Gas water heater in the bathroom
If your home is connected to the gas supply, then you have the opportunity to enjoy the presence of hot water in the pipes constantly and not to depend on utilities. However, almost everything has its disadvantages, including gas heating. We will not dwell in detail on each of the possible disadvantages, but talk about only one problem, which everyone who has lived in a house with a gas line has faced.
Today's article will talk about the peculiarities of using and installing a flow-through gas water heater in the bathroom. You will learn about the best place to install a gas water heater, and how to do it without violating safety rules.
Show or hide?
Of course, we all want to make the bathroom the most comfortable and aesthetically pleasing room, because it is a territory not only of hygiene, but also of relaxation. Large-sized, not always attractive in appearance gas equipment usually does not fit into our idea of a beautiful and comfortable bathroom, although now you can find on sale speakers that can become a decoration of the bathroom.
It would seem that the most obvious solution is to hide the gas heater inside the wall, but all the standards and safety requirements prohibit doing it categorically. Therefore, if you do not want to leave the flowing water heater in plain sight, you can hide it in a niche of drywall or in a cabinet.
You need to observe two important points:
- The recess must be significantly larger than the water heater itself;
- It is necessary to provide free and quick access to the speaker (build into the niche door made of plastic or the same plasterboard).
The choice of location and installation principles
In older houses - in Stalinkas and the first Khrushchev houses - the project provided for the location of the gas heater exclusively in the bathroom. That's where the chimney and ventilation were derived, so the transfer of the water heater in another place, for example in the kitchen, no authorities did not agree.
Today's building codes and regulations allow you to place a gas boiler in both the bathroom and kitchen, but require compliance with several important principles:
- to the appliance must be freely accessible, allowing, if necessary, to quickly carry out inspection, preventive or repair work;
- The flow-through gas water heater should not hamper the movement in the bathroom, interfere with the use of plumbing fixtures or furniture.
What law regulates the installation?
The main documents to be guided by when installing gas equipment in the house, today are:
- Code of Rules SP 62.13330.211 "Gas distribution systems. Revised edition of SNiP 42-01-2002;
- Code of Rules SP 60.13330.2012 "Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. Revised edition of SNiP 31-01-2003.
Sections of the "Building Rules and Regulations" issued before 2003, concerning the use of gas boilers in apartment buildings are not considered relevant, so you can disregard them.
Requirements and conditions for installation
Choosing the best place to install a flow-through gas water heater in the bathroom, you must be sure to comply with the requirements specified in the regulatory documents, otherwise the gas services may recognize your actions as illegal. Here is a list of the most important rules under which installation in the bathroom is allowed:
- the gas-fired heater must not be placed on a wall covered with combustible finishing material;
- the speaker must be placed at least 150 mm away from furniture and side walls;
- the columns installed in closed boxes (e.g. plasterboard niches or special cabinets) must be connected to a recuperation pipe.
Also, gas inspectors may have a claim if the requirements are violated, which are almost impossible to meet for residents of standard city apartments:
- The room in which the column is located must be at least 15 m in area2;
- This room must have an opening window with an area of at least 0.45 m2.
Fortunately, eyes are usually closed to violations of the last points.
