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Regulating water heater exhaust

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Erin Kerrik

Member
My hot water heater has a hood above an open vent. I just moved the hood to the side and the C02 level occasionally got too high, 4000 ppm according to syringe - enough to "burn" holes in WW leaves (but C99 & GF did great).

I'm asking for ideas on how I can hook up this exhaust to a C02 meter. Is there a HVAC device which can electrically close a vent? A way to variably allow only some of the exhaust to go out the vent? Or from the other direction, bring in fresh air when the level exceeds a limit?

All ideas welcome no matter how wacky! Napoleon the steam engine was thought ludicrous.
 
5

58FLH

Member
:fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu: :fsu:



I would be extremely careful messing with hot water heater exhaust. You could very easily die from making modifications to the exhaust. This is very risky and not worth the benifits if any
 
S

screwdriver

Erin Kerrik said:
All ideas welcome no matter how wacky! Napoleon the steam engine was thought ludicrous.
Click to expand...

The steam engine was thought to be ludicrous then it was replaced with something that worked alot better.
 
GOT_BUD?

GOT_BUD?

Weed is a gateway to gardening
ICMag Donor
Veteran
screwdriver said:
The steam engine was thought to be ludicrous then it was replaced with something that worked alot better.
Click to expand...
True, but a gasoline powered engine wont kill you silently, either. ;)
 
badgr

badgr

Member
I usually don't even reply to questions that are this out of control. But you need some help. This is Dangerous.
A. yes they do make automatic dampers for HVAC. They run on air or electric. If you use an air powered one it would need to be 8" + duct size. If you use a electric one i believe they go down to 3".
YOU should never ever use your water heaters exhaust as a sorce of CO2. Seems like a good Idea to some but I would recomend you hook your water heater back up the way it's suppose to be and wait to use co2 till you get a proper setup.
 
humble1

humble1

crazaer at overgrow 2.0
ICMag Donor
Veteran
on the other hand,
they do give darwin awards for a reason. i say hook up co2 meter to venting fan when levels are above 1500.
p.s. have you ever seen a waterheater explosion? don't cutoff the exhaust.... utilize it.
 
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Liam

Active member
Relax people, your all way too paranoid.

I seriously doubt high C02 concentration will hurt your plants, now CO and soot will, but that won't be a problem if your stay at the 2000ppm level.

I suggest moving the water tank back but install a 'T' in the line, control the size of the hole either with a flap vent. If you can afford the $$$, get a C02 controller an electronic vent flap.



You should carry a carbon monoxide alarm on you when you enter the room to be safe. You also really don't want to go down there with the ppm really high, you'll just black out and never wake up. 5000ppm is really the max a healthy adult can tolerate living in. You absolutely must keep it lower than that, 7-10,000ppm you will just black out and that its, no heaven or hell, your just DEAD.
 
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G

Guest

Aw,a voice of reason finally.We are talking about carbon dioxide here people,not carbon monoxide lol.I know Algore would like you to think its a serious poison lol,but you'd have to snort an awful lot real quick to get any adverse affects.Anyone here spouting the dangers of co2 enrichment actually ever use it??I sit in a 2000 plus PPM environment for several hours a day twice a week,and have for years.Do you sleep in a sealed room?Take a reading when you awake sometime,your breath is 40,000 PPM.I'm just saying don't diss the co2 unless you work with it daily and understand it.I'm not saying utilizing co2 from a hot water heater is a good/bad idea,but its damn sure an idea and co2 used p[roperly kicks ass.People shouldnt be afraid of it.
 
TrustNoOne

TrustNoOne

Member
more than a few people have been killed deader than dead from faulty exhausts on gas furnaces. all they do is fall asleep one last time without ever knowing that they be dying.
hot water heaters probably would'nt cycle often or long enough to make much of a difference in a grow anyways IMO. just does'nt seem worth it to me. risk outweighs the reward.
 
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Erin Kerrik

Member
Liam said:
Relax people, your all way too paranoid.

I seriously doubt high C02 concentration will hurt your plants, now CO and soot will, but that won't be a problem if your stay at the 2000ppm level.
Click to expand...

Yup ... babies loved 2500-4000 ppm. 2.5 oz/plant.


Liam said:
You should carry a carbon monoxide alarm on you when you enter the room to be safe. You also really don't want to go down there with the ppm really high, you'll just black out and never wake up. 5000ppm is really the max a healthy adult can tolerate living in. You absolutely must keep it lower than that, 7-10,000ppm you will just black out and that its, no heaven or hell, your just DEAD.
Click to expand...

Here are the OSHA standards: http://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_225400.html

5,000 ppm long term exposure (8 hours) limit
30,000 ppm short term exposure limit
 
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Erin Kerrik

Member
badgr said:
A. yes they do make automatic dampers for HVAC. They run on air or electric. If you use an air powered one it would need to be 8" + duct size. If you use a electric one i believe they go down to 3".
Click to expand...

Thanks much - I didn't know the HVAC terminology. Google found several 12 dampers that would do well for the application.

badgr said:
YOU should never ever use your water heaters exhaust as a sorce of CO2. Seems like a good Idea to some but I would recomend you hook your water heater back up the way it's suppose to be and wait to use co2 till you get a proper setup.
Click to expand...

The way I'm thinking about it is this:

Option A: Buy a CO2 generator and regulate its operation with a CO2 controller. Use extra NG and hope your CO and CO2 meters don't fail.

Option B: Regulate the vent on the water heater with a CO2 controller. Hope your CO and CO2 meters don't fail.

Is there anything I'm missing? I mean, I'm sure the literature for dedicated CO2 generators instruct NOT TO USE IN LIVING AREAS.

Addendum: I agree, it can be dangerous to vent burning NG into a living area. Just as nobody here is recommending growing pot in the first place, nobody is encouraging introducing extra CO2 into a living area.

With a few exceptions of unusually unintelligent people in CA, OR, AK, Neth, I believe we're all curiously intelligent risk takers here.
 
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5

58FLH

Member
Erin Kerrik,
Man depending on how much CO2 you need you can use something similar to a brewers kit to get small amounts of CO2 plus when it's done you'll have some fine home brewed beer for your cotton mouth. If you're going to use your water heater exhaust anyway you might consider a cemetary plot too. True CO2 numbers that are very high will kill you but the water heater exhaust will contain Carbon Monoxide which will kill
grow safe
58FLH
 
smurfin'herb

smurfin'herb

Registered Cannabis User
Veteran
Ok let me get this straight.... U can burn natural gas as the source for a co2 generator and be just fine and not have to worry about any carbon monoxide, BUT, for some reason when it comes to a hot water heater as the source (which also uses natural gas) you just cant use it because it somehow produces carbon monoxide? How does that work? How does the hot water heater produce carbon monoxide, and the c02 generator doesnt..?
They are both burning natural gas.....!!! What am i missing here? Where and how does the carbon monoxide come into play when using a hot water heater?
 
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