What is this pipe?
 

In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There is
no other pipe showing.

Some rows of homes have this, but others don't. The ones built maybe
around 1997 have them, and the ones built 2 or 3 years later don't.
(There are some others that don't that I thought were also built the
same year as the first group, but if the construction year determines
if there is a pipe or not, maybe I'm wrong.)

I've met a couple of the people who live there, but the odds one of
them knows what the pipe is for seem slim to me.

What is this pipe?
 

"mm" wrote in message
...
In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There is
no other pipe showing.

Some rows of homes have this, but others don't. The ones built maybe
around 1997 have them, and the ones built 2 or 3 years later don't.
(There are some others that don't that I thought were also built the
same year as the first group, but if the construction year determines
if there is a pipe or not, maybe I'm wrong.)

I've met a couple of the people who live there, but the odds one of
them knows what the pipe is for seem slim to me.

Probably the exhaust for the high-efficency furnace. But there is usually a
second pipe to suck combustion air in.

aem sends...

What is this pipe?
 

mm wrote:
In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There is
no other pipe showing.

Some rows of homes have this, but others don't. The ones built maybe
around 1997 have them, and the ones built 2 or 3 years later don't.
(There are some others that don't that I thought were also built the
same year as the first group, but if the construction year determines
if there is a pipe or not, maybe I'm wrong.)

I've met a couple of the people who live there, but the odds one of
them knows what the pipe is for seem slim to me.

Sounds like either a dryer vent, or a vented gas grill like a
Jenn-Aire or such.

--
Robert Allison
Rimshot, Inc.
Georgetown, TX

What is this pipe?
 

On Sat, 26 May 2007 02:59:34 GMT, Robert Allison
wrote:

mm wrote:
In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There is
no other pipe showing.

Some rows of homes have this, but others don't. The ones built maybe
around 1997 have them, and the ones built 2 or 3 years later don't.
(There are some others that don't that I thought were also built the
same year as the first group, but if the construction year determines
if there is a pipe or not, maybe I'm wrong.)

I've met a couple of the people who live there, but the odds one of
them knows what the pipe is for seem slim to me.

Sounds like either a dryer vent,

Maybe. Some of these houses have dryer vents, the kind with louvers
that close. I have to go look again to see if any houses have both.t.

or a vented gas grill like a
Jenn-Aire or such.

These houses are smaller and cheaper than mine. I can't imagine such
a grill installed in whole rows of them. Especially if the pipe is
coming from the basement, which it seems to be.

As to the furnace intake, aem, maybe there was one. I'll have to go
back and look. What size would it be? There might have been one or
two 1- or 2-inch pipes I didn't account for. I asked about the 4 inch
pipe because it was so noticable.

I may go tomorrow afternoon.

What is this pipe?
 

"mm" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 26 May 2007 02:59:34 GMT, Robert Allison
wrote:

mm wrote:
In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There is
no other pipe showing.

Some rows of homes have this, but others don't. The ones built maybe
around 1997 have them, and the ones built 2 or 3 years later don't.
(There are some others that don't that I thought were also built the
same year as the first group, but if the construction year determines
if there is a pipe or not, maybe I'm wrong.)

I've met a couple of the people who live there, but the odds one of
them knows what the pipe is for seem slim to me.

Sounds like either a dryer vent,

Maybe. Some of these houses have dryer vents, the kind with louvers
that close. I have to go look again to see if any houses have both.t.

or a vented gas grill like a
Jenn-Aire or such.

These houses are smaller and cheaper than mine. I can't imagine such
a grill installed in whole rows of them. Especially if the pipe is
coming from the basement, which it seems to be.

As to the furnace intake, aem, maybe there was one. I'll have to go
back and look. What size would it be? There might have been one or
two 1- or 2-inch pipes I didn't account for. I asked about the 4 inch
pipe because it was so noticable.

I may go tomorrow afternoon.


The only other choice is a radon vent, but I didn't search about their size.

--
They can have my command prompt when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.

What is this pipe?
 

On May 25, 11:36 pm, mm wrote:
On Sat, 26 May 2007 02:59:34 GMT, Robert Allison



wrote:
mm wrote:
In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There is
no other pipe showing.

Some rows of homes have this, but others don't. The ones built maybe
around 1997 have them, and the ones built 2 or 3 years later don't.
(There are some others that don't that I thought were also built the
same year as the first group, but if the construction year determines
if there is a pipe or not, maybe I'm wrong.)

I've met a couple of the people who live there, but the odds one of
them knows what the pipe is for seem slim to me.

Sounds like either a dryer vent,

Maybe. Some of these houses have dryer vents, the kind with louvers
that close. I have to go look again to see if any houses have both.t.

or a vented gas grill like a
Jenn-Aire or such.

These houses are smaller and cheaper than mine. I can't imagine such
a grill installed in whole rows of them. Especially if the pipe is
coming from the basement, which it seems to be.

As to the furnace intake, aem, maybe there was one. I'll have to go
back and look. What size would it be? There might have been one or
two 1- or 2-inch pipes I didn't account for. I asked about the 4 inch
pipe because it was so noticable.

I may go tomorrow afternoon.


Most likely a furnace or hot water heater. Could be an air intake or
an exhaust vent. Wait till winter and stick your hand over it and see
if the air is going in or warm and coming out. Usually these make
some noise because the use a fan to exhaust the air.

Electric v. gas water heater could explain why some have them and some
do not.

Also, if it is only on the nicer/larger units it could be a gas
fireplace.

Unlikely to be a dryer.

Could also be a very poorly designed radon system, but that's very
unlikely.

Find someone planting flowers or something and go ask them.

What is this pipe?
 

On Sat, 26 May 2007 02:57:43 GMT, aemeijers wrote:
Probably the exhaust for the high-efficency furnace. But there is
usually a second pipe to suck combustion air in.

4" is too big for a furnace. Maybe a water heater - mine is like that.

BTW, I've seen new construction with high efficiency heating that do
exhaust to the outside, but take combustion air from inside - just a
short stub on the furnace intake with a plastic grille on it. I thought
that was wierd.

--
Art Greenberg
artg at eclipse dot net

What is this pipe?
 

"mm" wrote in message
...
In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There is
no other pipe showing.

Some rows of homes have this, but others don't. The ones built maybe
around 1997 have them, and the ones built 2 or 3 years later don't.
(There are some others that don't that I thought were also built the
same year as the first group, but if the construction year determines
if there is a pipe or not, maybe I'm wrong.)

I've met a couple of the people who live there, but the odds one of
them knows what the pipe is for seem slim to me.

high-efficiency furnace exhaust woul be 2 or 3 inch pipe depending on length
and number of bends. it must be from a water heater.

What is this pipe?
 

On Sat, 26 May 2007 10:01:44 -0000, Art Greenberg
wrote:

On Sat, 26 May 2007 02:57:43 GMT, aemeijers wrote:
Probably the exhaust for the high-efficency furnace. But there is
usually a second pipe to suck combustion air in.

4" is too big for a furnace. Maybe a water heater - mine is like that.

That's interesting. I woudl have thought a water heater fire is much
smaller than a furnace fire, and would use a smaller exhaust pipe.

BTW, I've seen new construction with high efficiency heating that do
exhaust to the outside, but take combustion air from inside - just a
short stub on the furnace intake with a plastic grille on it. I thought
that was wierd.

That is wierd, but otoh, don't all the previous prior to
high=efficiency furnaces, suck air from the inside and exhaust it to
the outside.

I guess colder air has more air in the same volume, and that's good,
but indoor air is pre-heated and that's also good, right? Or maybe
those are the exact opposites, and only one can be good.

What is this pipe?
 

mm wrote:

In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There is
no other pipe showing.

....
Could also be a bathroom exhaust vent.
Maybe some other exhaust vent. Downflow cooktop vent?
Fireplace air intake?
I assume that you know that it is not a dryer vent?
If you have propane and your water heater or furnace is above
that level, it could be a propane "drain" (a safety "feature"
required by some building codes).
It could also be something that is no longer in use.

What is this pipe?
 

mm wrote:
In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe
coming out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected
at that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I
guess it comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There
is no other pipe showing.

Some rows of homes have this, but others don't. The ones built
maybe around 1997 have them, and the ones built 2 or 3 years later
don't. (There are some others that don't that I thought were also
built the same year as the first group, but if the construction
year determines if there is a pipe or not, maybe I'm wrong.)

I've met a couple of the people who live there, but the odds one of
them knows what the pipe is for seem slim to me.

Clothes dryer vent maybe.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

What is this pipe?
 

On 25 May 2007 21:04:04 -0700, Pat
wrote:

On May 25, 11:36 pm, mm wrote:
On Sat, 26 May 2007 02:59:34 GMT, Robert Allison



wrote:
mm wrote:
In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.

**It only comes out as far as the right-angle piece puts it. There is
no other pipe showing.

Some rows of homes have this, but others don't. The ones built maybe
around 1997 have them, and the ones built 2 or 3 years later don't.
(There are some others that don't that I thought were also built the
same year as the first group, but if the construction year determines
if there is a pipe or not, maybe I'm wrong.)

I've met a couple of the people who live there, but the odds one of
them knows what the pipe is for seem slim to me.

Sounds like either a dryer vent,

Maybe. Some of these houses have dryer vents, the kind with louvers
that close. I have to go look again to see if any houses have both.t.

or a vented gas grill like a
Jenn-Aire or such.

These houses are smaller and cheaper than mine. I can't imagine such
a grill installed in whole rows of them. Especially if the pipe is
coming from the basement, which it seems to be.

As to the furnace intake, aem, maybe there was one. I'll have to go
back and look. What size would it be? There might have been one or
two 1- or 2-inch pipes I didn't account for. I asked about the 4 inch
pipe because it was so noticable.

I may go tomorrow afternoon.


Most likely a furnace or hot water heater.

Do these ever share the same exhaust?

Could be an air intake or
an exhaust vent. Wait till winter and stick your hand over it and see
if the air is going in or warm and coming out. Usually these make
some noise because the use a fan to exhaust the air.

Electric v. gas water heater could explain why some have them and some
do not.

Well, I walked by again today, and noted that the whole row where no
one had the pipe had thin metal chimneys coming out of the roof, and
no one on the row where everyone had a pipe (there were a few where I
didn't see the pipe, but it may have been behind their bushes.) had
the thin chimney.

Then I found another row where no one had a pipe in the front,
although there might have been one in the back. (The floor plan of
these houses had to be a bit different because they faced downhill and
the entrance door was in what would have been an underground wall in
most of the other houses.) So I saw one house with 2 adults and a kid
outside and stopped to ask. They didn't have a pipe in back and
hadn't even noticed that others have a pipe (These people live close
to the main street, and might not ever even pass those any other
houses but their own string of 8.) But she did say that the houses
were originally built to be all-electric, and the prospective owners
complained and they put in gas also. They had to dig up some stuff in
the process.

So, yes, that could why they didn't have a pipe and another reason
some have them and some don't.

Is it only gas that works with its own plastic exhaust pipe? Or oil
too? In my case, the oil furnace is the only thing using its
chimney, so if I didn't use the chimney at all, I guess I could store
contraband in it or something?


Also, if it is only on the nicer/larger units it could be a gas
fireplace.

Unlikely to be a dryer.

Could also be a very poorly designed radon system, but that's very
unlikely.

Find someone planting flowers or something and go ask them.

What is this pipe?
 

On Fri, 25 May 2007 22:19:49 -0400, mm wrote:

In a townhouse n'hood near mine, many of the houses have a pipe coming
out of the wall, and I wonder what it is.

It's a white plastic 4" right angle pipe connector that comes out
about 4 inches** and then turns to point down. Nothing is connected at
that point. It's at the same level as the garden faucet so I guess it
comes out of the ceiling of the basement.


Back up sump pump.