Hello,
6 months ago I had my old 40 gallon water heater replaced with a new 75 gallon water heater. About 6 months after the install I bought a device called AWAIR Element and plugged it in the basement. To my shock the device is showing spikes of Co2 to 3800 PPM and TVOCs at 4800 PPB.
The HVAC company that did the install came out and found small leak in the cone shaped vent that sits directly over the WH. They replaced this but the problem persisted. At this point they advised I did not have adequate air movement in the basement for the WH to properly vent.
They presented a solution to install a "Fan in the Can" system, ultimately its 30 feet of pipe with an in-line fan that will turn on whenever my WH turns on to help it vent properly. They also said they would upgrade the exhaust pipe from the 3" it is currently to 4".
I'd like to get some expert opinions on this situation. Does everything outlined above sound legitimate?
As an aside I've done a bit of googling and from what I've read it seems 75 gallon water heaters should exhaust to a 4" pipe. If thats true, I'm a little bothered because they did not replace the exhaust pipe when they installed the new water heater, it was simply added under the existing 3" exhaust. If what I've outlined is correct, I'm curious to get an expert's opinion on whether the "fan in can" system is really needed, or if I just need to have the exhaust pipe upgraded to 4".
Thank you in advance for your response!
6 months ago I had my old 40 gallon water heater replaced with a new 75 gallon water heater. About 6 months after the install I bought a device called AWAIR Element and plugged it in the basement. To my shock the device is showing spikes of Co2 to 3800 PPM and TVOCs at 4800 PPB.
The HVAC company that did the install came out and found small leak in the cone shaped vent that sits directly over the WH. They replaced this but the problem persisted. At this point they advised I did not have adequate air movement in the basement for the WH to properly vent.
They presented a solution to install a "Fan in the Can" system, ultimately its 30 feet of pipe with an in-line fan that will turn on whenever my WH turns on to help it vent properly. They also said they would upgrade the exhaust pipe from the 3" it is currently to 4".
I'd like to get some expert opinions on this situation. Does everything outlined above sound legitimate?
As an aside I've done a bit of googling and from what I've read it seems 75 gallon water heaters should exhaust to a 4" pipe. If thats true, I'm a little bothered because they did not replace the exhaust pipe when they installed the new water heater, it was simply added under the existing 3" exhaust. If what I've outlined is correct, I'm curious to get an expert's opinion on whether the "fan in can" system is really needed, or if I just need to have the exhaust pipe upgraded to 4".
Thank you in advance for your response!