Tankless Water Heater In Attic
Simply put as long as there is enough combustion air provided tankless water heaters can be installed in any area of your home from a utility room to a garage to yes even an old dusty attic.
Tankless water heater in attic. Installing both tank type tankless water heaters in the attic has been a common practice if florida calif and other regions in the sun belt for years. Does a tankless water heater in an attic require a drain pan. Tankless water heaters can create heavy levels of condensation during operation. Plus they are very easy to maintain.
When there is proper drainage available to the unit an indoor installation reduces the risk of water damage to the home as well. Giant tanks of water happen to take up a lot of square footage and primarily for that reason many builders have opted to place water heaters in the attic of new homes. Whether or not you can install a tankless water heater in your attic depends on your attic. The remaining heat creates a hot exhaust gas that requires metal venting typically stainless steel or thick aluminum.
The water heater must be located within 20ft of the attic hatchway. Newly constructed homes tend to be the best option for indoor tankless systems. Wednesday july 11 2018. A tankless water heater doesn t carry the same risk of leakage that a traditional water heater does so there is less chance you will have a leak.
In fact both the irc upc address specific additional requirements for installing the water heater in the attic. A water heater in the attic saves square footage tank type water heaters are big hulking cylinders filled with anywhere from forty to seventy gallons of hot water. Every major manufacturer of tankless water heaters specifies that a catch pan and drain piping be installed under the unit if leakage would cause damage to the immediate area and that is certainly the case when one is installed in an attic. Another option is to choose a tankless water heaterto be installed in your attic.
The only time that attic tankless water heaters are installed are typically in warmer climates like the caribbean and they are solar powered hence the need for them to be placed higher in the household basically installing the unit inside the attic can be done but it would require extra work and knowledge with your local codes etc. For instance the attic has to be very well made and able to handle the weight of the water heater. Even if the attic is an excellent place to install the tankless water heater you should be aware of some possible problems. Also the international residential code irc requires that a drain pan be installed where leakage of the tanks or connections will cause damage.