water heaters in Tucson (Green Valley: real estate, houses, contractors)

[SpringsF6B]

I've been looking at real estate in the Tuscon / Green Valley area. It is kind of like window shopping from afar. One thing I noticed is that all of the water heaters are up off of the floor. they are all on some sort of platform. I have lived in many places in my life and I've never seen this before. All of the water heaters were always on the floor. Can any one tell me why Tucson waters are up off the floor? Curiosity is getting the best of me.

[Jareb]

Several years back it was code for gas fired water heaters to be raised off the floor if they were located in the garage. It may have applied to electric water heaters also. I think this was because gas fumes from an automobile tend to accumulate at the ground level. Explosion risk was the reason. Not sure if that is still the standard.

[Roli]

Jareb is probably right. Tucson has good fire codes and good inspectors, very proactive and using data to find out what starts fires, like gas leaks from cars in garages. As technologies change, fire dangers change. House fires and business fires are fairly rare here due to their vigilance. Tucson Electric and city were great about coming out quickly to inspect work on my new electrical panel, and it made me feel better that they looked the job over. It's great living in a city with excellent building codes and prompt inspections. Also, hire licensed contractors! Have fun window shopping, Spring.

[SpringsF6B]

Thanks, now that I think about it water heaters are never in the garage.

[AlaskaErik]

Originally Posted by SpringsF6B

Thanks, now that I think about it water heaters are never in the garage.

That's the only place I've ever seen them. Every house I've owned had it in the garage and every house I looked at while house hunting had it in the garage. Although I will confess to having never looked at a house without a garage.

[Bummer]

Primarily for safety, SpringsF6B . . . I personally have witnessed the results of a Gas Water Heater (garage floor set-up) Explosion. Definitely NOT PRETTY.

However, the "elevated platform requirement" only applies to Gas Water Heaters, NOT Electric.

Just another advantage the Electrics have over Gas.

[steiconi]

Originally Posted by AlaskaErik

That's the only place I've ever seen them. Every house I've owned had it in the garage and every house I looked at while house hunting had it in the garage. Although I will confess to having never looked at a house without a garage.

Interesting. I've never had one in the garage. One was in the crawlspace, two in interior closets, one in a cabinet opening outside the house. 3 of those houses had garages.

[Marcy1210]

I've only seen water heaters in garages in warm weather areas like FL, HI, AZ, SoCal, etc. North of those areas, they're usually in a basement, or in houses without basements, in a vented utility closet. Before living in AZ, I'd lived in CO, and all the water heaters were in the basement with the furnace.

[jlawrence01]

My water heater is outside the house and is located in a small shed that was intended to store a golf cart.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by Marcy1210

I've only seen water heaters in garages in warm weather areas like FL, HI, AZ, SoCal, etc. North of those areas, they're usually in a basement, or in houses without basements, in a vented utility closet. Before living in AZ, I'd lived in CO, and all the water heaters were in the basement with the furnace.

I think it is more than just climate alone. We had our water heater in the garage at our house in VA and I heard this is typically the norm in the Tidewater and Central Virginia regions. Meanwhile in Texas I heard the norm is to install them in in the attic.