Good Morning 
This might be the wrong forum for this, but as the problem generates at the water heater, I'm hoping someone here can point me in the right direction...
Our two-story condo has an unusual heating system (unusual for me, anyway). It uses heat generated by the water heater to force warmed air through the vents. The water heater is in the garage and the "fireless furnace" is in the attic. The only information I have to go on is the notes taken by the home inspector (almost 9 years ago).
The problem is that when we turn the heat on, cold air is blown throughout the house. The air coming out of the vents is instantly cold, and it doesn't heat up, even when left on for over 30 minutes.
My wife remembers this happening once before, soon after she bought the place. She remembers that the home inspector (now retired and unavailable) stopped by and said that air had gotten into the pipes and they needed to drain "something," (she doesn't remember what). He quickly got the system pumping out warm/hot air again.
She thinks that he closed the drain valve, and then put a bucket under the spout to catch the water. She remembers that there wasn't too much water, but doesn't know what he did after that. Now, I can drain the pipe, but I don't know if this is what we're supposed to do, and I don't want to make matters worse. Plus, once it's drained, I don't if there are certain steps I need to follow to make sure that I don't introduce more air into the pipes when opening the drain again.
In case either of the image links don't work, I tried attaching a photo to show the water heater setup.
She also remembers that right before this happened the first time, she had friends installing her washer/dryer. They had turned off the water to do this. While they worked on the washer/dryer, my wife and another friend were unpacking in the house, and had the heat turned on. Something about having the heat on, with the water off, creates this type of situation. We recently had plumbers over, working on re-routing some copper piping in the garage, but we're unsure if we had the heating unit on when they were here.
In any case, we think we need to drain the pipe leading to the furnace unit, but we'd like some pointers if anyone is at all familiar with this type of setup. Does anyone have any advice?
Thank in advance! And thanks for taking the time to read this.
-Robert, CA
This might be the wrong forum for this, but as the problem generates at the water heater, I'm hoping someone here can point me in the right direction...
Our two-story condo has an unusual heating system (unusual for me, anyway). It uses heat generated by the water heater to force warmed air through the vents. The water heater is in the garage and the "fireless furnace" is in the attic. The only information I have to go on is the notes taken by the home inspector (almost 9 years ago).
The problem is that when we turn the heat on, cold air is blown throughout the house. The air coming out of the vents is instantly cold, and it doesn't heat up, even when left on for over 30 minutes.
My wife remembers this happening once before, soon after she bought the place. She remembers that the home inspector (now retired and unavailable) stopped by and said that air had gotten into the pipes and they needed to drain "something," (she doesn't remember what). He quickly got the system pumping out warm/hot air again.
She thinks that he closed the drain valve, and then put a bucket under the spout to catch the water. She remembers that there wasn't too much water, but doesn't know what he did after that. Now, I can drain the pipe, but I don't know if this is what we're supposed to do, and I don't want to make matters worse. Plus, once it's drained, I don't if there are certain steps I need to follow to make sure that I don't introduce more air into the pipes when opening the drain again.
In case either of the image links don't work, I tried attaching a photo to show the water heater setup.
She also remembers that right before this happened the first time, she had friends installing her washer/dryer. They had turned off the water to do this. While they worked on the washer/dryer, my wife and another friend were unpacking in the house, and had the heat turned on. Something about having the heat on, with the water off, creates this type of situation. We recently had plumbers over, working on re-routing some copper piping in the garage, but we're unsure if we had the heating unit on when they were here.
In any case, we think we need to drain the pipe leading to the furnace unit, but we'd like some pointers if anyone is at all familiar with this type of setup. Does anyone have any advice?
Thank in advance! And thanks for taking the time to read this.
-Robert, CA
