"Lisa Gardner" wrote in message
om...
We want to remodel our kitchen, but a large 9" round chimney vent to
our roof connected to our furnace and hot water heater runs through
one of our cabinets, taking up a fair amount of space. In the
remodel, we are putting in a new wall to separate the kitchen area
from the dining area that is next to the existing chimney.

A handy friend of mine said that I could convert the round pipe to a
rectangle (3 x 10) that could run through the drywall. However, the
heating contractors I've spoken with on the phone are saying I can't
do this and I need a new furnace and hot water heater to direct-vent
the air out.

My concern is that these heating contractors are mostly trying to sell
a product rather than really telling me what I could do more
economically. I'm also concerned that if I follow my friend's advice,
I might not be up to code (and could potentially endanger my
family...).

I'm not very handy and would appreciate any advice.

Your friend may indeed be handy, but his level of expertise stopped when he
advised you to convert it to 3x10!
(just for figures 9" @ .1 wc = 310 cfm, 3x10 @ .1 wc = 95 cfm, no where's
close to being the same!)

You need to find a competent contractor that you trust to not only make sure
it's up to code, but to insure your safety.

~kjpro~
HVAC owner/tech