Gas Heaters Flued

If you are wondering about the safety of your gas heater, you should know that you can get gas heaters flued and unflued, sometimes described as vented and ventless. Gas heaters provide the hot water that is needed for many things in your home. You use hot water to shower and bathe, to wash dishes, clean laundry and in cooking. You can also use gas heaters for heating the home through either a central heating system or through individual room units. Since your heater is a machine, it takes a certain amount of maintenance to make sure that it is doing its job properly.

The gas that heats your water or your home actually produces some toxic gases as it burns. When you have gas heaters flued, this means that a metal pipe, or flue, is attached near the top of the heater and goes to the outside of the house. This safely exhausts the toxic fumes or gases outside of your home. If the flue is not working properly, you can end up with carbon monoxide getting trapped in the house, which is a definite health and safety issue for both you and your family.

You should always be very careful to understand how gas heaters flued or unflued work and what you need to do in order to maintain them in good working order. The types without a flue need to be rated for safety and all assembly instructions followed very carefully in order to maintain appropriate air quality within your home. To be safe, if you use the type of heater that has the ventilation system, you will always know that the bad gases and fumes are exiting your home. The flue system can either simply release these gases or it can actively push out the polluted air as well as water vapor that is produced from the burned up gas.

As you look at the gas heaters flued assembly, you will want to be assured that your flue is working properly. Check for cracks or openings around seals. It is a good idea to have a service person check the system yearly so that you can be assured that it is working properly. If you are using a gas water heater, the flue will need to be in an upward direction going toward the chimney. For gas fires and other heaters, the flues can be run either horizontally or vertically, which means they don't need to be located on an outside wall, which gives you many more options for locating them where you need them.