wrote in message
...
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?

You will need to make sure that condensation inside the exhaust pipe can run
out - you must not form a low spot where water will not flow either towards the
furnace or towards the outside. If the pipe coming out is sloped downward, it
must continue downward (or level - not upward) to the end of the pipe. If all
parts of the exhaust from the furnace to the outside slope upward or level, then
you can extend it upward. The condensation will flow back to the furnace and be
pumped out through the condensate pump.

Extending just the intake pipe, which might solve this problem, would be less
worrysome, as long as water cannot get into it via rain, sprinklers, etc.

Minimise elbows, and use larger radius ones if you can. Check the "installation
manual" for exact limits. This document should have come with the new furnace,
or can be obtained from the manufacturer. Check their web site.