Fish house heater vents - covered?? Facing into wind?

[BLACKJACK]

New to this fishhouse game, on my Ice Castle, when parking on the ice, logic would say to position your door away from the prevailing west wind, which would put your heater vents facing into the wind - is that a problem?? How about if their are high winds? High winds and blowing snow??

Should a cover of some sort be rigged up to go over it? Even a leaning piece of plywood?

Tell me your experience. The furnace is your typical camper style Suburban furnace with two round vents coming out the side.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

I have a Suburban, and parked many times with the vent directly into the wind. I wouldn't do it without a good CO detector, as the wind certainly could swirl it back into the intake. I think that is somewhat unlikely given the design of the vent, and the convection of the exhaust heat going directly up when it hits the cold exterior air.

[BLACKJACK]

Thanks Lipripper!!!

Did you ever sell your house/start building a new one?

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

Nope. Just put it back up on a-sales-site. Lots of interest, but no cash in hand yet.

I think I'm gonna order my new frame within the next couple weeks so I can get going right away in April/May. Can't wait!

[Hawg]

I took a 3ft high piece of aluminum and bent the edge 2 inches at a 90 degree angle, then screwed it to the wall on each side of the vent which basically gave me a cylider/chimminy type thing. It really helped and still vents perfectly. Hard to describe, it's just kind of a upright stovepipe that vents from the bottom up.

[low277]

Hawg, Do you have a photo you can post?

[Hawg]

If you PM me your e-mail I will. I haven't figured out how to post a photo yet.

[Dave]

Follow the link below....really easy

Posting Photos

[Hawg]

I do it, go to browse,double click, it puts the code in, and then add+done, and nothing happens?

[Hawg]

I read the rest, you have to wait a while. Here's the vent, work's great. I guess it's closer to 2 ft than 3 but it basically just goes over the heater vent.

[low277]

If it works good and is simple I like it!

[BLACKJACK]

So did you do this vent cover because you had a problem or just as preventive measure?

[Hawg]

Blackjack, I think I did it for a little of each. This was my first direct vent heater. I was VERY carefull but the instructions for the intake and exhaust pipes were to cut them to measurements down to 32nds of an inch, thats pretty tight. When all done and hooked up I could see my pilot dancing a little bit which is a sign of an air leak somewhere. I assumed, right or wrong, the leak was probably not in a brand new unit but in my intake/exhaust pipes not being 100% seated and sealed. It actually did go out on me a couple times so I did this contraption over it. I really don't expect a $300 heater to be perfectly tight and this did help a ton, at least in piece of mind and the pilot still moves some but not as much.The metal I put over the existing vent is at least an inch or so away on the sides and further over the front just because of the bend. I'm an admited Mickey Mouser but I've seen some of these premium priced houses being built and I think I'm as carefull as they are. Remember, our walls are vey thin compared to a house which makes the tolerences even tighter.

Thank you Dave for the lesson on picture posting.