Heat pump water heater drain lines

[sparky472]

I'm going to be replacing my electric water heater with a GE GeoSpring heat pump water heater. In addition to the T&P drain line, there is a condensate line, and a drain from the pan.

The current water heater only has the T&P drain, which runs into a wall and along the inside of the wall and out through the wall into the backyard. There is no drain inside the garage.

So my question is, can I tap the condensate line and the pan drain line into the same drain line as the T&P? Or am I going to need to run additional lines through the wall to the exterior of the house?

Thanks

 

[phishfood]

A contractor/property holding company that we do a lot of work for has started using these water heaters on all of their new properties. What we have come up with is to add a tee into the pan drain line, run a line up the wall a few feet, and then drop the condensate drain tube into that. Do not allow any "bellys" in the flexible drain tube, as this can cause an airlock and prevent the condensate from draining.

Do not allow the condensate to drain directly into the pan. The connection from the drain line to the pan is prone to leaks, and letting water stand around the heater will cause the casing to rust. Newer code in my area allows the T&P to drain into the pan, since it is not intended to discharge except in an emergency.

If you could post a picture of the current T&P line arrangement as it goes through the wall, it would help in giving more specific advice.

 

[sparky472]

Thanks for the reply. So, the thing is, I still also have to figure out how to drain the pan as well, but if I can tee the condensate line into it, that solves one problem. I attached a picture of the T&P line. Not much to it. It goes straight from the valve into the wall of the garage that is shared with the house. It either ultimately goes to the outside or to a drain - I'm not sure which. That said, from what I can tell so far, I'm not going to be able to tap anything into it.

So what I am likely going to have to do is drill through the wall that has backyard on the other side and run a drain line from the pan to the outside, and hopefully, per your suggestion, I can tee the condensate line into it. I need to somehow get in touch with an inspector so I can find out if that's allowable by code. I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be.

Thanks

 

[phishfood]

Yes, it looks like your best bet is to as you said drill through the outer wall (watch out for electrical wires!) and run a drain line along the wall to the water heater location. Make sure that the drain line has pitch toward the outside so that the condensate will not flow back into the heater pan.

 

[sparky472]

Thanks phishfood. Do you know if these heaters need to be elevated off the floor in a garage? The only thing I can find in the code is that gas heaters need to be. I went to the inspection office today and the guy I spoke with couldn't give me a straight answer, and ultimately said I should ask the inspector who is assigned to my project - unfortunately he is out of the office and I am doing the install this weekend....

 

[phishfood]

Bear in mind that I do not know Texas code, I can only answer as to Florida code.

That said, I know of no code requirement that the heater be elevated off of the floor. Actually, if I recall correctly, a heater installed in a garage does not need to be in a safe pan at all. In Florida, that is.

 

[sparky472]

Spoke to the inspector. He said that unless the WH has an FVIR rating, it has to be elevated 18". Kind of a drag, because the existing platform isn't wide enough to accommodate the GeoSpring. He also said it has to have a drain pan, and it has to drain to the outside. So, looks like all be running two drain lines outside.

 

[sparky472]

So, I can't find any electric heater that is FVIR approved, presumably because it simply doesn't apply. The city code the ignition source must be 18" from the ground. I can't find anyone at GE customer service that can answer any questions about the GeoSpring. I'm not sure where the ignition source is. So, I'm kind of stuck.

 

[phishfood]

On an electric water heater, there is no ignition source, at least not in the sense that I believe your inspector is referring to. Gas water heaters are required to be elevated at least 18" above the floor so that if flammable vapors, from say an open gas can/what have you are present, they will be less likely to be ignited by the flame of the gas water heater. There are gas water heaters that are designed so that they do not provide this ignition source, though I don't quite understand how. These gas water heaters can be installed on the floor.

Electric water heaters do not offer this ignition source, therefore they do not need to be elevated. Again, I am speaking from experience with Florida code, not Texas.

If the inspector says that a pan is required, you will probably end up installing one.

 

[sparky472]

According to code here in Austin, anything that can produce a spark needs to be elevated, and the inspector says that this applies to the heating element in an electric water heater (despite the fact that it has a metal cover that is sealed tightly around it and a plastic cover over that). So, I'll need to expand the existing platform which won't hold the larger footprint of the GeoSpring. Not too big a deal.