Water Heater Replacement – December 10, 2009
New location of water heater
Old water heater closet
Many homeowner needs and desires can help determine what water heating system to install. In the case above, the existing water heater closet (circa 1920) could have remained in the middle of the apartment, close to the bathroom and kitchen. Current energy efficiency practices include this strategy. But what could we do to increase the livable floor space and keep the water heating system close to the core kitchen and bathroom areas?
The answer was a tankless water heater hung right above the new high efficiency washer/dryer closet! Oh, by the way, the old water heater closet was removed, along with the old useless brick fireplace and we added much needed livable floor space as a result.
I may add, that at the very minimum, if we had been conducting a home energy analysis, we would have recommending replacing the atmospheric draft water heater (could have backdraft of carbon monoxide) with a new forced draft or fan assisted draft water heater.