I had access to a ladder the other day, so naturally I was poking around in the attic of our house where we have lived for about a year. Above the closet where the furnace and water heater are located, I found there was a metal flue that didn't extend all the way through the roof, it just stops in the attic. Is this normal? There was a flue right next to it that did extend through the roof. The house was built in 1999 and we haven't had any problems since living here. I looked in the furnace room closet and couldn't see anything that might be connected to it. The building inspector didn't mention anything about it when we bought the house. Here's some photos:
So, what do you think? Will our house burn down, or will we die of carbon monoxide poisoning?
Best Answer
I am guessing from your pictures that it is an air intake - I don't see any signs of air/moisture above the venting. It is perfectly acceptable to pull air from your attic for a furnace. In fact some might presuppose that by pulling the attic air you are increasing airflow in your attic. As a home owner I would like to see a screen on it so that critters can't get in.
If this is an exhaust, then it needs to go out the roof. I doubt it is an exhaust though since the exhaust looks to be right next to it and there are no signs of any airflow like I said before. Your worry % should be very very low.
Also in my area we throw a couple of 90 degree elbows on this so it is pointing down. That plus the screen makes it super hard to have any unwanted things fall into your furnace intake.