On Jan 28, 7:49*am, "Tomsic" wrote:
"George" wrote in message

...

Our radon outlet pipe ends in a down-facing elbow, above the 2nd story
roof. *When I installed it, I put a screen over the outlet, thinking to
prevent bugs and birds from nesting. *In recent bad weather, the screen
got plugged with snow, stopping the discharge. *I pulled the screen off.
Now, I'm wondering whether a screen is necessary. *The airflow is fairly
strong, and cool in the summer, which I think would discourage bugs.
Birds, ... who knows?

If anyone has experience in these matters, I'd appreciate hearing.

Thanks,
George

I left the screen off of a dryer vent one time and a few weeks later the
flapper that should have closed to keep the air from backflowing into the
dryer didn't close. *I stuck my hand up and into the vent to see what was
blocking the flapper and promptly got stung for my trouble. *Wasps had moved
in and weren't happy with the invasion. *Lesson learned.

Tomsic

I don't know about the radon vent, but I found it very
curious that the install manual for my Rheem condensing
furnace says that you can't put ANYTHING over the
2" vent pipes that extend outside. Apparently the concern
is the effect George described, ie snow/ice freezing up
over any screening. The obvious downside is that there
is a free and open route into either the exhaust or intake.
The latter would allow a rodent into the unit compartment
with the wiring, gas valve, etc. It would seem to me the
risk of something bad happening, including blocking the
vents without some kind of screen, is at least as great as the snow
problem.