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Earl
 
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Default frost buildup on furnace intake

Ok, for the past couple years I've had intermittant blockages in my gas
fired forced air furnace intake due to frost buildup (apparently,
called hoar frost). It tends to happen on cold, high humidity days
with little or no wind. Looking at the venting setup at my house in
the arctic tundra of western NY, I see my hot water heater vent (6"
PVC) is furthest west (on the south side of the house), the vent from
the furnace (3" PVC) just several inches away, then the furnace intake
(3" PVC with a vertical extension about 1 foot up) only a few inches
away from that. So, two vents upwind of the intake. Short of
redirecting the intake to be further away (would presume 1 - 3 feet
from Google searches), is there anything else I can do to prevent this?
I realize, I can just go out and clear the frost periodically (jam
something up there). I've also read about electrical heat tape but
worry about the safety. I even thought about coating the inside of the
PVC with something that would deter frost formation, or painting the
PVC black so the sun would melt the frost quicker...

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Earl

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~KJPRO~
 
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"Earl" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ok, for the past couple years I've had intermittant blockages in my gas
fired forced air furnace intake due to frost buildup (apparently,
called hoar frost). It tends to happen on cold, high humidity days
with little or no wind. Looking at the venting setup at my house in
the arctic tundra of western NY, I see my hot water heater vent (6"
PVC) is furthest west (on the south side of the house), the vent from
the furnace (3" PVC) just several inches away, then the furnace intake
(3" PVC with a vertical extension about 1 foot up) only a few inches
away from that. So, two vents upwind of the intake. Short of
redirecting the intake to be further away (would presume 1 - 3 feet
from Google searches), is there anything else I can do to prevent this?
I realize, I can just go out and clear the frost periodically (jam
something up there). I've also read about electrical heat tape but
worry about the safety. I even thought about coating the inside of the
PVC with something that would deter frost formation, or painting the
PVC black so the sun would melt the frost quicker...

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Earl


Your saying the intake is above the exhaust for the furnace and water
heater?

If so, what is the make, model of the furnace?

And what type of water heater do you have that requires a 6" PVC pipe?

~kjpro~



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Bubba
 
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Default

On 4 Feb 2005 05:17:59 -0800, "Earl" wrote:

Ok, for the past couple years I've had intermittant blockages in my gas
fired forced air furnace intake due to frost buildup (apparently,
called hoar frost). It tends to happen on cold, high humidity days
with little or no wind. Looking at the venting setup at my house in
the arctic tundra of western NY, I see my hot water heater vent (6"
PVC) is furthest west (on the south side of the house), the vent from
the furnace (3" PVC) just several inches away, then the furnace intake
(3" PVC with a vertical extension about 1 foot up) only a few inches
away from that. So, two vents upwind of the intake. Short of
redirecting the intake to be further away (would presume 1 - 3 feet
from Google searches), is there anything else I can do to prevent this?
I realize, I can just go out and clear the frost periodically (jam
something up there). I've also read about electrical heat tape but
worry about the safety. I even thought about coating the inside of the
PVC with something that would deter frost formation, or painting the
PVC black so the sun would melt the frost quicker...

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Earl


Read the installation instructions for the furnace and water heater.
They both will have guides and even diagrams of how to vent them
properly.
Bubba
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Earl
 
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No, not "above", just upwind. They are all about the same height.
Water heater is an AO Smith powervent. I don't have the manual for the
(Luxaire, don't have the model number on me right now) furnace - I'm
going to try and get ahold of it though.

Your saying the intake is above the exhaust for the furnace and water
heater?

If so, what is the make, model of the furnace?

And what type of water heater do you have that requires a 6" PVC

pipe?

~kjpro~


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