Can electrical wires touch or run inside a water heater vent chase?
Running non-metallic sheathed cable (Romex) inside or touching a hot gas water heater flue violates safety norms due to excessive heat exposure risks. This uncertainty leads DIYers to improperly bundle wires or enclose them in undersized chases, creating potential fire hazards.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1relocating or tying back wires to maintain clearanceDid this help you?
- 2reducing the size of the chaseDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“The wires touching the pipe are a no go, but the chase could be significantly smaller than it is and still be code compliant.”source ↗
“I plan on zip ties for the black and white wires. Didn’t know if the yellow will get too hot being enclosed.”source ↗
“Well, I'm not an electrician but I don't typically see romex IN the chase with a flue.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2How to insulate around old, brittle electrical wiring