# Is this allowable in Ontario ?



## windsor guy (12 mo ago)

Hi I live above a laundromat and it has approx 12 industrial natural gas dryers. it has 2 vents on the same pipe. One goes right up to the roof. A second one was added and it is below my window. I have circled it in the picture. Is this legal within Building code. If I open my window the exhaust comes right into my apartment and I have been experiencing the odd headache when I have left the window open. Thank you for your advice.


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

While we wait for someone from Canada to answer. . .it would be easy to get a CO monitor at a hardware store or Walmart. You can order a more sensitive one than is usually on the shelf. Improperly vented gas can also cause a headache.


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Exhaust of what -- the natural gas burners that heat the dryers (dryers could be electric, could be natural gas), or the hot humid air from the dryer ?

Its just hot, humid air. I don't know of any restricts on exhausting damp air, but somebody else may know better than me.


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## stick\shift (Mar 23, 2015)

Rather than asking the internet, I would be asking the local AHJ.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

I found this. It appears to be more than 1 foot away from the window so it might be OK.


> Clause 8.14.8
> A vent shall not terminate
> (f) less than 1 ft (300 mm) above grade level;
> (g) within the following distances of a window or door that can be opened in any building, of any nonmechanical air-supply inlet to any building, or of the combustion air inlet of any other appliance:
> (ii) 12 in (300 mm) for inputs from 10 000 Btuh (3 kW) up to and including 100 000 Btuh (30 kW);


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

joed said:


> I found this. It appears to be more than 1 foot away from the window so it might be OK.


I believe that is referring to venting of products of combustion. OP has not clarified if that is what is being exhausted.


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## pumpkin11 (Oct 31, 2020)

windsor guy said:


> Hi I live above a laundromat and it has approx 12 industrial natural gas dryers.


that is not the natural gas vent, that is the air vent,

the only thing you are breathing in is hot air


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## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I know some don't like Quora, but, this seems like a pertinent writeup.









Laundry: I live right next door to a laundromat. My apartment window is next to the air vents on top of it. How dangerous is this to cons...


Answer (1 of 4): Your first concern should be possible exposure to carbon monoxide, both at chronic sublethal levels, and possibly higher and immediately lethal levels in the event of a malfunction. The answer here by James Mcfeley explains what you can do to reduce that risk. Another concern is...




www.quora.com





Another site mentioned the things people try to wash & dry, like foam & petroleum stains.

Does the laundry include any stain removal or dry-cleaning? I'm not sure about Canada but in the US -

"Under the Clean Air Act (in the Final Amendments to Air Toxics Standards for Perchloroethylene Dry Cleaners), the US EPA stipulates that *all PERC machines be removed from residential buildings by December 21, 2020*, and replaced with non-PERC technology (42)" .Mar 5, 2021
*Perchloroethylene and Dry Cleaning: It's Time to Move the ...*


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## windsor guy (12 mo ago)

Thank you for your replies, I did mention that these are natural gas, other then the gas inline and power there is only 1 exhaust vent from behind the dryer. So I assumed that there must be carbon monoxide being released with the hot air. Am I incorrect? I do have a smoke/co2 detector in my apartment. However I dont trust it, because previously the roof was leaking and water actually exited through the smoke detector and it malfunctioned alerting me to a fire at the time. There was no fire only water pouring through the detector.


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

You make a good point. For residential gas dryers, there is only one exhaust. (Commercial unit might be different, but I doubt it.)
THIS says not less than 3 feet away from window, but don't know if that is applicable code in Ontario.
Hold tight, somebody will come by that knows better than me.


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## Chris616 (Dec 31, 2019)

I had a fairly good look through the Ontario Building Code, which is all available online. I did a search of everything with “exhaust” in it and couldn’t come up with anything that would prohibit the installation shown in the photo.

In places where the International Residential Code (IRC) is used there is a clause that exhaust duct terminations can’t be any closer than 3 feet from an “opening into a building”, which would include a window. But even if Ontario had something like that, the distance in the photo looks to be greater than 3 feet.

For those unfamiliar with them, a natural gas dryer has just one exhaust, so the products of combustion (which doesn't necessarily include carbon monoxide) and the dryer moisture and lint are all taking the same journey in the same duct.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

You said gas dryers. Typically they exhaust CO and damp air from their single exhaust. If the wind is such that air is entering your window, hot gasses from the vent below could be rising up and entering your window. For a laundromat you would look at the building code or fuel gas code, if you have one. A Residential code does not apply to a commercial mixed use building. In our fuel gas code it would be required to be at least 4 feet below a window. Our code also states that a vent must be placed such that vented gasses cannot enter the building through openings such as windows. I don’t know what your code says. Most codes are on line.


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## pumpkin11 (Oct 31, 2020)

windsor guy said:


> I do have a smoke/co2 detector in my apartment. However I dont trust it


replace it immediately, not tomorrow....today!

do you want your apartment to become your tomb ?


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

pumpkin11 said:


> replace it immediately, not tomorrow....today!


If you can't replace it because you are a renter, buy a plug model from Canadian Tire and plug it into a receptacle in the room with the window. If it goes off, call 911. The fire department will make them rectify the issue.


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

And if it is now defective, the landlord is in violation (assuming they know about it).


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## windsor guy (12 mo ago)

Thank you to every one for there help and input.


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