Parking in garage with gas water heater, dangerous?

[hailo]

Hello all. My Mustang is due to come in at the end of the month. I have cleaned out my garage to make room. I have a gas water heater that sits on the ground (not elevated 18"). Should this be a concern? Thank you.

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[Deleted member 35786]

No

 

[boB]

I had my gas water heater in the garage replaced about 7 years ago, the old one was on an elevated platform but the plumber said they don't do that anymore. What concerned him was walking under my lift, I told him it had been up there (with a car on it) for over 6 years.

 

[CrashOverride]

As far as I know it's against code. It definitely is here. I know CH3 is less dense than air, so I believe the reasoning is that it helps prevent the gas from building up at the bottom of the room where people are breathing.

 

[Interceptor]

Do you worry about your house ?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I believe heaters made since 2003 have sealed ignition systems and won't ignite vapors near the floor. If you heater is older than that, not a good idea.

 

[Strokerswild]

Not sure I understand the concern....

My gas water heater is in a utility room in the lowest level of the house. Right next to my gas furnace. As are most in this neck of the woods.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Not sure I understand the concern....

My gas water heater is in a utility room in the lowest level of the house. Right next to my gas furnace. As are most in this neck of the woods.

The issue in garages is that garages often have containers of fluids (gasoline, solvents, etc.) that produce flammable fumes. And cars can produce gasoline fumes. Those fumes are heavier than air. So raising the water heaters 18" puts them above the depth of those fumes. Not so much an issue since laws required heaters to have sealed ignition and heat sources. I'm guessing you don't store flammable things in that utility room.

 

[Strokerswild]

The issue in garages is that garages often have containers of fluids (gasoline, solvents, etc.) that produce flammable fumes. And cars can produce gasoline fumes. Those fumes are heavier than air. So raising the water heaters 18" puts them above the depth of those fumes. Not so much an issue since laws required heaters to have sealed ignition and heat sources. I'm guessing you don't store flammable things in that utility room.

Gotcha, my brain is apparently frozen along with everything else up here in this hellish winter....

Now that I think of it, I do recall one horror story I read once about a guy that was draining a gas tank on a classic car to swap a sending unit and had filled his garage with gas fumes in the process. Then his garage floor mounted water heater kicked in, with him laying under the car. Not pretty.

Here in MN your water heater wouldn't stand a chance against freezing in winter unless the garage was heated (most aren't), water heaters are generally always in basements. And no flammables near mine, correct.

 

[CrashOverride]

Don't take our word for it though, here is a blurb for a house inspector's training site. https://www.ahit.com/news/Garage-Water-Heaters.htm

Specifically, it references the code as part of the UPC where garage-mounted water heaters have to be 18" off the ground, as well as why (which bjstang and HoosierDaddy described better than the article I've referred to).

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