Nobody chooses the spot
Most homeowners never decided where the water heater would go. The builder did, based on where the plumbing ran, where the gas came in and what was cheapest to vent. So a house ends up with a heater in the garage because that's where the wall was, or in an upstairs closet because that's where the stack ran, or in the attic because the floor plan didn't leave a spot anywhere else.
Replacement is the first time most people get to ask whether the spot is any good. Sometimes it is, and the answer is simply to put the new one where the old one was. Sometimes it's worth a bigger decision. Here's what each location asks of the installation, and what it costs you if it goes wrong.
The garage
The garage is where most Rowlett heaters live, and with good reason. It's easy to reach, easy to service, and a leak runs onto a concrete slab and, with luck, a floor drain. The vent is usually short, running up through the roof or out through a wall.
There are two rules that come with it. First, a gas heater in a garage has to have its burner raised off the floor. Gasoline fumes, paint thinner, and other vapors sink and collect low, and a pilot flame or burner could ignite them. The model codes ask for the ignition source to be about 18 inches above the floor, which is why a gas tank in a garage sits on a stand. Second, if a car can reach the heater, the unit may need protection from a bumper. A garage heater with no stand and no protection is one of the most common code items we find on an older install.
A garage also suits a hybrid heat pump tank, which needs open air around it. There's more on that in the garage installation page.
A closet or utility room
A heater inside the conditioned part of the house has some advantages. It stays out of the Texas heat and the occasional freeze, the pipe runs to the bathrooms are short, and you'll hear it if something goes wrong. An electric tank is simple to put in a closet, since it has no flue and no combustion air.
A gas heater in a closet is a different matter. It needs air to burn, so the closet has to have louvers or ducts to bring in enough, and it needs a vent that suits it. If the louvers have been taped over or blocked by storage, the heater can burn badly and give off carbon monoxide. If you have a gas heater in a closet, check that the vents are open and that nothing is stacked against it.
The other limit is size. A closet only takes so large a tank, and the unit has to get in and out of it. That's checked before a heater is ordered.
The attic
An attic heater frees up floor space and shortens the vent. It also has the highest cost when it fails. A leak from a tank in the attic comes through the ceiling, and a 50 gallon tank empties quickly. The damage is to drywall, insulation, flooring, furniture, and sometimes wiring.
That's why attic installs need more. A drain pan under the tank with a drain line to a safe spot, a relief pipe run properly, and safe access: a platform or walkway to the heater, and a working light. Attics in North Texas can pass 130 degrees in July, so the work needs to be planned for, and servicing is harder. The tank also has to be carried through the hatch, and the old one carried back out.
The attic installation page covers the details. If your heater is in the attic and has no pan, the point is worth raising even if nothing is wrong now.
Questions to ask about your own spot
Before you decide to leave the heater alone, or move it, run through a few questions.
- If it leaked tonight, where would the water go?
- Can you get to the shut-off, the drain valve and the relief valve in under a minute?
- Is there light and a clear path to it?
- If it's gas, is there enough air and is the vent working?
- Could you carry a replacement tank to it, or would someone have to bring it down a ladder?
- If it's in a closet, is anything stored against it?
If you answer "I don't know" to more than one of those, the spot is working against you, and it's worth a conversation about a change.
What every location needs
Whatever the spot, some things don't change:
- A relief valve with a discharge pipe that runs down to a safe place, not capped, and not ending in the air.
- A shut-off on the cold supply within reach.
- A heater that sits level and steady on a stand or platform.
- Clearances from combustibles, as printed on the label.
- For a gas heater, a vent that draws properly and a gas shut-off with a sediment trap.
- A drain pan and drain line wherever a leak could reach a ceiling.
- Access for the next person to service it.
That last one matters more than it sounds. A heater boxed in with a stack of storage bins in front of it is a heater nobody checks until it fails.
The North Texas climate angle
Texas weather is hard on heaters in two ways. Summer heat in an attic can stress controls and wear the tank's insulation, and make servicing miserable. A winter freeze, short as it usually is, can threaten pipes on an outside wall or an unheated garage. On a heater in an exposed garage, the pipes on the outside wall should be insulated, and a hard freeze is a time to know where the water shut-off is.
A heater inside the conditioned part of the house avoids both, at the cost of a bigger vent and combustion-air problem for gas. It's a trade, and neither answer is right for every house.
Is it worth moving the heater
Sometimes. The common move is from an attic or a tight closet to the garage. It means running new hot and cold lines, and possibly a vent, a gas line or a circuit, so it costs more than a swap in place, and it's quoted separately. What you get is a heater that can be reached, a leak that does no damage, and a spot where it can be serviced.
If the heater is above a living space, has no pan, and the tank is already old, moving it is worth a quote. If it's a young tank in a good spot, leave it where it is. The relocation page explains what's involved.
Moving it: what it adds up to
A relocation isn't a mystery. It adds new hot and cold pipe to the new spot, capped lines at the old one, a vent or a gas line extension on a gas heater, a circuit extension on an electric one, and a pan with a drain line where the new spot needs it. Each piece is a line on the quote, and the total is worked out after both locations are looked at.
That's why it costs more than a swap in place and why it isn't always the right call. If the heater is young and the spot is safe, it can stay. If it's old and above a ceiling, it's worth the price of finding out.
A practical way to choose
Pick the place that's easiest to reach, shortest to vent, and safest if the heater leaks. In most Rowlett homes that's the garage. If the heater is where it is because of the original floor plan and the attic or closet is working, leave it, add a pan and a good drain line, and check it every year. If it's not working, ask for a price to move it.
Either way, tell us where the heater sits when you call. It changes the quote, and it's one of the three things we ask about first, along with the age and the fuel. If you want to read about how to find those, see the post on reading your water heater's label.
Combustion air and venting in a closet
A gas heater in a closet needs to breathe in and exhaust out. Air for burning comes either from the room, through louvers or grilles in the closet door, or from outside, through ducts. The usual rule is two openings, one high and one low, each sized to the heater's input. The vent carries the exhaust up and out through the roof, with a slight upward slope and a set clearance from anything that burns.
That's the reason a closet install can't be done by feel. If the grilles are blocked or covered, the burner starves for air, the flame turns yellow and sooty and the heater can produce carbon monoxide. If the vent is loose, exhaust can leak into the house. Anyone with a gas heater in a closet should have a carbon monoxide alarm in the house, and check that the louvers are clear.
Sealed-combustion and power-vent heaters get around some of this by bringing air in and sending exhaust out through pipes. They cost more, and they're a good answer where a closet is tight.