Mr. Heater Install - Help Needed

[tmizzi]

Hello All,
I have been lurking here for a few weeks and have found this site a very enjoyable place to visit. Got some great people here with great knowledge.

I have a question regarding acceptable ventilating of the Mr. Heater. Ideally I would like to mount the heater on the wall above my water heater and tie into the gas line that is right there. My question is can I also tie into the existing vent that is in place for the water heater or do I need to have a seperate and "dedicated" vent? See attached pic for location.

I want the install to be code worthy.

Thanks for any advise.

 

[jumpingryan]

The install instructions for the compact unit heater:

"The unit may be vented vertically as a single appliance or as a common vent with other gas-fired appliances. In common venting situations, vent connectors for other appliances must maintain a 4” (100mm) vertical separation between the vent connectors. Refer to common venting tables in the (American) National Fuel Gas Code ANSI Z223.1 or (Canada) CSA B149.1 Natural Gas and Propane Installation Code for proper vent size."

That being said, some other considerations:

1) Do you have the piping size to tap into that natural gas line? Refer to charts on the net for the max runs and sizing requirements for the BTU requirements of the water heater and unit heater both running concurrently. If you are close to the sizing, consider oversizing the line in diameter.

2) Just because it is allowed to tie into the vent, it might be worth keeping things separate just to avoid the potential problems that could arise. Things like the current vent length and size come into play if both units are to run concurrently. You really have to know your venting requirements/instructions for BOTH units if you are going to do this. I suggest reading both the MR Heater install manual, and your water heater install manual.

R

 

[tmizzi]

Thanks JumpingRyan. I am buying the unit this week and hadn't read the instal manual yet. Looks like I need to do a check on the water heater manual as well.

 

[rickairmedic]

looking at the picture that looks very much like a 3" vent comming off your water heater and if thats the cAse you wont be able to run the heater and water heater at the same time off of that vent.


Rick

 

[ruggedron]

I would use separate venting since it looks like your water heater does not have a blower on the exhaust and the Mr. Heater does. This could cause exhaust gases to back up and come out the water heater vent into your garage.

Ron