Can anyone tell me if all models of hot water heaters have to be installed on a stand if they are in a garage in order to meet code? Someone is telling me that car fumes can ignite the gas if not on a stand. Thanks.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story

A rear addition provides a small-scale example of how to frame efficiently.
Related Stories
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
- Home Group
- Antique Trader
- Arts & Crafts Homes
- Bank Note Reporter
- Cabin Life
- Cuisine at Home
- Fine Gardening
- Fine Woodworking
- Green Building Advisor
- Garden Gate
- Horticulture
- Keep Craft Alive
- Log Home Living
- Military Trader/Vehicles
- Numismatic News
- Numismaster
- Old Cars Weekly
- Old House Journal
- Period Homes
- Popular Woodworking
- Script
- ShopNotes
- Sports Collectors Digest
- Threads
- Timber Home Living
- Traditional Building
- Woodsmith
- World Coin News
- Writer's Digest
Replies
It may vary depending on local codes, but in general, yes - a gas water heater (not a hot water heater) needs to be on a stand at least 18 inches tall to meet code. It may not be likely, but there's a chance of flammable gas fumes down at floor level.
This may also vary based on the rating of the unit. Some newer units are supposedly "safe" from the standpoint of igniting gas fumes.
If the water is already hot, you don't need to heat it. Hence, this forum is strickly against "hot water heaters". They are absolutely forbidden.
~Peter
...this forum is strickly against "hot water heaters".
Not the whole forum. I think either way is fine.
>>>If the water is already hot, you don't need to heat it<<<
How about a booster heater? ;)
You need to lighten up on the (very stale) critique of the term "hot water heater." If you've never said "join together," "free gift," "former veteran," "fuse together," "hollow tube," "PIN number," "most unique," or "true facts," then maybe you have a vantage to be critical. "At this point in time," I suggest that you don't.
All gas water heaters now sold in this country are built with the FVIR (flammable vapor ingnition resistant) feature. This means that they qualify for the exception in the gas codes that exempts certain appliances from being elevated on a platform. They can sit right on the garage floor.
Electric water heaters have their lower t'stat located such that it (the t'stat) must be elevated by the 18" that you referred to.
rdesigns; just curious, could the AHJ make an arguement that the ignitor is a possible source of ignition? Are FVIR specifically exempted? Generally not an issue up here as the danger of freezing is too great.
The AHJ can, of course, require anything it wants, reasonable or not.
But, the FVIR feature meets the requirement in both the fuel gas codes and the plumbing codes that allows for water heaters so equipped to be installed directly on garage floors.
That's why the price of gas water heaters took such a big jump a few years ago, when all man'frs were required by law to build gas water heaters with the FVIR feature.