Thread: Water heater plumbing

The water heater exhaust vents need at least 6 inches of clearance from combustibles correct? Also who knows the rules on plastic piping clearances coming out of the water heater? Take a look.

Thanks,

Ryan

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Originally Posted by Ryan Stouffer

The water heater exhaust vents need at least 6 inches of clearance from combustibles correct? Also who knows the rules on plastic piping clearances coming out of the water heater?

The clearance from the draft hood and single wall vent is 6 inches to combustible material, which includes plastic piping.

How close it that single wall vent to the ceiling above it? Looks pretty close. Also needs to be 6".

Additionally, the vent needs to rise 12" before turning horizontal, and the horizontal section needs to slope uphill from the water heater.

Also, the horizontal offset distance is allowed to be as much as 75% (some brands 100%) of the total height, but not more than those percentages of the total height. Many from single story homes have a horizontal offset which is too great for the total height, same with water heaters in attics, which also come with other problems.

Just a few observations from the photos without going through them.

The clearance from the draft hood and single wall vent is 6 inches to combustible material, which includes plastic piping.

JP: But golly gee, after all it's PEX. Like CSST and OSB it's indestructible, right?

Ryan,
Its hard to be sure but that smoke pipe looks like 30 guage dryer vent instead of 26 guage single wall smoke pipe.

Jack

"Its hard to be sure but that smoke pipe looks like 30 guage dryer vent instead of 26 guage single wall smoke pipe. "


The water heater vent pipe is 3", and dryer vent is 4".
I may be wrong, but thats what I think.

Okay, my main question now is how high does the copper coming up from the water heater inlet valves have to be before it can be plastic?

Thanks for the other info.

As JP posted
"The clearance from the draft hood and single wall vent is 6 inches to combustible material, which includes plastic piping."

Anything within 6" of the vent pipe

Originally Posted by Ryan Stouffer

Okay, my main question now is how high does the copper coming up from the water heater inlet valves have to be before it can be plastic?

For gas water heaters the manufacturers of plastic pipe say 18" of metal pipe, that puts it out past the draft hood, however, that also needs to clear the vent by 6" for single wall and by 1" for Type B gas vent.

Jerry, that's what I was looking for. Thanks a lot I appreciate your help and everyone else who helps out as well.

Ryan, don't let that material they put on the ceiling above the flue pipe fool you either. The single wall pipe needs 6 inches of clearance to any surrounding combustible surface. That material which they put in place to act as some type of heat shield or heat barrier will still allow heat to reach the drywall surface above by means of conduction as opposed to radiation. It's wrong.

Nick, thanks. I definitely didn't let it fool me. Thanks though.