We replaced the water heater about 2 years ago and have been having this problem ever since. The old water heater did not have this problem at all. We have a natural gas water heater that vents through the wall to the outside. There is only about a 3 foot pipe that goes from the water heater to the vent. The vent is a kind of round honeycombed thing. When it gets windy the pilot light gets blown out. We built a wooden box around the vent about a foot away and that helps a little, but not enough.
Is there a different type of vent that we could use that would block the wind? I was thinking something like what my dryer uses, it has a flap system that opens when the dryer is on, but I’m not sure if the pressure from the water heater would be enough to open the flaps.
Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!!! My wife is getting very hostile about taking cold showers!
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Go to home Depot , Lowes or your local hardware store, they will be able to tell you what to do. Good luck! : )
You need to call a licensed master plumber.
I wouldnt mess with gas products – make sure that you are not doing something to void the manufacturer’s warranty on the water heater.
God forbid something happens at your house, like a gas leak from the pilot light out, your insurance may not cover the damage if you have some contraption around it…
three things to never mess with: gas, electricity and water.
call a pro!
Actually, the vent is apparently not long enough on the exterior. (weather it be a roof or wall exhaust. I work on furnaces all the time that have the wind issues. It will drive you nuts. I would say first, make sure that the portion of the vent pipe outside is tall/long enough according to the specs of the water heater. ALSO, make sure the vent pipe is the right SIZE for the water heater. All of that is good, then you need a different vent ‘cap’ for the tip of the vent that is out side. Worst case scenario, you are looking at a $50 repair. Hope it works out for you, good luck, Merry Christmas.
This is normal for a chimney. It’s supposed to create low pressure at the top end to force the gas to flow outside. If it gets too windy, the pressure is too low, the flow is higher and it may take the oxygen out of your pilot.
Try looking at the problem from the other end. What you want is to shield the pilot from being disturbed by the flow. I had a heater with a shield for the pilot. It was like a half pipe covering the side of the pilot exposed to the air inlets. It made it a little hard to light, because you had to go around it with a long match, but it kept the pilot from blowing out.