[mdog892001]

Long story short we bought the house in June and are currently getting around to the basement remodel. Wife came up with the idea of moving the hot water tank to the garage.
It’s not heated but could easily put a vent in there. The furnace is in there and Iv yet to see anything freeze. It does get chilly but I think it would be ok. Also have a insulated garage door.
Also going to move more plumbing into there with the water tank.
Any thoughts on this? Thanks.


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[steddy]

Insulate the tank as well as you can. A model with powered vent might be a possibility, if needed but a standard vent works fine.
Mind if I ask why move it? Space savings? Closer to the plumbing fixtures? BTW the water in the lines will be very cold in the winter when you first turn the faucet on.

 

[MARK (LI)]

Before anything ..check the local code...You should probably put some base board in the garage as a separate zone to make sure you keep it above freezing What is out there now?....a boiler or a furnace?..if a boiler, indirect hot water is an economical way......what fuel are you you using?...insulate the pipes

 

[mdog892001]

Insulate the tank as well as you can. A model with powered vent might be a possibility, if needed but a standard vent works fine.
Mind if I ask why move it? Space savings? Closer to the plumbing fixtures? BTW the water in the lines will be very cold in the winter when you first turn the faucet on.

Going to be building a bar in the basement and the garage is basically a storage room. It would be further from the fixtures but only on the other side of the wall


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[mdog892001]

Before anything ..check the local code...You should probably put some base board in the garage as a separate zone to make sure you keep it above freezing What is out there now?....a boiler or a furnace?..if a boiler, indirect hot water is an economical way......what fuel are you you using?...insulate the pipes

Just storage, a tractor and my man tool space. The whole house is electric with electric furnace and wood fire places.


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[deereboy55]

Don't store gasoline or gas powered equipment in the garage, if there is a hot water heater in the garage. The pilot light or burner could cause a fire.

 

[MARK (LI)]

So then, you would have an electric water heater?...The local code will let you know what you can do ( can you have the water heater in the garage?) clearances from ceilings and walls..the controls and wiring regulations....the details you need to know...if you are going to need a vent it will tell you the material to use ...it will tell you what has to be insulated and give a minimum spec for the insulation...it is a relatively simple plumbing and wiring job...also check the code to see if having a heaing system in the garage disallows parking your cars in there

 

[Dave59]

If his electric furnace is already in the garage no reason why his electric water heater can’t be there also. My biggest concern would be pipes freezing and the wh will run a lot more maintaining temperature. Your electric bill will go up. If you can keep the piping close to the heater then build an enclosure around the furnace and wh and heat that space will save on utility bills. Just my 2 cents.

 

[MARK (LI)]

An alternative would be an electric tank less water heater

 

[TrakFan]

Since your whole house is electric, you now have an electric HWT, so moving this is a no brainer. Elect tanks don't need venting, unless you mean the T & P valve (over temp and over pressure). And an elect tank will not pose a threat to gasoline in cans. Your elect bill will increase a bit, but not much, and insulating the tank might be all you need. You could consider wrapping the pipes w/ heating cable.

My bias against electric HWT's is the recovery is generally much lower than a gas tank of the same size. But, you must have an electric tank now, so you have learned to live with that.

 

[Flaken]

A tankless electric water heater may be an option, but it isn't as easy as just simply getting one and hooking it up. The very first thing to know is the average incoming water temperature year round to the house. Tankless water heaters are sized for the temperature rise from the incoming water temperature to the output.

 

[Dave59]

A tankless electric water heater may be an option, but it isn't as easy as just simply getting one and hooking it up. The very first thing to know is the average incoming water temperature year round to the house. Tankless water heaters are sized for the temperature rise from the incoming water temperature to the output.

And how many fixtures could be being used at the same time.

 

[Dave59]

An alternative would be an electric tank less water heater

The only problem going that way is depending on what size needed there is usually not enough electric service available. I just replaced my 80 gal electric with a 50 gal htr, to install a “tankless heater “ I would need 400 amps to feed it, 4-100 amp feeds.

 

[MARK (LI)]

Domestic heating and hot water by electricity is the most expensive way to do it

 

[Dave59]

Domestic heating and hot water by electricity is the most expensive way to do it

Yes it is.

Hopefully he has a heat pump paired with the electric heat.

 

[X300owner]

Is your garage "Attached" or "Detached"? My house here in TN was built with an electric water heater in the attached 2 car garage. No heat or extra insulation. House is 30 years old and on second water heater with no problems.

 

[mdog892001]

Good advice fellas, yes the tank is electric 80 gallon. It could be smaller but came with the house. Electric heat with a heat pump outside but I’m not using it I have the heat on emergency heat don’t want the pump to freeze up. Had one freeze on my moms house in early 2000 and they are a pain to thaw out.
The garage is to small to park average car in unless I get a civic or accord, so we park the tractor in there. As for fuel cans I keep them in the shed out back.
As for the plumbing it’s getting all reworked as part of this project anyway. Whole house only had one valve at the line coming into the wall and it’s all 1970 copper that starting to leak and turn green.


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[mdog892001]

Is your garage "Attached" or "Detached"? My house here in TN was built with an electric water heater in the attached 2 car garage. No heat or extra insulation. House is 30 years old and on second water heater with no problems. View attachment 2486388

It’s attached. Part of the basement and below the master and kids room.


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[Flaken]

Not sure if I understood you correctly, mdog892001, but here in northern Florida we try to never use the emergency heat function of the heat pump as it is vastly more expensive running that way. Yes, we sometimes do get into the teens here during the winters, just not those extended days neverending like up north.
I just upgraded my heat pump to a new 20 SEER one in September. Works much better during the cold than the old one ever did, but still looking to when it gets a bit warm here to see how it does.

 

[Tractor-Holic]

I'd make sure the local codes say it is OK..some towns have stupid codes,others don't..

My dad wanted to add a water heater to the garage so the space it hogged in the laundry room could be gotten back..but the building inspector said "That wouldn't be practical--your garage is by code required to be sheet rocked and plastered over,to maintain the fire code specs--and you'll have to do some demo to get the pipes and power out there to it--and being next to the outside wall,there is a possibility the pipes could freeze if it gets cold enough ,behing the north side"....so my dad decided not to move it,and just deleted it and used the furnace's tankless heater after the water heater finally began weeping years later..

20 years ago our 330 gallon underground oil tank reached its 23rd birthday and my dad worried it may be getting ready to rust and leak and contaminate the soil in front of the house...rather than have it dug up,the town building inspector said it was "not really a must to dig it out if it had never leaked,and you can just have it pumped dry and filled with some speedi-dri"--if you went to remove it ,you had to hire a licensed contractor..get a permit..($2000 for R&R the tank alone!)..

The oil furnace was also as old as the tank and developed a crack in the boiler,so we decided to have both replaced at the same time by the same contractor in 2000...he said the best place for the new 275 gallon tank was in the attached garage,which is directly under a bedroom..since the garage was only 13 x 21 feet and never used to park a vehicle in,my dad saw no reason not to put the tank along the inside wall of the garage,close to the overhead door opening..

After the new tank & furnace was installed and up and running,the building inspector was called to come "sign off" on the job,and right away he looked shocked to see the oil tank in the garage--he said "I was not aware this was where you wanted to put it--I assumed it was going to be an outside above ground tank !--a car pulling in here could hit the tank and cause a disaster--it should have concrete filled bollards in front of it if it is to remain here !".

The contractor then argued with him several minutes and told him "they never use the garage for a vehicle"--the inspector says "well,who is to say the house may not get sold--the next owner(s) may want to park in the garage!"..

Finally the inspector looked the place over ,and said "well,judging by the 90 degree angle the garage entrance is to the driveway,it'd be difficult to park anything larger than a compact car in here",so he relented ,he also complained the guy just ran copper tubing from the tank to the furnace in the next room without "placing it against the wall and cementing over it"--he had used flexible counduit instead as a "protector"...he was not pleased with the way it was done,but signed off on the job anyways..

Now that tank is 20 years old and so is the furnace...I fear it'll be a real hassle to get a new tank put in,in the same location..insurance companies here won't insure a home after the oil tank reaches a certain age,I think (hope) its 30 years here in MA..they are getting anal about wood stoves too,several friends I know removed theirs after being told having one would raise their insurance bill close to $1000..not sure about pellet stoves ..they also wont insure a home if the roof is over 20 years old..