Last week's question addressed gas and electric water heater installations in a garage, but are there any other installation prohibitions for water heaters? Let's look at installations near HVAC air handler units.

True or False? Both electric and gas water heaters can be installed within the same utility space as an HVAC air handler unit.

TRUE - The answer to this question is TRUE, but with a big asterisk! Electric water heaters can be installed just about any where - so installation next to an air handler is no problem. HOWEVER, because gas fired water heaters have an open combustion source - installation requirements are a little more restrictive. Building codes require the RETURN AIR SOURCE for an HVAC system to be at least 10 feet away from the combustion chamber of the water heater. So, the air handler CAN be located within the same utility closet as a gas fired water heater, as long as the return air source is more than ten feet away. We see this sometimes when the air return filter is located in a hallway ceiling and fiberglass ducting is used to direct the return air to an air handler unit installed in a garage or utility closet.

Peggy O'Bannon at Ocean Reef Realty