Originally Posted by
Paul Cobb
I'm new to the forums and my expertise is in the electrical field but I have a plumbing problem. I replaced an existing 40,000 BTU gas water heater at my house in southeast Florida. It is in an enclosure approx. 6'x3'x6' high on the outside of the building. The local inspector wants me to drill (20) 1 inch holes in the roof of the enclosure and (20) 1 inch holes in the walls of the enclosure. Can anyone explain to me why this is necessary? Doing this will turn the enclosure into an indoor water catchment area. Thanks for any input you can give me. If there is an online code reference for me to lookup that would be great.
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Paul,
Welcome to the fray.
All Gas Appliances require proper amounts of Combustion Air to operate.
IRC for One & Two- Family Dwellings is a good Reference Book for the Code by the numbers, calculations per Btu. and placement of top & bottom requirements.
Start at page 7 of attachment of Installation Instructions then get The IRC Books.