Thread: High Efficiency WH discharing behind A/C unit

This is an 11-month warranty inspection and I found that the builder put the outlet for a high efficiency water heater directly behind the A/C compressor unit. This has got to be wrong. Can anyone site a reference? Thanks.

Kevin Teitel
House-Pro Inspections, VA

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Rough guess - code not handy. Oversized pipe terminated more than 24" above ground - dumb location choice.

Originally Posted by Kevin Teitel

This is an 11-month warranty inspection and I found that the builder put the outlet for a high efficiency water heater directly behind the A/C compressor unit. This has got to be wrong. Can anyone site a reference? Thanks.

Kevin Teitel
House-Pro Inspections, VA

Well, common sense would tell you that the corrosive flue gas from the water heater will eventually corrode the coils/fins on the unit. I would call it out for that reason alone.

Here is a pretty good catch-all from a Goodman manual:

Special consideration must be given to location of the con-
densing unit(s) in regard to structures, obstructions, other units,
and any/all other factors that may interfere with air circulation.

http://www.ncweb.com/~jsbuilders/gsh%20install.pdf

You might check the installation manuals which by definition is a code requirement.