An inspector found carbon monoxide backdrafting from the water heater in my house. The inspector said may be the ventilation (the flue or chimney line) needed to be clean. So I hired a chimney service company to take a look. They say, the reason for backdrafting is not because of blockage but instead the chimney line is not big enough. Currently the chimney line is 5" in diameter and they suggested 6" or 7" and the cost is $75 per ft to replace the line all the way to the roof. My questions are these:
I am surprise that is not big enough since the house is only 6 year old. At least it will not pass the county code then isn't it ?
The water heater flue and the furnace flue share the same chimney line. Only the flue that connected to the water heater has some corrosion/residue on its joint. Is this cause by water condensation or leaking carbon monoxide ?
Can my water heater produce more carbon monoxide now than 5 year ago ?
Is there any other possibilities on how to fix this ?
Was it "inspector Hack" . Get yourself a digital read out Co detector and put it near the heater, it might have been a temporary issue like a big wind. I dought its the size.
If it does turn out to be the chimney or even the water heater issue. I would just put in a power vent water heater and avoid the chimney issue. I had chimney issues so I went with a power vent furnace and water heater (Since they needed to be replaced anyway). I paid a little more on the initial install over the cost of fixing the chimney but now my energy bill is lower and i have newer units. Next time i get the roof done I am removing my obsolete chimney.
Need someone to deliver some 'outside of the flue' thinking.
We're installing a new direct vent water-heater/air coil system, motivated in part by the gain of a very strategic 25 sq. feet in our kitchen. We're gutting and re-framing the basement at the same time we re-duct the place as a part of the HVAC upgrade.
Here's the rub: having the chimney out of the way is crucial for duct runs, etc. of the new basement floorplan, BUT we aren't likely to be tearing into the kitchen reno for perhaps a year. (Anyone who has played Jenga might be catching on already...)
I can take the chimney down to the top of the kitchen ceiling from the roof and attic. That leaves me with a 16' column of chimney blocks (not bricks, but prefabbed cinder-blocks that are 16"x16"x6" and create an integral flue when stacked up) standing in the middle of our house.
Calculating the volume of concrete in each one puts it at ~100lbs., so the inaccessible 8' segment in the kitchen will weigh something like
1500lbs.
(My HVAC contractor told me a horror story of a DIY'er in a similar situation who began demolishing the stack _from the bottom_. Contractor arrived one day to find this guy happily working away under the remaining ton or so of stack, which was being held up only by fireblocking and roof flashing/jack! Yikes.)
So, how can I lower this part of the column out of its 4x4 chase and onto the basement slab? (Or,in theory, it could be lifted out?) Hey, I just realized that I've been assuming that I need get it out right away--maybe I can support it in place in a way that won't interfere with basement work and deal with it when we gut the kitchen.
Anyway, that wouldn't be as sexy/elegant/convenient/interesting as using a winch/car jack/hot air balloon to do it now. The possibilities seem to break down into:
a winch with some sort of roof-top derrick assembly that will safely spread the weight over enough area
a method to effect an 8' lower (i.e. tie into the upper-most basement block and lower the remainder en masse)
a method to effect a series of 6" lowers (i.e., ratchet it down, removing one block at a time)
The problem with 1. is the engineering. The chimney penetrates two overlapping roofs (split level house), so it is through the overhang of the upper and right up against the wall on the lower, which are separated only by 3'. Too close to the edge to errect a structure on top and not enough height to do one on the bottom.
There are problems with 3., too: it requires either that the ratcheting be done at ceiling level (supported 8' off the slab) or, if it operates at at slab-level that it must be capable of carrying both floors, to begin with. Either way, the means of attaching to the stack (probably penetrate through it with some kind of bar) will have to be done as many times as required by the height of each lower.
No. 2 is my preference, but what kind of apparatus can do an 8' reverse lift of 1000 lbs.? Oh, and I have free access to only three faces in the basement, and that only for the first 3'; the next split-level starts above that with only a 4" fire clearance.
I'll come up with some kind of reward for anyone who clinches this one, honest.
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