Water heater woes

[jimndawn_1]

I got this water heater from lowes says mobile home use and it has no vent on bottom like the one i took out??
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=p ... 1F3031T3NV
This is what i bought and the guy at lowes says it will be fine? my furnace and water heater share the same space access from inside only. the old water heater had the hole in the floor, new one doesn't?

[Mark]

Hi,

That water heater is not a sealed combustion water heater, which is what you need for an inside access. On older mobile homes with an outside access, it would work fine.

For some reason, the home improvement stores only carry this style of mobile home water heater. And of course the people working there don't know the difference.

By the way, a sealed combustion water heater will cost twice as much.

Mark

[Guest]

Can you explain in a little more detail what is wrong with the water heater in the above link ? Not trying to hi-jack the thread but I think thats the same w/h that in my mobile home !!

[Greg]

ANY Mobile Home appliance used for heating (water heater, furnace, heater) is supposed to have a fresh air intake that uses outside air to be mobile home approved.
I am not saying that it will not work, but it will not meet code. Greg

[Archie]

The water heater pictured has an atmospheric vent that sits an inch or two above the heater and it generally draws in fresh air from under the heater. This type of heater is only allowed to be installed in mobile homes where the heater is not in the living space of the home, ie. a home where the water heater is accessed from an outside door or panel.

A direct vent water heater or sealed combustion water heater utilizes a sealed venting system so that no air is drawn from within the living space nor is any CO2 gasses expelled within the living space. They usually consist of a sealed vent that comes up through the floor to provide fresh air to the heater and a sealed vent from the heater through the roof jack.

http://mobilehomestuffstore.com/20.shtml

[jimndawn_1]

I want to thank you all for your help and after doing more thread searching here i decided to go with electric for my hot water heater. I took back the gas one and picked up a nice blue and white 50 gallon electric water heater. no venting required.

[Guest]

Just wanted to ask why is it that most people here seem to prefer Electric over Gas? To me seems like gas is cheaper to run than electricity, in So, Calif my gas bill is like $10~$12 a month, my electricity bill avg around $50~$100. I could only imagine how much higher it wil be with an electric water heater.

[Greg]

Simply because of the hassels of finding & the cost of MH certified heaters. Greg