Water heater location, does it matter?
Johnny1985489
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
I’ve changed my designs so that the water heater is located in middle of the house in a hallway. I had the space there and no real place to put the water heater since this house has no garage. Also I liked the placement as the water heater is very close to both bathrooms for quick hot water in there. My plumber looked at the plans and says the inspectors frown on doing but will pass inspection anyway. Something about a exit valve or something.
Is this true and why? I’ve lived in many houses where the water heater was in a hallway in the center of the house.
Replies
I have know idea why an inspector would frown on this, other than you say it is in a hall; do you mean right in the middle of a hall? Otherwise, it makes far more sense to put it in a central location to cut down on wait time for hot water response. That's what I did.
Scott.
Two issues:
Some areas/AHJs require the P/T valve extension pipe to discharge at a floor drain so that if it lets go, you don't flood the area.
Second: real world: often, such an installation uses a louvered door for the air supply. Jim Davis, the leading authority on this stuff, says vented doorsd _never_ work properly; although that hasn't been my experience, I have seen several closet installations where there was not sufficient combustion or makeup air getting into the closet.
Be sure any such installation is properly tested using a draft guage and combustion analyzer. (This is a situation where the 02 levels in the flue gases will tell you a lot quicked than the CO levels if there is a problem.)
That's assuming that the heater is gas fired. Biggest concern would be the pressure relief valve, when it discharges. Could make a real mess. Code requires that the tube comes down so many inches to the floor, as not to splash and scald someone. Definely if a water heater is installed in a living area, installing it in a drip pan of some sort would be wise.
When I say its in a hall I meant to say its in a closet in a hallway. This will be a gas heater using propane. Should I have the plumber install a drain at the bottom of the floor or something? I don't have much time to change the plans again I hope I can make this work ok.
>>This will be a gas heater using propane. Should I have the plumber install a drain at the bottom of the floor or something?<P><B>No drain there</B> with propane - propane is heavier than air and the last thing you want is a nice little pocket of propane waiting for an ignition source. (Not, the P/T valve extension pipe should not be directly plumbed into a waste line.)<P>Depending on the water heater's location relative to existing drains, you can extend the P/T extension pipe to another location so long as it's the right size and doesn't exceed the length and bend specs of the P/T valve manufacturer.<P>The most common in use are from Watts Regulator Company: they specify:<P>"Discharge line must be as short as possible and be the same size as the valve discharge connection throughout its entire length. Discharge line must pitch downward from the valve and terminate at least 6" (152mm) above a drain where any discharge will be clearly visible. The discharge line shall terminate plain, not threaded. Discharge line material must conform to local plumbing codes or ASME requirements. <B>Excessive length over 30' (9.14m), or use of more than four elbows or reducing discharge line size will cause a restriction</B> and reduce the discharge capacity of the valve." [Emphasis added]<P>
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Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
I think a drain will be necessary and of course venting for the propane. You can either go with standard B-vent to the roof (with proper clearances and hidden by a chase), or (more expensive) ABS power vent to daylight.
Around here you've certainly got to have a floor drain with a dripper that keeps the trap primed. The WH has to sit in a pan that is plumbed into the drain.
Good luck,
Scott.
Now I'm kinda worried about this after reading about flooding that can happen if the water heater breaks. Would it be ok to have a drain at the bottom that went into the septic tank with the rest of the waste? or should the drain just go outside someplace? Also would it be ok for the pressure valve to travel about 15' to exit outside?
A lot of this is regional and climate dependent. Here in non-freezing Southern CA, the T&P valve and Smitty pan are required to each have their own drain line running to daylight. That would be a bad thing for the T&P in a freezing cilmate. A slow leak could produce an ice plug at the end of the line.
Short runs are a good idea, but here the W/H is often located next to an outside wall, with access and air coming thru an outside door. Sometimes they're just in a little sheet metal shed on the back porch.
Earthquake strapping is required here, and because water is heavy, I put mine on the ground floor, under the master bath and next to the laundry room.
If you have a crawl space, perhaps you can deal with the combustion air and CO issue by getting it from there rather than thru a door to the living space. This being propane, the crawl would have to be well enough vented.
-- J.S.
Johnny, I also placed our water heater centrally so the pipe runs were shortest.
Aresia doesn't show up in my atlas, but I'll mention another possibility for you. Pretty sure nobody in New Mexico is very concerned with dehumidification like we are in Virginia. However, if you're thinking elec. heater and have a house to seasonally cool, a heat pump water heater add-on will give you roughly 3 times the efficiency with cool, dry air as a byproduct. Ours, used seasonally, paid for itself in short order. Central location helped immensely. Think mini-AC with free hot water, or vice versa.
We have a nearby, required, floor drain.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Don't forget a gas and carbon monoxide detector. This installation that you propose is not something to forget the safety issues on.