Attic Heater Drain

If you re gonna drain a water heater.

Attic heater drain.

Your attic can easily reach temperatures of 120 140 degrees which is optimum for keeping the water in your tank sufficiently hot without using any energy. Now a secondary line of reasoning for placing a water heater in the attic is the high temperatures that occur in an attic particularly during the summer months. Camco s 20922 drain pan is a good option for both gas and electric water heaters. Also it is possible for dirt or debris to become lodged inside.

If water is dripping from your ceiling and your furnace and or air handler is located in the attic the most likely cause is a clogged condensate drain line. Over time algae can grow inside of this drain line causing backups or clogs. In case of failure leak to floor sub floor drywall. I wouldn t drain it.

Whether you need a drain pan under a water heater is mostly determined by the location where it is installed. 2013 cpc section 508 4. If you unscrew the plastic valve too much it will blow away from the water heater and all contents of the water heater will drain into the attic. The first would be a bathroom or kitchen in that part of the house and the other would be a pressurized drain system with pipes.

With a base of 24 square inches top measuring 25 25 square inches and a depth of four inches this pan can hold a large volume of water in the event of a sudden leak. Only two plumbing set ups could require sewer pipes in the attic. People want to try to drain these things. Drain pans are not required under the water heaters installed in garages in most states.

This would be a good example of how not to install an attic drain pan. The steel core is plated in zinc to provide additional durability and help prevent rust. I m going to throw this out first then we can get into the process. Yes it is a drain pan and it is under the water heater but the tpr valve drain piping was routed through a roughly cut out hole in the side of the pan so the pan will immediately leak when water drips into it and it has no drain to exterior even if it was watertight.

If you re gonna drain a water heater to keep the sediment down you have to do it in our climate if you don t have a water softener every three to six months.