Atmospheric water heater venting

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John Gayewski

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Thanks john recalculated and he needs 27 square inches of additional intake (which he has) and your right thats minimum should work then right? especialy if he is just using water heater alone then it should work fine no problem at all . I had only figured on the outside air and not accounted for the space of 4368 cu ft of basement with a need of 8500 . agree 40k heater dosent need a 4 inch vent thats why they come with 3 inch collar.
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It should work with a 4" vent connector. I believe he has 3" at the moment.
 

Clutchcargo

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Thanks all,
It sounds like bumping up the 3" vent to 4" will help. I checked the function of the damper in the window, seems OK, it's not binding, maybe get a bigger one.
Maybe I'm approaching this wrong. What are your thoughts on hybrid WHs?
 

Jeff H Young

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Thanks all,
It sounds like bumping up the 3" vent to 4" will help. I checked the function of the damper in the window, seems OK, it's not binding, maybe get a bigger one.
Maybe I'm approaching this wrong. What are your thoughts on hybrid WHs?
As I said it might help I see no reason it would harm to run 4 inch. but its cheap and easy like to hear if anything you try helps. DOES w/h work normal by itself or only act up when boiler is on? I thought was an important question. as there should be far more air coming in just for the W/H
 

John Gayewski

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Thanks all,
It sounds like bumping up the 3" vent to 4" will help. I checked the function of the damper in the window, seems OK, it's not binding, maybe get a bigger one.
Maybe I'm approaching this wrong. What are your thoughts on hybrid WHs?
My personal opinion is you won't get your money back on the energy savings and a compressor is a compressor you can get one that lasts 20 years or one that craps out in 3. My personal opinion is, unless energy (gas or electric) is extremely expensive saving energy on water heating is a long term proposition. By the time the tank wears out you'll still be in the hole and can only help a new hybrid is cheaper in the future.

Why not an indirect? How much life do you expect in your boiler? Maybe a combi
 

Clutchcargo

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The boiler is 15 yo, it's just a conventional boiler but still in good shape and runs clean. Never had any issues with it, but there's really nothing that can go wrong with it.
Good point with the hybrid, One service call negates any efficiency gains.
If the WH were up against an exterior wall, an on-demand WH would make more sense because the venting would be easier but it's in the middle of the basement where the chimney is.
I'll try increasing the diameter of the vent and look for a stubby WH, maybe that will help.
 

John Gayewski

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The boiler is 15 yo, it's just a conventional boiler but still in good shape and runs clean. Never had any issues with it, but there's really nothing that can go wrong with it.
Good point with the hybrid, One service call negates any efficiency gains.
If the WH were up against an exterior wall, an on-demand WH would make more sense because the venting would be easier but it's in the middle of the basement where the chimney is.
I'll try increasing the diameter of the vent and look for a stubby WH, maybe that will help.
If your going to buy a new water heater and want to save some money the only practical way is to buy a regular electric water heater (as long as you have room in your panel) they are 100 percent effeciant (not really, only if you measure it the way they measure it) and they are cheap. The only really good reason to go tankless is if your demand is too large for a regular tank heater, but even then since you already have a boiler an indirect water heater would give you endless hot water.
 
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