Acclaimed Furnace Venting Tip

Did you know that snow can cause your furnace not to vent properly? By removing the buildup of snow around your outdoor vents you may find that heat is getting through your home much easier. This is also a great safety concern as well.

If you have any other winter home heating tips and you are in the Edmonton and surrounding areas such as sherwood park, Alberta and St. Albert, Alberta give us a call at 780-413-1655.

[terry]

It's a good thing that they put the intake so low to help create new problems. Way to go!

[mstuart]

It’s -20°C in Edmonton, but he’s wearing a t-shirt! 😆

[clintonkirker]

My intake and exhaust are both 2 inch. I raised the intake 30 inches and put a 45 on the exhaust. Now the exhaust doesn’t linger near the intake. No more frost buildup on the intake and no ice buildup on the exhaust and only cost me about $15.

[busterhikney]

Greetings from Los Angeles. Why is the ground white and the water sharp?

[Mattstafford]

Wouldn't it have been better to avoid future snow build ups just to also build up the intake pipe like the exhaust is doing? If the issue is that the exhaust might get sucked back into the intake could you just rotate the elbow so it blows away/ sucks in away from each other?

[elizabethearleywine]

Do you have any suggestions for combating too much wind around the pipes? Where we live the wind pretty much goes in all directions and the furnace seems to act up when its very windy. It’ll start to hum but never actually starts blowing then the humming just stops after anywhere from a few to several minutes. We’ve had quite a few service technicians out and it never seems to get fixed. Can get very cold and frustrating.

[pminers]

Outside is -20C = -4F & you're in short sleeves & we can't see your breath?

[desmomotodesmomoto]

s that withe moisture coming out of gas furnace exhaust toxic?

[sunnyd]

That is a massive flue for a furnace? LOL what size unit is that. One question I have and no one seems to answer is on the intake. That basically pulls air into the furnace, so if the outside air is smoke filled will the odor come into the mechanical room? I assume most of the air is burned off in combustion but curious about odors. Where I live people use chimney a lot and outside the homes is pretty thick with smoke fumes in winter, would not want that sucked inside.
Cheers

[AcclaimedEdmonton]

All districts and manufacturers have different codes and specifications. It is important snow doesn't get too close to the intake, but is never something that can guarantee a big snow storm will not result in snow pilling up or drifting up higher than expected. Thankfully high efficiency venting through the side of the house is easy to monitor and correct if needed. Thank for the comment!

[omarchioua]

I have goodman furnace and the exhaust and air intake run different direction. Furnace not heating. Called a technician checked the operation and notice both intake and exhaust run different direction. Undone the air intake from the furnace as a temporary fix. Furnace started heating the house. I am getting different opinions on this issues. Please advise thanks

[boknows]

Access difficult to get to when snows. Is it ok to add extensions and raise well above ground to avoid the drifting snow from blocking? I dont want to constrict airflow by raising another 1-2 feet off ground if this will cause a problem, not concerned how it ‘looks’, im guessing thats why they put them so low to the ground in the first place? Tnanks

[kroekerta]

what if its on your roof and getting up there isn't an option? Is there a cool trick before calling a technician?

[zzubuzz]

0:40 ? Or why not pipe it higher up so you don't have to watch it like a hawk? Maybe your in a southern state and that's why it looks like the intake is about 12" from the ground, I get it state building codes say 12" higher than anticipated snow accumulation, and most of us have seen snow drifts/banks that can build up about 30" high around the house when it's only 10" on the open surfaces. Then (like mine) the house next door's driveway is next to the furnace exhaust side and they have nowhere to shoot their snow out of their massive snowblower except toward my house, so guess where it goes? Yep, they shoot it right up against the side of my house (where the furnace's exhaust is located). I'm thinking about attaching a big 6'x'8 piece of PVC lattice against my side of the fence where my exhaust is, like they say, good fences make good neighbors.

[craiggerlach]

We need furnaces that alternate the intake and exhaust ports every cycle so that any frost building up is melted on the next cycle.. have both pipes exit building in same fashion and they cycle then problem solved.. engineers, get on this... tired of going outside every 12-24 hours to clear out my intake when below 0F and windless.. eventually will be too old or crippled up to do this... and when going out there in -25F temps with windy condition easy to do damage to one's self especially if fall on that ice...

[garyleslie]

Isn’t their a code for how high off grade the exhaust should be. Shouldn’t have to remember to go out and clean the snow. Plus your in Edmonton. Also why is the pipe so large.

[andresgalia]

Is there anything one can put to cover the pipes to prevent snow covering them? If I am at home it is a question of shoveling, but if one is away how can one make sure the pipes do not get plugged with snow?

[kaelabebeau]

Isn't the intake called combustion air instead of fresh air?

[greenlantern]

Yeah but how do you stop it? My skinny ass was up at 3:00 a.m. clearing snow

[Sanders-vozz]

What method do you take to clean it out