont fill with rain or snow.

The question is: Is this legal and acceptable?

If not, is there another solution? Putting an awning of sorts over
the pipes might help keep some of the snow off the pipes, but there
are limits on that due to blowing and drifting.

I'm sure this happens regularly, what are the solutions?

Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on February 13, 2008, 5:57 am

>
> They have had extreme snow this winter and the woman has had to call
> in a furnace repairman 3 times, each call costing her around $150, and
> each time these pipes were buried under the snow. Each time she has
> nearly frozen to death because it always happens at night and she
> believes that she can not call during the night and must wait until
> morning.

The person coming out should have fixed this hte first time. The original
installer was incompetant and should have fixed it right. The service man
is a thief taking advantage of her.



> Immediately after the call I got to thinking about extending the pipes
> higher up the house siding. I think they are too low. It would be
> easy enough to use a few PVC elbows pointed upware, add 2 or 3 feet of
> pipe, strap it to the house, and put some traps on top so the pipes
> dont fill with rain or snow.
>
> The question is: Is this legal and acceptable?

That is what should have been done the first time. At the top all you have
to do is put a "tee" so it is vented on two sides.





Posted by on February 14, 2008, 5:25 am
wrote:

>
>>
>> They have had extreme snow this winter and the woman has had to call
>> in a furnace repairman 3 times, each call costing her around $150, and
>> each time these pipes were buried under the snow. Each time she has
>> nearly frozen to death because it always happens at night and she
>> believes that she can not call during the night and must wait until
>> morning.
>
>The person coming out should have fixed this hte first time. The original
>installer was incompetant and should have fixed it right. The service man
>is a thief taking advantage of her.

In all honesty Ed you really can't say that without seeing the job.
The 90% or greater furnaces have pipe run limits. in some it's as
little as 30 feet. also each 90 degree el is equivalent to 5 or 10
feet of pipe depending on the model. what if they are at or near the
piping run limit? adding 1 90 degree el can cause major problems. what
the OP needs to do first is get the manual for the furnce in question
and check this.

Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on February 14, 2008, 9:53 pm

<HVACTECH2> wrote in message
>>The person coming out should have fixed this the first time. The original
>>installer was incompetant and should have fixed it right. The service man
>>is a thief taking advantage of her.
>
> In all honesty Ed you really can't say that without seeing the job.
> The 90% or greater furnaces have pipe run limits. in some it's as
> little as 30 feet. also each 90 degree el is equivalent to 5 or 10
> feet of pipe depending on the model. what if they are at or near the
> piping run limit? adding 1 90 degree el can cause major problems. what
> the OP needs to do first is get the manual for the furnce in question
> and check this.

Agree on the checking the manual, BUT - - - -

If you live in an area that gets a good amount of snow, provisions must be
made to eliminate the problem. If it happened once, it can happen again,
and to not fix it correctly is negligence. If you are in the heating
business you know about degree days, annual snowfall, low temperature
expectations, etc. You design accordingly. If you can't, you are
incompetent and should be bagging groceries.



Posted by on February 15, 2008, 5:28 am
wrote:

>
><HVACTECH2> wrote in message
>>>The person coming out should have fixed this the first time. The original
>>>installer was incompetant and should have fixed it right. The service man
>>>is a thief taking advantage of her.
>>
>> In all honesty Ed you really can't say that without seeing the job.
>> The 90% or greater furnaces have pipe run limits. in some it's as
>> little as 30 feet. also each 90 degree el is equivalent to 5 or 10
>> feet of pipe depending on the model. what if they are at or near the
>> piping run limit? adding 1 90 degree el can cause major problems. what
>> the OP needs to do first is get the manual for the furnce in question
>> and check this.
>
>Agree on the checking the manual, BUT - - - -
>
>If you live in an area that gets a good amount of snow, provisions must be
>made to eliminate the problem. If it happened once, it can happen again,
>and to not fix it correctly is negligence. If you are in the heating
>business you know about degree days, annual snowfall, low temperature
>expectations, etc. You design accordingly. If you can't, you are
>incompetent and should be bagging groceries.
>

Yes, I do agree with you there. My only point was that you can't just
go throwing lengths of pipe and 90 degree ells in without knowing what
you are doing.

Page 1 of 4       1 2 3 > last >>
Similar ThreadsPosted
What sort of bird/weather caps for furnace vent pipes? May 20, 2006, 9:34 pm
Does older ovens have vent pipes? August 17, 2007, 4:13 am
Furnace header pipes? ? ? October 10, 2006, 10:51 am
Insulation and Sealer for Hot Air Furnace Pipes March 15, 2007, 8:42 pm
gas furnace vent November 21, 2005, 1:38 am
Oil Furnace Intake Vent November 21, 2005, 12:41 pm
Wiring M35 Vent to Bryant Furnace November 2, 2005, 12:09 am
Insulation I can put up against a furnace flue/B-vent? December 6, 2005, 5:15 pm
remove chimney and vent furnace outside March 16, 2006, 4:48 pm
Furnace vent is roaring like an engine November 12, 2006, 5:47 pm

Contact Us | Privacy Policy

XML SitemapXML Sitemap