Can someone explain the new water heater requirement that is coming in April?  I keep hearing commercials talking about get your new water heater before the change.  Evidently the new requirement forced them to get larger, requiring mods to the installation area if you are tight on space.  I have a 60 gallon electric that is jammed into my HVAC closet.  There is no way I could get anything larger in there.  I’d hate to have to go down to a 40 Gallon.

What’s the truth about this?  Do I need to neck beard water heaters now?

Don't know if this is a statewide change but...I'm in Carrollton and had to get a new one last year. New codes required,

Had to get a permit
If inside, has to have a pan underneath for overflow
Pan must drains to outside living area...went thru laundry room wall to drain to my garage
Must have an expansion tank installed...small tank on top to accommodate pressure expansion...about the size of a gallon milk jug...more plumbing required
Inspector came out and checked worked...also made me install carbon monoxide detectors outside each bedroom

If you replace it yourself I doubt the new requirements apply.

Vince

The way I understand this is it drives the overall physical size of the unit itself, and might not fit in many existing locations.

Not sure about the changes coming. However if you do decide to tackle the project yourself I strongly recommend bringing everything up to current code requirements. It can save you in the long run. Some of the changes actually make sense, such as the drain pan, elevating any water heater installed in a garage, etc., some not so much. However if you ever end up putting your house on the market  you will likely get nailed on anything not up to code and you will be going back to correct it later. As I get older I have found it almost always saves me more to do it right the first time.

Here is the DOE page on it:
DoEWaterHeaters

The salesman at a Lowes in DFW told me the new water heaters will be larger and 40% costlier starting in April, 2015.

The main complaint I heard is that they are larger than the closets used in most homes and as a result will probably require some construction work.

SAAAAAAAAAAVE THE WORLD!

REGULATE WATER HEATERS !!

What does elevating the tank do?

Why an expansion tank? We've had pop off safety valves for years.

Will it eventually need airbags and rearview cameras too?

The elevation is to get an ignition point off the ground away from any liquids like gasoline or paint thinner spilled on a garage floor.

Why you need an expansion tank is listed here . From what I understand it is related to hard water jamming up the Relief valve

Yep.  Heard the ignition point thing as told by a guy at a Lowes/Depot type place last time I bought a water heater.....an Electric water heater.

Yep ...  Electrical  devices can spark too... Not just gas devices .  And before you ask what about a deep freezer/radio /power tools etc ... Those are not permanent devices

More government regulation to save the children of course while making it all more expensive and more difficult to get done.  I would imagine it applies to all new houses built and any work probably done by a licensed plumber installing them at existing houses.  My old house had one of those short/fat water heaters crammed in the bottom half of a closet in the garage that had the HVAC in the top half.  When it died I got a full size one and set it next to the closet, just redid the electrical, water and drain lines.  Also put in shut off valves to make it easier to service & flush yearly.   I did the drain pan, but didn't do the raised platform as it was electric and was told that since it was an existing house I didn't have to comply to the new home building codes.

Is it better to get an electric; I have a gas currently?

Maybe it's time for a tankless system?

Simple minds need to know!

Honestly I wonder if they are trying to get people to move to heaters like a tankless heater...seems that a new style holding take may cost the same as it would to retrofit to a tankless unit

unless the home was designed for it, tankless is not the way to go.
tankless works on temp diffs not overall temps.

you have to get a pretty high btu unit to make s dent even in texas in the winter. not going to happen without a bigger gas line or a lot of amps.

needs to be an external wall and a few other things that put me off of it.
not going to be cheap either. and it would never make the payback.

My freezer sits right next to the electric water heater. Neither have moved in the 5 years I've lived here.

But you know, it's in the same room with the breaker box, nothing in there would ever produce a spark or an arc.

Is your freezer permanently installed in its place?  And is your breaker box next to the floor?


The code for elevation is because the water heater is "permanent".   I also doubt your breaker box is sitting bellow 18" off the floor (strangely I don't belive there is a min height requirement for a breaker box but an electrician would have to answer that and no I am not a plumber either).   Think of it this way .. If you spilled a gallon of gas on the floor do you think you would be safer if you created a spark just 2 inches over it or 18 inches over it....also gasoline vapors will sink.....  You have to understand the dangers before you can deal with them

LoL. No shit. Like most laws nowadays, im sure this started with someones personal agenda. Most like a politicians

*ugh  

I live in Carrollton too. In fact I was just talking with my wife last week about how old our water heater is, and that it may be time to think about a replacement. We're not having any problems, but I know father time is starting to catch up. I was hoping to make a somewhat simple swap/replacement, but based on what you're advising I'm guessing that's a pipe dream now.

I'm curious about the CM detector requirement. Was that a necessity for the installation sign-off, or based on some "other" situation that was discovered?

Our unit is gas, and in a raised closet space (behind a door) in the garage. We're not 100% sure of its age, but I'm pretty sure it's 13-15 yrs old. No pan, and several years back it leaked out of the drain outlet bad enough to flood our master bedroom floor 1/3 of the way. (The inside wall of the water heater closet is one of the master bedroom walls on the other side.) I've already had to replace the thermocouple once, and it'a on my mind enough that I give the unit a physical eyeball check once every few weeks/month. Probably just being paranoid about the NSA listening devices .

Seriously though, being a gas'er all I can think about is the impending BOOM should it go south one day/night. I've mulled over replacements in the past. Tankless is a no-go based on the reasons already provided. Our home was built in 1992, and the plumbing isn't built/configured for a tankless system. I haven't researched electric to any great degree, but I hear there "can be maintenance issues". Although, the literature that I have read touts such problems are less pronounced with the newest generation of electric units.

We replaced our water heater a couple of years ago. The hot water lasts much longer than it did with the old heater. Recovery time is much faster as well. The only time we notice the hot water running out now is when we shower the dogs and us back to back, (time wise people).

Ours are 13 years old and are in the third story(attic).
I've noticed I have to have the shower deeper into the hot zone to get warm water. Time to replace?
I'll be calling a buddy of mine for that info(20 yr master plumber).

How about some basic common fucking sense? My garage is COMPLETELY detached from the house and my hot water heater is in the BASEMENT- where I generally don't play with gasoline because I'm not a fucking idiot.....My freezer is at least as "permanently" installed as my hot water heater. They last almost as long-had freezers last longer actually, and I dunno about you but I don't move 20 cubic foot freezers around for my jollies....they stay where I want them until they die, then they are replaced and the new one goes in the same spot- because that's where it goes....just like my hot water heater.....

It's more nanny state horseshit plain and simple.

This.

It makes no difference if it's permanently installed or not. If it can make a spark, it will make a spark. Gasoline fumes don't discriminate between a permanently installed appliance or a temporarily installed or plugged in device.

Heck, I have two welders in the garage.

God forbid the car battery have a loose connection and create a spark.

This line of thinking will eventually cause the EPA to ban garages because they are "too dangerous" for the average dumbass who works for the EPA.

Gas is generally much cheaper to run than electric.  Tankless is more efficient...  but it is more expensive so it takes time to pay for itself.

With self driving cars in actual testing dont be surprised that our great grand children think driving cars everywhere was stupid and archaic.

WHO WOULD ACTUALLY DRIVE A GAS GUZZLING TWO TON DEATH MACHINE!?!?!?!

They sure as hell don't.


 




ETA: Replaced my water heater this summer, because it was a cheap, builder-grade one, and 10-yrs old. I'd rather not have to deal with the mess it made when it crapped out. Fortunately mine is in the garage, so it wasn't hard to replace. Not a lot of extra room for anything bigger, though.


 
Also, fuck a permit. I'm simply replacing something in my house, not doing rocket-science.

At this point some people just don't unders science .   Gasoline has a vapor density greater then 1 so it will sink not rise .  Here is a link that will help you understand the chemistry link  .  Here is another link I could point you to other sites but they get very technical .   If you still don't belive it call your local fire station and just ask them ....  Again you have to understand the danger first befor you can treat it

They sure as hell DO, and travel a long way.



Every automotive shop lift I've ever used has giant fucking letters on the motor "INSTALL MORE THAN 18" FROM GROUND LEVEL" because fuel vapors can saturate the ground level without anyone realizing it.



I may or may not have lit off a vapor pool from someone changing a fuel filter ten minutes prior and thirty feet away with an oxy/acetylene torch ooooops.

 

Sorry I misread and thought you said natural gas. No need to be a dick about it.

 

O


Not going to argue the dick part and who really is but this is a very good example of how people get them self or someone else killed because they don't understand the dangers.   They just like to go on how they are smarter then everyone else then boom

They certainly do.

Gasoline vapors are heavier than air, which means they will sink.

Edit: Woops, should've read the rest before piling on.

Thanks for reminder. I need to go buy a old style water heater and keep it in my garage until my current one goes out.

Just had ours redone last year after it busted a few seams...

They had to relocate our water softener to allow 36" of unobstructed access to the front of the water heater and redid the gas inlet to relocate the trap in the line for code compliance

No expansion tank needed and passed the FW inspection.

I bought a tankless about 4 years ago. Electric as i dont have gas service in the neighborhood. Works great and I never run out of hot water.  Weighs about 15# maybe, size of a briefcase and hangs on the wall.

In my case, the water heater was going in a closet inside the house, underneath the stairs (gas free house) and because of the space limitations it had to be one of those small/fat 40 gallon tanks.  I remember my electric bill dropped about $15 a month after the original to the house was replaced.

You really should look at the tankless heaters.

Although initial cost of the tankless units is a bit higher, they seem to be the better solution.  And, although I have always preferred, and recommended, gas fired units over electric, in the case of the tankless units, the electric models seem to make more sense.

As it was explained to me, since the electric unit uses an immersion type heating element, which is in direct contact with the water, it begins to heat the water immediately rather than having to first heat up a metal tank containing the water as in the case of a gas fired unit.

Venting and exhaust is also far simpler and less code restrictive.

dp