Residential Natural Gas Water Heater Problem Repair And Reviews

Question: Does a natural gas water heater have to be leveled when installed?

(Posted by: Tamatea F on 2008-12-16 18:16:45)

Im buying a brand new house. And we noticed that the hot water heater in the garage is sitting on a base that the builder made. Well the water heater is not sitting level. It isnt to a falling off point, but just looking at it you can tell that it isnt straight. Now my walk through is next week for the final before I close. Is there anywhere that I can look at that will tell me that a hot water heater has to be installed level, if not this will happen??? I basically need a documented reason to tell them. Let me know.

Posted by: Bill2006 on 2008-12-16, 18:33:31

I just installed a new gas water heater, and I don't recall seeing anything in the installation instructions regarding leveling the unit during installation. Here's a link to an Owner's Manual. products.geappliances.com/ MarketingObjectRetrieval/ Dispatcher?RequestType= PDF &Name= AP12168-7%20(GE%20Elec).pdf I would think that if the unit were unlevel by more than about 5 degrees, it wouldn't fill properly ... that is, it would develop an air bubble at the top. That would reduce its capacity by the size of the air bubble, plus it would probably make some noises that could be annoying. Obviously it wouldn't work if it were mounted horizontally, so there has to be some degree of tilt that's unacceptable. On the flip side, no water heater is probably installed with zero tilt, so there's probably some acceptable degree of tilt. You could get the make & model # off of the water heater, make some careful measurements, call the manufacturer and discuss it with them. Also, you might just tell the seller you're concerned about it, and ask him/ her to level the water heater ... otherwise some money will have to be held back at closing.

Posted by: hickernut on 2008-12-16, 18:25:37

Its better if its level, if it is a wood base check to make sure the heater is not leaking and has rotted the wood or rusted the metal bottom causing it to lean.

Posted by: chopsaw on 2008-12-16, 18:38:50

Not only should it be level, but it should be up 18 " off the floor in case of gas fumes from your car.......(pilot light) and I believe in most states it has to be anchored to the walls in case of an earthquake. Enjoy it...and have a happy holiday........nite.