Tankless water heater - venting code

Plumbing Forums

Help Support Plumbing Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

thepand

New Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Fair Lawn, NJ
Hello

We are currently renovating our first house. As new homeowners we are trying to make sense of all the advice we get from different people.

After putting in 2 new baths, we need a larger water heater than what we currently have. However there is no physical room to fit one.

We then researched and decided on a tankless water heater, in addition to the existing one. However our builder says we cannot fit one due to venting restrictions - i am referring to a gas tankless water heater.

Can someone please refer me or help me find out, what are the restrictions in the code regarding venting a gas tankless water heater? my builder says it must be 8 feet away from a window which basically restricts every possible place in the house...

we are looking to place it indoors on an outside wall and vent to a side wall.
can someone help me and tell me where am i allowed to place the vent and what are the restrictions on it?

thank you
BTW I live in Bergen county, NJ.
 
Unfortunately, a lot of the venting requirement codes are different from city to city, and also different from tankless water heater to tankless water heater. In other words, there are way too many variables to answer on the Internet. I'd recommend contacting a plumber familiar with TWH's in your area and ask him specific questions regarding venting, or your local building department.
 
Thank you for your answer. I spoke to 3 plumbers and got 3 different answer. I called the town's building department and they told me the code is the same for all of NJ but they did not have anyone available to actually answer the question.

perhaps i can rephrase the question - is there a particular type of TWH that can be mounted indoors in the utility room, and vent on a sidewall on the 1st floor of a bilevel house? what is the difference between direct vent and power vent? is the temperature of the exhaust different between one or the other? Can I vent it on a side wall under a soffit?

thank you again
Adi
 
Contact Rinnai, Tagkagi, Noritz, or any TWH mfg (of the brand you will buy) and ask them they know whats allowed and have an interest in your success.
 
The below site is the manufacturer of the TWH that I own. I just perused the 59 page installation PDF file, hoping to locate specific venting requirements, but it looks like this unit could be installed virtually anywhere, provided you have a direct vent. I hope this helps!

-:- Navien America -:-
 
Thank you everyone. I was finally able to reach the town's plumbing inspector and this is what he told me:
1. the code in NJ is the same for all towns
2. for mechanical vent TWHs, without a direct air intake, the distance should be 4' from any window or door opening above it or to the side of it.
3. for direct vent TWHs with a direct air intake, the distance should be 12" (1') from any window or door opening above it or to the side of it.

I hope this helps someone else as well!
thank you again
Adi
 
Hi Every one

Guys please help me out in my house I ran new plumbing line complete a to z I instill a 50 US GAL water heater I have also hot water return supply back to the water heater my quotation is where do I need to connect the return line to the hot water our cool water supply.?
 
Hi Every one

Guys please help me out in my house I ran new plumbing line complete a to z I instill a 50 US GAL water heater I have also hot water return supply back to the water heater my quotation is where do I need to connect the return line to the hot water our cool water supply.?


Connect it (recirc. line) to the bottom of the water heater. Remove the boiler drain, install a 3/4'' nipple with a tee. You need a recirculating pump, check valve,and shut-off valves in the return line at the water heater as well.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top