Laundry rooms with a gas applinace: How do you cite the need for laundry room exhaust fan? (Consider CO backdrafting).
- Laundry room & gas appliance…not exhaust fan
- Laundry room & gas appliance…with an exhaust fan
Thanks in advance!
Laundry room with high levels of moisture content… exhaust fan!!
What about CO back drafting from gas appliances?
That’s kind of a given’, don’t ya think?
Let me rephrase that…
ALL rooms with fuel burning appliances should have ventilation, whether a fan or an openable window, preferable both IMO.
You are not being very clear. So, which safety concern is more important? Humidity or excessive CO?
They are equal, but are handled individually in different ways.
CO is a human health concern
RH is a home health concern.
1 Like
OK, lets say that there is laundry room with an electric dryer, a gas funace or a gas water heater or both. There is venting (high/low) but there is an exhaust fan?
I understand what YOU are asking, but personally, I don’t care what “other” appliances are in a laundry room, that room should have ventilation. Considering how those other appliances discharge their exhausts, there is little chance of a CO issue without an actual leak or component failure. The chance a fan creates a backdraft scenaro is always possible, but not a major concern without other issues at play.
I know that won’t make you happy. I’ve seen your long list of thread posts with similar environmental discussions… So… hang on a little bit, and my STALKER should be here any minute to tell what a piece of shit and stoopid f*ck I am, and then proceed to tell you how HE wants you to see it!
Good luck.
1 Like
Wow! This is why I rarely ever come on this forum anymore. Highly emotional and political at every turn. Anyhow, attached are the 2018 IRC codes. I should have just spent the time looking it first.
3 Likes
Roughly 50 cubic feet of combustion air (make up air) is needed per 1000 BTU of gas appliance. Many “laundry rooms” also contain the gas furnace and water heater. Make up air is at a premium in these installations. Consider as well the air required for dryer operation which may make simultaneous operation of these appliances a hazard. Common dryer air consumption is 200 CFM.
6 Likes
That’s just one individual. Just ignore him!
1 Like
This is a good and detailed response. Thanks for taking the time.
1 Like
Is there a need or requirement? Here in GA, most homes do not have ventilation in this area. However, if a gas appliance is in the same space, I see allowances for combustion air. Ventilating the area and supplying combustion air are two different things.
3 Likes
Some inspectors feel there should be an exhaust fan in the laundry room, Personally I don’t have one in mine and I don’t plan on putting one in there unless I see a moisture issue that calls for one, I also don’t call it out as a defect in my reports.
But in your case, if there is one, and there are gas appliances in the same room, IMO combustion air should be priority number one, many times the easiest way to provide it is to add a vent so air can freely flow between the laundry room and the rest of the house.
7 Likes
Good point! (I suspect you meant looking it up first). Then you have the actual reference you can use, rather than “inspector Jim Bob told me on the NACHI MB”. BTW there are also other places in the Code that address the issue. “Politcal” issues will affect us all at one point or another, ignoring those issues is only contributing to the problem(s).
I was interested in what the responses would look like. But mainly I was mostly interested in the consequeses of backdraftying with gas appliances and exhaust fans.
An exhaust fan in a laundry with an atmosphere vented water heater is the same scenario as having that same vent type water heater in a bathroom. Turn on the fan and close the door and you probably have backdrafting and CO exposure. The only way to test for that condition is by performing a Combustion Appliance Zone Test (search on youtube). I do have expertise with this issue through my BPI training.
I don’t have a concern for the absence of a vent fan in the laundry, vs bathroom. A shower puts out a lot more moisture than a wash machine or properly vented dryer.
If a vent fan was present in a laundry, and the laundry had a door, and an atmosphere vented water heater was also present; I’d have a concern about backdrafting. I’d report the issue and do a close inspection of the water heater for evidence of backdrafting. I’d recommend a CO alarm in that room and that a CAZ test be performed.
As an addition, I’d test the water heater for backdrafting using a smoke stick: doors closed, dryer running, fan running.
1 Like
Still looking for the issue.