School me on water heaters in the attic.

New house has 2 water heaters in the attic. I've never had a house with a water heater in the attic, but it really seems like a ticking time bomb to me. I had one fail in the garage, and there was a shitload of water coming out of it. I am dubious that the pan & drain line system in place could handle the flow rate.

I'm thinking about switching to just one water heater in the garage instead.

Thoughts?

 

They seem to do that in Texas. Water claim waiting to happen, that was my experience.

 

Water heaters don’t spontaneously explode. They begin leaking and gradually get to the point where they may catastrophically fail.

The catch pan and drain are designed to deal with that initial leak, not the catastrophic failure resulting from not addressing the problem when it’s just a dribble.

If it were me, I’d take the opportunity to flush the tanks and replace the anode rods (the condition of those will give you a good idea of the condition of the inside of the tank). Then plan on a periodic inspection of them to ensure you don’t have an undetected leak.

 

In spite of my wife's paranoia, the pan and drain work well if you keep the drain clear. Personally, U like having two distinct drain lines just in case one is blocked...make it an inch and a half.

 

Sorry, Sparky... but they are propane. That's the second half of my reasoning for wanting to just go with one big electric model in the garage, as the only other thing in the whole house that is Propane is the fireplace starter... I'm perfectly capable of starting a fire without that, and then I could get rid of that ugly submarine in the backyard.

Or actually use it as a submarine in the pond...

 

It's a stupid idea every time someone does it but as long as you pay attention and maintain them they likely won't cause you any real harm.

 

flush annually and keep the anodes up to speed.

 

On its face, this is a true statement. In the real world, most people schedule routine attic water heater maintenance shortly after the ceiling collapses.

 

Thank you for calling it what it is, a water heater.

 

Id second the garage. Just because things are supposed to fail slowly doesn't mean they do. Its called Murphy’s law.

 

I knew that this issue would be raised.

 

Quit being pedantic and go get a drink from the cold water cooler.

 

No, I'l think I'll go get some coffee from the hot coffee heater.

 

You meant the dirt juice machine correct?

 

See? I was about to go on a tirade if he called it a HOT water heater. Ain't no such a damn thing. Ain't no such thing as a 'hosepipe' either.

 

In a water heater.