Hot water tank back draft problem

[MIway]

Whatever you figure out, you can't create negative pressure in the area around the gas fired equipment or you'll keep having the same dangerous problem.

Carbon monoxide detectors are extremely reasonable in price, so do yourself a favor- put one upstairs & one downstairs.

^^^ this.

most basements where i am at are like yours photo... current place i am at too.

two ways to deal the problem:
1. buy a new water heater that is designed to both pull air in from the outside & exhaust back out (a closed loop) . these units are more expensive than urs + you will likely have to cut a hole to accomodate a new air intake pipe, so it's even more expensivr w the labor. it's a conversion against the original design of ur house... a project. the existing water heater isnt designed to work that way & cant be retrofitted... its a new heater + new pipe + labor.

2. frame off the existing water heater & create a small enclosure around it. then hook up a small fan on a scrubber outside of that heater compartment & vent tube it to blow into that area... creating positive air pressure of scrubbed air surrounding the heater. fan scrubber combo only has to be big enough to counteract the pull of your other fans. you will be creating two different pressure zones in thr basement... positive around the heater, negative everywhere else. much cheaper option & works great. co monitor will verify.

 

[Jhhnn]

In one room there is a return register. The other room is maybe a foot from the main return line. I can tap the one room into the main line. Can I use the return register in the other room, or would it be better to tap into the main return line as well?

Thanks guys for all of the help!

P.s. buying carbon monoxide detectors tomorrow.

Using the return register should work fine.

Depending on your furnace is & how the thermostat is set up, you can run the furnace fan all the time to distribute the air through the house & assist your fans in removing heat from the grow area.

 

[Ph-patrol]

So you are going to exhaust the room into your return truck. Were are you getting your make up air from?

 

[Hookah79]

So did you figure it out? I am having the same issue in my basement grow room.It is 2 10x10 which is half of the basement.Each have an 8" exhaust fan,and a 6 inch intake.I have a gas furnace/hot water heater.Need to figure out how to get positive pressure in there,and worried about carbon monoxide.

 

[coldcanna]

^^^ this.

2. frame off the existing water heater & create a small enclosure around it. then hook up a small fan on a scrubber outside of that heater compartment & vent tube it to blow into that area... creating positive air pressure of scrubbed air surrounding the heater. fan scrubber combo only has to be big enough to counteract the pull of your other fans. you will be creating two different pressure zones in thr basement... positive around the heater, negative everywhere else. much cheaper option & works great. co monitor will verify.

That's a good idea, put some duct in to the floor above to have passive intake because the heater needs fresh air, check a plumbing code book it will tell you what the exact size of the input needs to be.

I think your best bet would be to purchase an electric water heater like a Super Store for a few hundred bucks, if your remotely handy you can plumb it up yourself, if you post pics I'd be happy to walk you through it.

 

[Jhhnn]

So did you figure it out? I am having the same issue in my basement grow room.It is 2 10x10 which is half of the basement.Each have an 8" exhaust fan,and a 6 inch intake.I have a gas furnace/hot water heater.Need to figure out how to get positive pressure in there,and worried about carbon monoxide.

Your higher capacity fans need to be used as intakes, the lesser ones as exhaust. It'll create slight positive pressure & your dangerous problem will go away.

 

[Photosynthesis]

So did you figure it out? I am having the same issue in my basement grow room.It is 2 10x10 which is half of the basement.Each have an 8" exhaust fan,and a 6 inch intake.I have a gas furnace/hot water heater.Need to figure out how to get positive pressure in there,and worried about carbon monoxide.

I installed a portable AC, and all is working fine. The exhaust is only 200 cfm from the AC so it does not effect the exhaust from the water heater, and heater.

If I would not have had a single hose AC literally lying around, then I would go with a duel hose model to lessen the exhaust even more.