TL;DR
A draft hood is the open, bell-shaped fitting atop a natural-draft gas appliance, most familiarly an atmospheric water heater, where room air mixes with rising flue gases to steady the chimney draft against wind gusts and updraft surges. That permanent opening is also the system's confession point: under backdrafting conditions, exhaust spills out of it into the room, which is why technicians hold a smoke source or mirror at its rim to test draft after several minutes of burner operation.
What it means
A draft hood is the open, bell-shaped fitting atop a natural-draft gas appliance, most familiarly an atmospheric water heater, where room air mixes with rising flue gases to steady the chimney draft against wind gusts and updraft surges. That permanent opening is also the system's confession point: under backdrafting conditions, exhaust spills out of it into the room, which is why technicians hold a smoke source or mirror at its rim to test draft after several minutes of burner operation. Melted plastic or corrosion at its skirt is physical evidence of chronic spillage worth investigating, not wiping clean.
Where it sits in the glossary
Draft hood is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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