Power Vented vs Power Direct Vented

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Mugatu300

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Hello, under what circumstances would a power direct vented (pulling in outside air for combustion) be recommended instead of a traditional power vented water heater?
 

Reach4

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You can afford it. Your house is not very leaky. Running two pipes, or coaxial pipe, is not much of a burden.
 

Mugatu300

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You can afford it. Your house is not very leaky. Running two pipes, or coaxial pipe, is not much of a burden.

So are you saying you generally recommend it or its generally a waste of money? I thought power direct vented was when there wasn't any interior space for combustion air. That said, this will just be in a regular basement. Does house air tightness play any role in power vented vs power direct vented? This is a 1950s era house.
 

Reach4

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I am non-expert on this. I expect that the more hot water you use, the more advantageous the direct venting is.

A WH without a direct vent will pull air from inside the house. That will pull outside air in, and that will make other areas of the house warmer in the summer and colder in the winter. I have not attempted an economic analysis. Live of the WH would be a factor. I tend to presume 20 years. Others presume 10 years. It would depend on your fuel and even electricity costs.

https://structuretech.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/water-heater-study.pdf does talk about some of this stuff starting on page "1" (page 7 of the PDF)
 

Fitter30

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Use outside air for combustion your not using condition air ( heated, filter and humidity). Cold outdoor air is drier. RH level at 0° drops when heater to room temp.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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If you are wise you just get yourself a normal common Rheem power vented unit and stay away from those
other special units..... they cost about the same price on line but I think about the future servicability and I
have never actually stumbled onto a direct vented heater in our area.....

Just throw an extra anode rod into the hot side of the heater $25.00 and throw a water heater blanket on the unit $30.00
then throw an expansion tank on the heater $25, and you will probably get around12 ++ years of trouble free service

FYI you are never gonna figure out the difference you save by sucking air in from the outside of the home
I suggest that you just find something else to fret and worry about ......
 
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