On Nov 25, 12:23*pm, Vic Smith
wrote:
On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 04:28:18 -0800 (PST), "





wrote:
On Nov 24, 4:56*pm, Vic Smith wrote:
This is the best part of the posted article.

"There’s still another concern — and another possible cost — if a home
has a standard 40- or 50-gallon gas water heater. Those heaters are
generally vented through the chimney along with the older furnaces.
But after removing the old furnace venting pipe, there is not enough
heat generated in the chimney by the water heater venting pipe alone
to prevent condensation from occurring. And that condensation will
include sulfuric acid, which can eat away at a chimney’s mortar
joints. Re-venting the water heater could increase the total cost of
the new furnace project by $3,000 to $4,000, Baum said."

So in that world gas furnaces run winter and summer to provide draft
for the water heater. *Strange world.
But does add "$3,000 to $4,000" to get the Chicken Littles flapping
and clucking.

Not a strange world. * *The issue is that an orphaned
water heater typically winds up on a chimney that is
now way too small, because it was sized for both the
water heater and a gas furnace. *Drafting is NOT the
issue. *Condensation is. * In the winter in a chimney that
is not entirely contained within the heated part of the
house, condensation occurs because the gases now
cool off too much. * With a furnace also running, the
chimney was kept warm enough so that this would
not happen. * And that condensation, over time, will
destroy the mortar in a chimney.

Yabbut...winter or summer a water heater will run into a cold chimney.

Geez, do you see condensation around the inside of
windows in summer or winter? It happens 99% of the
time in WINTER because of the colder temps. Water
vapor plus COLD equals condesation. In the summer
the part of a chimney that runs outside the heated area
of a house could easily be 20F. In summer, it's 65 or
75.



And so will the furnace.

If you run your gas furnace in summer, you're doing
something wrong.



*Chimneys cool off fast in winter.
That's why there are few unlined chimneys left.
Talking about NG only. *Haven't had coal or oil in decades.
Condensation talk is to sell liners to those who don't have them,
or to now sell a hi-efficiency water heater with a dedicated vent.

You're obviously an idiot. Condensation is a real issue.
There are codes that specify the size of a chimney for the
particular appliance. You can't just vent any size appliance
into any size chimney. There is a max size allowed.
It's like saying the issue of putting a 20 amp breaker
on 14 gauge wire is just to sell breakers.



You still see the salesmen and cracker-barrel "experts" using the
"orphaned" water heater draft argument, but when people realize the WH
was always an orphan, they turn to the acid argument.

Again, it's only an issue in WINTER in cold climates.
How do you get steam to condense? You COOL it off.
With a chimney that supported both a furnace and a water
heater, the furnace ran in the winter, keeping the chimney
warm enough so that condensation was not a problem.
With an orphaned water heater going into a LARGE
chimney that was sized for both a furnace and a water
heater, the exhaust from the water heater will easily
condense in winter because it's moving slowly
through a very large chimney. A chimney that is no
longer sized correctly for either draft or condensation
issues.


Anyway, "$3,000 to $4,000" is a BS number.
A typical SS liner is WAY less than "$3,000 to $4,000."

That part I agree with.



And so is a typical high-efficiency HW tank with a dedicated vent.

That's certainly true for the typical case. But we aren't
talking just the typical case. The articles point was that there
are cases out there that are NOt the typical case. Yet
the govt is saying, "Screw you, you have no choice"
In other words, it's using BS numbers, ie saving 20% in
total heating energy costs across all homes, to justify
forcing something down onto the public to fix a non-existent
problem.



DISCLAIMER: Chimney condition is important for your safety, and the
above isn't meant to suggest otherwise. *If you don't know your
chimney is in good condition, have it examined by a professional.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Good idea, since like usual, you have no idea what
you're talking about.