How can I prevent my on-demand hot water system's exhaust pipe frosting up in the winter?
I spent the extra money two years ago and invested in a on-demand hot water system. For the most part I love it. It only heats up when you turn on the hot water and you never run out of hot water. However, on cold winter mornings, when the night has been REALLY cold --like -30, the exhaust pipe coming out the side of my house builds up frost and plugs almost completely. This causes the heater to shut off and there is no hot water in the morning. I then have to go outside, scoop out the frost, unplug the heater and plug it in again and then it turns back on. To put it mildly this is a pain in the backside. The pipe comes out the side of the house and is facing my drive way. There is no hood (like a dryer vent has). I didn't seem to have a problem with it this year until I turned on the radiant floor heating in the basement. We had some brutally cold days before and it didn't plug then. However, I didn't have the heat on in the basement at all last year and I had the same problem then.
It costs .00 for the plumber to walk in my door. I just thought it was worth a shot to find out if anyone else has had this problem and found a solution.
The intake for this heater is another pipe that is installed directly beside the exhaust pipe. In other words the air the heater runs on comes from outside the house, not from the room it is in, which btw is the basement which is unfinished. Also, it doesn't do it every time the weather is really cold.
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