Water Heater Safety Tips

One item that home inspectors in Oak Forest, Tinley Park, Alsip and other cities will consistently inspect is the water heater. The water heater is one of the major items that home buyers are concerned about. Most want to know if they need to buy a new water heater, some want to know if it is the proper size, and others just want to be sure it is working. When you have your home inspection in Oak Forest, your home inspector should inspect the water heater, unless it is not accessible. When I perform a home inspection in Oak Forest the water heater is inspected for age, installation method, function, venting and safety. Water heaters can be fueled by natural gas, propane or electricity. The majority of water heaters that are inspected in the Oak Forest area are gas-fueled. They can be vented by natural draft, fan assisted or be high eficiency. 

What I want to focus on today is draft venting in relation to safety for natural gas-fueled water heaters. Gas water heaters are combustion chambers, which means that the exhaust has to go somewhere. The water heater has a vent connector to a chimney, which will allow the combustion gas to escape the house. If the combustion gases do not or cannot escape from the water heater then it will spill into the house and release Carbon Monoxide, which can and will kill you if the concentration is high enough. All exhaust systems for water heaters are designed to expel the combustion gases to the outside of the home. The natural draft water heater does this by having a properly sized vent connector, with 3 screws connecting every section, at the proper slope of 1/4-inch per foot of vent connector, installed to allow for the hot gases to rise and flow up the chimney.

I find that these vent connectors are not always installed properly during my home inspection in Oak Forest, Orland Park, Tinley Park and other areas. One indicator that the water heater is not venting properly is melted or deformed plastic grommets where the water pipes enter the water heater. This indication means that the hot gases are flowing out from under the hood and melting the plastic, but more importantly it means that CO is entering the house. If you do not have any carbon monoxide detectors installed in your home, please install them. It is colorless and odorless, so a CO detector can save lives.

Take a look at your water heater to see if you have melted grommets, and that there is an upward slope to the vent connector. If you are unsure about the water heater, call your Oak Forest Home Inspector to have the water heater inspected. The fee for the inspection is well worth the safety. Take a look at some images in this post that were taken during home inspections in Oak Forest and other cities.

If you have any questions about home inspections or home inspector you can reach me at 708-612-6679 or at my email MerinosHIE@gmail.com. Please visit my websites for more information. www.MerinosHomeInspection.com or www.OrlandParkHomeInspections.com