Hot water heater in attic = insane

[Kyle241]

Wow, that is beyond crazy in my opinion. It sounds like quite the job you took on. Did you consider an 'on-demand' hot water instead of another tank? Our 'vacation' house had the hot water tank on the second floor and one of the first things I did was rip it out of there and rerun the piping to the utility room I included with the new addition to the house.

 

[s219]

We're building a new place, so I didn't want to invest in any major changes here. Otherwise, I would have considered going tankless.

I thought about relocating the tank, but moving water, gas, and chimney lines looked like too much of a project. If it was an electic heater, I would have moved it for sure.

 

[yelbike]

Just curiuos, why did you move it to a better location? Basement or closet?

 

[kenmac]

The problem is the installers. They install appliances ( in attics) & cut corners. Sometimes installers fault & sometimes, it's all the builder will pay for . If you use 1 of those small pans that they sell at the box stores for your water to sit in, your asking for trouble. I always build a pan for a wh installed in the attic. In my current home wh is in the attic with a 30x30 pan with 8 '' sides & 2'' drain in the bottom. My wh ruptured last year. Not a drop of water on the ceiling or in the pan. The 2'' drain performed very well

 

[deerefan]

Just curiuos, why did you move it to a better location? Basement or closet?

I did exactly that. Mine was in the top half of my 2nd pantry. When i replaced it, i removed the shelving and dropped it all the way to the floor then built a ceiling to close off the top of the pantry where the water heater protruded into the attic.

 

[SandburRanch]

To save space; did I read that right?

3 or 4 bay garage attached to a 3 to 4 thousand sq. ft. house and saving space so it can be filled with junk nobody needs on the first floor. Atta Boy:thumbsup:

I have a son in TX that sees mostly HVAC units in the attic. His next job is 3 units in the attic of new construction. I visited with him today and advised him to wait until all the water heaters were installed and put them just in front. Told him this story and after cracking up he said he has seen it all.:laughing:

Another thing he sees is clothes dryers vented into the garage. I've been in one of those there and what a wet dripping rusty tool mess. Unbelievable.

 

[yelbike]

To save space; did I read that right?

3 or 4 bay garage attached to a 3 to 4 thousand sq. ft. house and saving space so it can be filled with junk nobody needs on the first floor. Atta Boy:thumbsup:

I have a son in TX that sees mostly HVAC units in the attic. His next job is 3 units in the attic of new construction. I visited with him today and advised him to wait until all the water heaters were installed and put them just in front. Told him this story and after cracking up he said he has seen it all.:laughing:

Another thing he sees is clothes dryers vented into the garage. I've been in one of those there and what a wet dripping rusty tool mess. Unbelievable.

Ok you said it, so I'll go off on my pet peeve of a tangent!!

If you do anything/see/notice/observe anyone with a PLASTIC dryer vent tube........get rid of it now, not tomorrow, not on a list of things to do,now. Its a MAJOR fire hazard. Replace it with at least a metal flex tube. Better yet use hard pipe, no screws (tin tape only) and fit male into female downstream.
I see it often in customers' homes. Firefighters have said its the most common cause of house fires. Its especially important with newer dryers as they run hotter than the old ones.

Okay I'm done now lets have a drink:drink: and pray for the Wpg Jets to make the playoffs!

 

[powerpace]

The last few years I have looked at some older houses that didn't start out with plumbing. Invariably the hot water heater was in the attic. Not many closets were built in or many basements in Oregon.

We ended up building a house of our own design. Water heater in the laundry room which is between the bathrooms and kitchen. Water heater has earthquake strap and drip pan with drain. Code. HVAC in the attic with easy access for filter change. Drip pan for HVAC with drain to outside and alarm.

 

[chucko]

my attic is huge I could make it another floor if I wanted. Where is the HVAC? Tight at the hatch. I have to step over it to get to anything.

If I had been the one that had it put in I would have never allowed it
Heater is ground floor in the laundry room...Fla = no basement

 

[Bird]

Quite awhile back, in a different thread, I mentioned that I thought hanging would be too good for the guy who came up with the idea of putting the HVAC equipment in the attic, but some of our members in that business apparently thought it was a good idea.:laughing: Maybe some of our plumbing members will think the water heater in the attic is a good idea, but I'd sure disagree. My HVAC stuff is in the attic (and I still think that idea borders on insanity), but at least my water heater is not. Of course my water heater is in a closet in the middle of the house when I think it should be in the garage.