Placing a water outside or inside

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hajr

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I have just purchased a house in El Paso, Tx that was build in the 1940's. I am redoing the house completely. I have noticed, by removing all flooring and noticing many water stains, that the hot water heater has been moved many time throughout the life of the house. Now I'm looking to do it once more. There is a "shed" type building attached to the house but still outside of the house (only accessible by going outside.) My question is can a hot water heater be located in this "shed" type building and be in "code?"

Just FYI the plumbing would be easy due to the house having a crawlspace under the house and the "shed" type structure has easy access to the crawlspace.

Please let me know what you think.

First time post. Thanks for the chance.
 

Dj2

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Around here, it's perfectly legal and efficient. I have a few rental homes with gas water heaters located in attached sheds. I never worry about damages from leaky water heaters in those homes.

The vent has to meet certain code too. Check your local code. I hope you pull a permit for this job, since it involves extending/moving your gas line. Good luck.
 

Dana

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It's probably code-legal to install it there, but it's probably worth insulating & air sealing the shed to eliminate freeze-up risk during a cold snap in Albuquerque's climate. The standby loss of the heater would be enough to keep the shed above freezing most of the time, as-is, but maybe not during a windy day during a cold snap unless you tighten up the shed a bit. (If the shed room is on the sunny south side it's probably less of an issue than if it's on the north side of the house.)

The 99% outside design temp for El Paso is +25F, but sub-20F temps are not exactly rare there. (I got caught in a December snowstorm ~40 miles east of El Paso once back in the mid-'80s. I was surprised to see a ~12" of snowfall in that area, and there wasn't much in the way of highway snow removal equipment- it was a real mess.)

If you're doing a full-gut rehab on the place it's an opportunity-moment for upgrading the thermal performance of the house. Beyond just jammin' some R13s in the 2x4 wall cavities there are cost-effective ways to improve comfort & lower the heating/cooling bills in a 1940s house if you're really stripping it down, things that can be cost-prohibitive otherwise.
 

hajr

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Thanks for the GREAT replies. I feel a lot more positive on sending the water heater to the shed. I'll love the extra room. And thanks for the idea of sealing the shed.

Thanks again.

hajr
 
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