Arizona CJ
New Member
I do not want my water heater T&P to vent in the room, but the code says it has to. (?!)
I’m thinking of replacing a Bradford White 50 gal gas water heater, which has been in service since 1993 (though oddly has a manufacture date of 1991). The home was built in ’93. The water heater is in the furnace room at the back of a slab floor walk-out finished basement. It does not have a pan, so I am concerned it may fail and leak.
I do not approve of the current setup, and want to replace it with a SAFE and reliable one. I intend to add a drip pan with a sump pump and an auto-shutoff. (It already has an expansion tank, I put that in a few years ago).
Sounds easy, right? I thought so until I cracked open the city code book (replacement water heaters are supposed to meet current code here, and get inspected.). Here, in a nutshell, is the objectionable code section I ran into, and three visits to the city plus talking to two plumbers have not resolved;
2. Discharge through an air gap located in the same
room as the water heater.
Currently, the water heater T&P discharge line is a properly sloped and sized 40mm copper line to the outside of the building. The two plumbers tell me this is the best way to do it. But the city code says put an air gap INSIDE the furnace room! And, to make it even stranger, both plumbers said they were unaware of this item in the code. But I guess that’s okay, because so were the people I spoke to at the city permitting department (who had given me the code by copying their book!). They did confirm it applies, but had never heard of it. Great.
I consider terminating the T&P line inside the furnace room unacceptable for safety and damage reasons (anyone who has seen one do a full release understands why), especially when a perfectly good T&P line to outside is already there. Further, there is no floor drain, nor any way of adding one (And I wouldn’t terminate it there anyway; that furnace room is the walkway to a workshop so IMHO it’s a big safety risk that’s unneeded). I saw a T&P valve release from a water heater when I was a kid (burner stuck on) and it was quite violent, hence my concerns.
The city said the inspector would “probably” okay using the existing external line if it meets the manufacturer’s install instructions. But, the install instructions I’ve found so far show only the straight-down-the-side-to-over-a-drain method. I don’t like “probably” when I have to do all the work and expense first, and I won’t accept venting into the room unless there’s a real (as opposed to simply code) reason.
Also, items 5 and 6 of the code seem to contradict item 2:
5. Discharge to the floor, to the pan serving the
water heater or storage tank, to a waste receptor
or to the outdoors.
6. Discharge in a manner that does not cause personal
injury or structural damage.
Item 5 lists “to the outdoors” as an option, but appears predicated on an air gap in the room per item 2.
Item 6 is, in this location, exactly what I am trying to avoid by refusing to have an air gap in the room.
So I need to ask; is there any reason, other than code, why using the existing external-venting T&P line, with no air gap in the room, isn’t the safer option given the location and circumstances? If I’m forced to choose between obeying the code and safety, I’ll choose safety. Any thoughts or information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, from a very confused Arizonan, CJ.
(BTW, though I’m newly registered, I love this forum, I’ve been binge reading the threads.)
I’m thinking of replacing a Bradford White 50 gal gas water heater, which has been in service since 1993 (though oddly has a manufacture date of 1991). The home was built in ’93. The water heater is in the furnace room at the back of a slab floor walk-out finished basement. It does not have a pan, so I am concerned it may fail and leak.
I do not approve of the current setup, and want to replace it with a SAFE and reliable one. I intend to add a drip pan with a sump pump and an auto-shutoff. (It already has an expansion tank, I put that in a few years ago).
Sounds easy, right? I thought so until I cracked open the city code book (replacement water heaters are supposed to meet current code here, and get inspected.). Here, in a nutshell, is the objectionable code section I ran into, and three visits to the city plus talking to two plumbers have not resolved;
2. Discharge through an air gap located in the same
room as the water heater.
Currently, the water heater T&P discharge line is a properly sloped and sized 40mm copper line to the outside of the building. The two plumbers tell me this is the best way to do it. But the city code says put an air gap INSIDE the furnace room! And, to make it even stranger, both plumbers said they were unaware of this item in the code. But I guess that’s okay, because so were the people I spoke to at the city permitting department (who had given me the code by copying their book!). They did confirm it applies, but had never heard of it. Great.
I consider terminating the T&P line inside the furnace room unacceptable for safety and damage reasons (anyone who has seen one do a full release understands why), especially when a perfectly good T&P line to outside is already there. Further, there is no floor drain, nor any way of adding one (And I wouldn’t terminate it there anyway; that furnace room is the walkway to a workshop so IMHO it’s a big safety risk that’s unneeded). I saw a T&P valve release from a water heater when I was a kid (burner stuck on) and it was quite violent, hence my concerns.
The city said the inspector would “probably” okay using the existing external line if it meets the manufacturer’s install instructions. But, the install instructions I’ve found so far show only the straight-down-the-side-to-over-a-drain method. I don’t like “probably” when I have to do all the work and expense first, and I won’t accept venting into the room unless there’s a real (as opposed to simply code) reason.
Also, items 5 and 6 of the code seem to contradict item 2:
5. Discharge to the floor, to the pan serving the
water heater or storage tank, to a waste receptor
or to the outdoors.
6. Discharge in a manner that does not cause personal
injury or structural damage.
Item 5 lists “to the outdoors” as an option, but appears predicated on an air gap in the room per item 2.
Item 6 is, in this location, exactly what I am trying to avoid by refusing to have an air gap in the room.
So I need to ask; is there any reason, other than code, why using the existing external-venting T&P line, with no air gap in the room, isn’t the safer option given the location and circumstances? If I’m forced to choose between obeying the code and safety, I’ll choose safety. Any thoughts or information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, from a very confused Arizonan, CJ.
(BTW, though I’m newly registered, I love this forum, I’ve been binge reading the threads.)