Exterior Water Heater

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

A new one for me. All other exterior water heaters I've seen have been in a cabinet. This one was specifically designed for outdoors with no cabinet.

[jking2]

That looks a bit risky for anywhere north of South Florida.

Jim King

[Bruce M. Graham, III]

and ugly too

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

What looks risky about it?

[dosborne]

Exposed plumbing pipes is the risk. Here in Montana, they cannot be insulated enough to prevent freezing and bursting. All pipes must be below the frost line (six foot below grade here) or in an insulated building.

I built homes in California that had the copper water service entrance lines enter the building through the siding...I should point out, SOUTHERN California. Never would work here.

I'll confess, I've never seen an outdoor water heater myself, though the concept sounds feasible in very mild climates which never go below freezing. How do they protect the controls from some nasty neighbor playing a cold shower prank?

[dchew]

I've never seen a hot water heater outside in the open like that. However, many tankless water heater can be installed outside the building. Probably wouldn't work in the colder climates, but in the warmer states, it's probably acceptable.

It all depends on the environment. Sealed crawlspaces don't work in warmer climates, but in moist climates, they make sense. Same sort of thing.

[Humberto Carvajal]

I recently ran across one on a roof. It was enclosed but on the roof nonetheless. Was a first for me anyways.