Hot Water Heater Exhaust Pipe Insulation

An insulation blanket can make some water heaters more energy efficient.

Hot water heater exhaust pipe insulation. The flue is the metal tubing that extends up from the top of your gas furnace or water heater that carries the carbon monoxide gas from the heating unit to your. I understand it s probably a legitimate part of the design as the pipe might get hot and needs some clearance. Judging by all my thumbs down perhaps your answer depends on the type and size of water heater you have. Illustrations of proper gas fired water heater venting using type b double wall vent pipe through a roof above or through a chimney below include details for the flue vent connector such as the requirement of a minimum vent connector upwards slope of 1 4 per foot of horizontal run.

If your water heater is located in unconditioned space a garage basement or attic or you don t want added heat install a heavy blanket r 11 or better. How to insulate a metal flue pipe. Qualified installer or service agency installation and service of this water heater requires ability equivalent to that of a qualified agency as defined by. The vent pipe for a water heater doesn t get that hot and sheetrock and fiberglass insulation aren t flammable anyway.

Hot water in the tank often floats into the pipes when hot water isn t being used. If the draft hood that came with your water heater has a top opening diameter designed for 3 vent pipe and you have 4 vent pipe installed use an adapter increaser to join both of them together. Gas water heater draft hoods come in different sizes and if you are replacing water heater make sure that the draft hood and the water heater vent pipe match each other. The higher the r value the thicker the blanket and the more insulating horsepower.

Hi i have two vent pipes exiting through the wall of my utility room one is a standard 4 galvanized round venting a gas dryer the other is a stainless 4 round venting a propane fired tankless hot water heater takagi t kd20. The other day while cleaning i discovered that the gas water heater vent terminates on the side wall and there s almost an 1 gap around it going directly outside without any insulation. Hot exhaust from the water heater naturally rises up through the vent and into the air outdoors creating a draw that promotes this upward airflow. This is a result of poor design in american water heaters.

With the pipes attached to the top of the tank hot water in the tank moves up into the pipes by thermosiphon. There is one part of the hot water pipes that should always be insulated.