Hi Charlie,

It looks dangerous--can back drafting be a fire hazard? 

Leslie, given that lots of water heaters get buried with storage items, yes, it can be a fire hazard.

Hey Charles,

I use to see these signs of 'Back draft" on many of my water heaters when I had apartments. What use to scare me was that the water heaters, furnace and washer/dryer were all located in the same small utility rooms. Many of my tenants use to throw their dirty cloths on the floor in these rooms until washing time. I am still amazed to this day that none of the clothes caught fire due to back drafts.

Sean Allen

Charlie,

Good tips. I think I see more rust around water heaters than any other place in the house, unless they have old galvanized water pipes or drains.

Sean, some of the older style heaters had outer covers there were actually like little chimneys that "directed" the backdraft right into the controls above----as was the case with the last picture in my blog.  In the picture you can see the streak of melted insulation running out of the valve area.

Good post Charles. I am still trying to find a picture that I took last year on back drafting. It was the worst case that I have ever seen. When I find it, I will do a post on it.