Height of water heater's draft diverter

Is there a maximum height for the opening at the draft diverter? This one seems higher than usual, even though the brackets seem to be as designed.
Thank you.

It is fine, Eli.

2015 IFGC 503.12.7

Maximum of 6" clearance.

Eli… start looking your answers up yourself using the free ICC online code books listed on my website. You can even copy and paste those codes.
It’s a little daunting at first but you’ll get better at it and in the end you’ll feel more self-sufficient and you won’t have to depend on the opinions of inspectors who may or may not know what they’re talking about.

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2015 IFGC 503.12.7 Is the minimum clearance from obstructions. NOT the maximum height of the hood, which should be referred to the manufacturers instructions.

How many BTU was this unit? do you have a pic of the data plate?

The clearance from the throat and the draft hood’s intake is appliance design dependent and usually depends on the amount of gas the appliance is burning (the more gas, the larger air intake opening it needs). It is then tested by a third-party testing lab to give it a listing certificate, to confirm the engineers did not mess up :slight_smile: So if you are truly concerned, you would need to take proper measurements and contact the engineering of the manufacturer that made the unit to ensure the installer did not by mistake use a wrong draft hood. But if you understand what I just explained, and with some experience, you will be able tell if the installer made a mistake or not on your own.

Thank you, good point, yes, the WH was a little larger than the standard 40/50 gallon units. (And the last 75 gal unit that I saw a while back had a much wider draft hood.)
This is a 55 gal, 60K BTU.

There you go… it’s 1/3-1/2 the BTU more (thus more gas) than a typical 30-40k unit. So, it’s fine :slight_smile: I hope you did not miss other stuff focusing on the draft hood :wink:

The draft diverter comes with the water heater. It’s a proprietary component that the manufacture had deemed necessary for proper operation. Personally I only ensure the flue pipe and diverter are properly attached with a sheet metal screws during my inspections.

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