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I have a power vented hot water tank just on the other side of the wall (and in the basement) from the exterior pipe you see in the picture. The problem is that the steam vents onto my wife's flower garden. In the winter, it melts the snow turning it into a block of ice, which impacts the soil and kills any perennials she plants there.

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I'd like to extend the pipe horizontally parallel to the house and around past the garden. I would cut off the 90 degree elbow and instead turn it the other way and add about 4 feet. My question is: would this be against any code or cause any other issues? Would it be likely to freeze up and clog?

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I do not know of any code that would be breaking. Check with the installation instructions for the water heater to make sure that you do not exceed the maximum length for the discharge piping.

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  • Yup already checked, no problem there.
    – Justin Beattie
    Commented Sep 17, 2018 at 4:06
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Along with the length check also check the height off the ground. It looks a bit low for snow drifts. The installation instructions and local code should have guidance. Pay attention to the horizontal angle of the piping. On my furnace it's supposed to be at 11 degrees above horizontal so the condensate drains back to the furnace and doesn't make a pile of ice from the outlet to the ground (the original installers didn't put it at the correct angle). I don't know if this water heater would be the same but for something that close the ground I wouldn't ignore it.

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  • Excellent, thanks for the tip!
    – Justin Beattie
    Commented Mar 7, 2021 at 20:12

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