Our water heater's in the attic (floors, furnace, tank, drain)
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Our 50 gal gas tank water heater is in our attic, which seems like a very odd place to us but all 295 homes in our Raleigh, NC development were built little over 10 years ago with the water heater in the attic.
Now that the units are 10+ yrs old they are needing to be serviced or replaced. A few neighbors have switched to tankless and moved the heater to a lower level. I'm not sure that we want to go tankless (from research on Consumer Reports), we'll probably get another tank version but I'm wondering where to put it? In California our water heater was outside (behind a utility door on balcony or patio) or in the garage. In Minnesota it was in the basement. Could we have it installed in the garage or in the crawlspace (plenty of room and height)?
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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You can almost certainly move the water heater wherever you want, the question is whether you want to simply pay for a new water heater or if you want to pay for a new water heater and what could be extensive re-plumbing. There could be a lot of variables. It isn't impossible that this would be a relatively easy procedure, but it could be a real nightmare as well.
The plumbing part is really pretty easy. You just have to find a place where there are hot and cold pipes. Generally, you want to have it where there are full size hot and cold pipes.
The utility connection is the other part. If it is electric, you will have to run a 240V circuit to the new location. This maybe easy, or could be a bigger problem (cost more).
Gas is another thing altogether. First you will have to run a gas line to the unit. Depending on where you find a gas line close by, it may not be "sized" correctly for the demands of the water heater. Running a gas line, or re-sizing the run could run into a lot of money depending on the location.
The second thing is the exhaust venting of the gas appliance. The exhaust gases have to go outside. So this could be almost next to impossible if you pick the wrong place.
We live in TX and one of our water heaters is upstairs in the attic-the other is in a utility closet in the garage. Most of the homes here have water heaters in the attic--it is just the way they build here since there are no basements. I think it's weird...it kind of freaked me out at first but everytime my husband goes up to change the air filters (yes, they put the A/C & furnances in the attic too--so odd to me) he inspects the water heater to make sure no leaks, etc. I think it is a Southern thing....I have lived in two other states and had not ever seen this before either.
I am one of the few who think that having a water heater in the attic makes sense. The ambient heat, especially if a tempering tank is used, can cut power or fuel costs substantially. If it had a properly plumbed drip pan, I would keep it there.
I had a water heater in my previous house in Savannah, Ga. I hated it. The pilot went out and in order to light it I had to put my face on the floor in order to see in there. It is hard to get to, difficullt-I'm sure-to replace, and it is hotter than hell up there in the summer. Not to mention the roaches. My new house has the water heater in the garage and I LOVE it!
What Harry said. Make sure it has a good drip pan with a drain-off to some sort of drain that can handle a leak, given that, why not leave it in the attic?
My gas water heater is located in the attic. All the houses in my subdivision have this arrangement as well as gas central heat (horizontal furnace). Looks like most construction nowadays has this plan. I'm going to keep an eye on it as the house is 5 years old and we purchased it brand new. I can't see moving it and a tankless heater would be expensive to buy and install. So going to keep an eye on it.
Are electric water heaters less trouble? Do they leak as readily? The only think bad about that is that electric rates are high here (Louisiana)
We have two 50 gallon water heaters in our attic, last week one split on top and appeared to be rusted out. It was only 6 1/2 years old and no one was home. We had sheetrock hanging , wooden floors buckled up, door jams swollen. attic insulation soaked, clothes closets sheetrock ceiling down etc, etc.
These were A.O. Smith water heatersand they only have a 6 year warranty. I called the company and emailed them photos, however they can't help me even though I had 2 different plumbers look at them and they never seen that happen before. I had 2 water heater in my other house for 23 years, one in the garage and one in the attic. Never had any problems with them.
Wow. That IS odd. How did it split? Was it along a weld line or somewhere else?
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