Gas Water Heater and Furnace in the same utility closet

[LostInTheDesert]

The utility closet (42" wide x 32" deep) housing my gas furnace (on the left) and the water heater (on the right) has a 30" door.

I want to replace my water heater, but it won't fit through the door; I can't get it past the furnace, which is just a couple of inches to its left. Apparently the water heater went into the closet first, and the furnace was squeezed-in through the door afterwards! The house is 50 years old, so there's no telling.

There are a couple of remedies I can see.

1. I could remove a side wall from the closet to pull out the old heater, install a nifty tankless heater in its place, and then replace the wall. Tankless units are expensive, but there are offsetting energy savings and the groundwater here is always pretty warm. The tankless W.H. wouldn't have any clearance issues.

This was suggested to me by Plumber #1.

2. I could remove the door and replace it with one large enough (about 39") to remove the old W.H., and install a new W.H.. If the old tank came out, then a new tank could go back in, saving more than a few hundred bucks in initial cost over a tankless.

This was suggested to me by Plumber #2.

My concern with method 2 are the clearances. How much space around the water heater must I have to meet code? And the 39" door .. it won't open fully, as it opens into a 36" hallway. Is this a problem?


Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Dave

[mdshunk]

Personally, I like idea #1, since the energy savings will be great. It would ceratinly pay for itself in the long run.

With regard to the door clearance in idea #2... perhaps you would consider a set of louvered bi-fold doors instead of one single hinged door?

[Unregistered]

Get the tankless and removed you W/H by cutting it in half with a saw-z-all, then you don't need to replace your wall.

[Newguy]

Unless you planned to remove he door and enlarge it yourself, the cost for someone to do that would probably be what the tankless one will cost.

[Mr T]

Get the tankless and removed you W/H by cutting it in half with a saw-z-all, then you don't need to replace your wall.

Arent many water heaters lined in glass? Messy!

[Unregistered]

Arent many water heaters lined in glass? Messy!


On most water heaters the so called 'glass lining' is a baked on enamel like surface on the inside surface of the steel tank. I've cut a W/H in half before not as messy as you would think.