water heater up the chimney?

[par0thead151]

i am wondering how chimneys are built.
i have a new home(built in 2000) and it has one pipe going up the chimney for the water heater in the basement, and one for the fireplace(now wood insert)
anyways, im wondering if the materials used in the chimney are the same on both sides. or if there is a barrier between the two.
what im trying to figure out is, if my one side of the chimney is rated for a wood stove, will the other side be equally insulated?
the chimney i have is the insulation around a wood frame, with a brick facade.
the fire place was a ZC fireplace.
it would be nice to get a wood stove for my basement, and duct the heat upstairs to help when it gets really cold outside. as my insert has a hard time keeping up when the temps drop below 10F

 

[jharkin]

Ok, so If I understand, your chimney system is metal pipe running up through a framed chase. I'm going to guess that the wood insert side, from your description is class A pipe (double wall insulated stainless) - correct?

OK, now the next question, what fuel does your water heater use- is it NG, propane or oil? If its gas, the builder would not have been required to use stainless by code and could have run aluminum liner. Knowing that most spec builders cheap out wherever they can that's most likely what they did.

The only way to know for sure is to get in there and take a look. BTW, if you found the flue was usable and did install a stove, then were would you vent the water heater?

 

[DAKSY]

Generally speaking, your two venting systems will NOT be the same.
You either have a B-Vent for the water heater or something similar.
It won't be a "liner" because it won't pass the building inspection.
Rather than tear into the chase, take a look at what comes off the
water heater & goes into the chase & then take a look at what comes
out of the chase top. They should be the same, but you'll have to
take a look to verify.

 

[par0thead151]

Ok, so If I understand, your chimney system is metal pipe running up through a framed chase. I'm going to guess that the wood insert side, from your description is class A pipe (double wall insulated stainless) - correct?

OK, now the next question, what fuel does your water heater use- is it NG, propane or oil? If its gas, the builder would not have been required to use stainless by code and could have run aluminum liner. Knowing that most spec builders cheap out wherever they can that's most likely what they did.

The only way to know for sure is to get in there and take a look. BTW, if you found the flue was usable and did install a stove, then were would you vent the water heater?

im getting a new water heater that has direct venting. that can use PVC pipe.
im also moving the water heater as the builder put it in a closet and it does not have a drain beneath it. if anything goes wrong, it will flood my basement.

i have a natural gas heater.
so i would need to get a double walled liner all the way up?
i am just kicking ideas around here, not anywhere near serious about installing it yet. just gathering intel right now.