If you are just catching up, a few posts to gain some additional context: Day 48- Hot Water 1.0 Tankless Electric Water Heater for pre-planning our water line expansion; and Day 563- Gas Line Extension and Propane Tank for our fuel supply and rational. It should be noted that this project was put off from July 2019 until October 2019, as we waited for cooler attic temps to start the water line expansion. Didn’t help, day 2 of this project had near 100F temps as Santa Anas rolled through.
The first course of business was to add additional gas line to the appliance and a potential future use. This is all 1 inch black pipe, with the tee and elbow reducing to 3/4 inch pipe.
Loading up tools and supplies to cart to the back of the house. This project wrapped a number of disciplines together.
Loading 80 feet of copper into the attic in July 2019.
Copper found a nice home for a few months.
Hot and cold bypass valves were sweat during some downtime in July as well. These unions have poor reviews, and they certainly disappointed us too. Getting them tight enough to stop the leaks likely fused them closed.
After some measuring, the final home for our new propane fired outdoor heater was determined. Noise was a factor in the selection of this location, which is outside of a closet space and not a bedroom. A full 3/4 inch line was used after our previous home’s issues with fuel supply. We will not have issues with hot water supply or fuel… This is an 8.4 gallon per minute heater with a fuel consumption of 180,000 btus.
As proof, the second spigot in the 1 inch black pipe is home to a valve and pressure gauge in inches or water. This has come in handy trouble shooting an intermittent regulator issue.
Time to plumb the heater into existing piping. The full cold and hot runs were just shy of 110 feet.
This wasn’t the most intricate install, as a number of joints helped line everything up.
A decision was made to add tees and stubs for future use while we were at this work in the attic. This will greatly simplify any additions in the future.
Close up of electrical conduit and fuel inlet.
A dedicated service switch was utilized here, primarily due to it’s low cost. Since 12/2 wiring was being run, a extra GFCI outlet was added to aid in flushing and any other electrical needs that might come up at the back of the house.
All copper is finished waiting for the final pressure test. There was one joint in the attic that needed to be re-sweat. The TPR valve was hard piped, and the clear line is the condensate drain.
It’s a wrap! The electrical conduit was setup to accommodate two future projects: a backup generator and 60amp sub panel. Wire for each is already stubbed in to the attic and large junction box 🙂