Worried about direct venting a gas fireplace to location under eve. Will I have problems with icicles and snow

Question

One year our area had problems with heat loss from roofs after a large snowstorm. People were having to rake off their roofs as the gutters would fill with ice and then ice would force it's way under the flashing and then melt and leak into their house. Would I be asking for trouble by putting a fireplace vent pipe withing 12 inches of an overhang with a gutter?

Answer 1

You would probably regret doing it. Most don't realize it but there is quite a bit of heat and moisture which comes out of a "direct vent" and can cause some problems, like knocking the paint off metal and wood siding, warping vinyl siding and depositing ice on the siding (when it is very cold and the heating appliance is working hard). I would run the vent out far enough to get the upright portion past the eaves.

Answer 2

It depends on your house!
Those other homes had trouble because they either had insuficient amount of insulation in thier attics to keep the heat in the home instead of leaking through thier roof and melting the snow on them causing the ice jams and back-up in the first place, or there was a combination of that and lack of vapor barrier in there construction too!
It would be easy for any you know to check your attic space to see how much insulation you have in your home, and the local building codes will tell you free of charge on the phone how deep that should be.
Vapor barrier used in the right place is also MOST important and you might want to pay a pro ( licenced only) inspector to do that part to confirm for you!
It would be worth the $100 or $150 to be certain!!
If you have no significant amount of heat loss through your roof, you will not experience ice dams / icicles / or water backing up under your shingles!
For added protection if you have a low pitched roof ( not very high a peak), you can install a robber membrane 4' to 6' from your eves trough for extra water resistance from the threat of potential ice.
The snowfall will just build up higher on your roof until gravity brings it down, so watch your head :)
Now as for the direct vent gas stove pipe...if you are installing it according to propper code, it will not be so close to your eves to cause any trouble at all and the heat from those exhaust pipes disapates very fast and is guite dry in fact. You should have no worries! Davey :)

Answer 3

check at the code enforcement office if you live in town but heres the key wrap the pipe from the iside to the outside with about 4 inches of pink insulation or buy stve pipe thats already got an inner layer and outer layer of insulation that called flex pipe but if you have to use galvanized then wrap the 4 or 5 wih some one inch or two inch insulation and then place another 8 inch galvanized pipe around that ask atr the local depot or lowes thay have dudes that do istallation of this matwerial and plumbers there selling it and the contractors desk has the builing codes

Answer 4

This is why there are building permits and building inspectors. Just pick up the phone and contact your local department. You'll get an accurate answer, one that reflects the local building codes.

If you do this incorrectly, according to your local codes, not only do you face the possibility of having to re-do it, but you face the possibility that you might not get the chance to be told to re-do it.