Hot water heater

Andre_4

Is a hot water heater for modular home different from any other style home?

I have a modular home and the Water is in a closed space inside the house. And the flue and fresh air is carried by a duct in a duct. The heater is having a hard time keeping up with just one shower. It is 13 years old and I am looking to replace it.

Ragu_5

HUD Approved

Yes Andre, in that type of application the water heater has to be HUD approved for use in Manufactured Housing.

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Larry Weingarten

How about having...

... a look at the dip tube? At that age it may be damaged or gone and not delivering cold water to the bottom of the tank. I'd check the anode too ;~)

Yours, Larry

Steve_35

No.

As long as you're talking about a modular home and not a mobile home. The easiest way to tell is a modular home is built much like a site built home with a wooden structure under it. Wood joists or trusses.

A mobile home will have ametal frame under it. Mobile homes require water heaters approved for use in them.

Don't forget to allow for combustion air for the new WH.

Glenn Harrison_2

Pitman,keep in mind

he did say the existing water heater is a pipe in pipe design, so it is bringing air in from the outside. Therefore, you have to replace it with a mobile home certified water heater that uses outside air.

I was always taught that if the "house" was brought in on wheels, it's a mobile home and must use mobile home appliances. The only difference as I see it is the "modular" home was drove in in two pieces and put together on site.

Also keep in mind all mobile and modular homes I have seen have a mobile home type furnace which uses a central return in the furnace/utility room. If the water heater is in the same room as the furnace, the central furnace mounted return will suck the combustion air out of the room, followed by the flue gasses out of the chimney if you don't use a mobile home sealed combustion type water heater.

Steve_35

You can't use the design of the vent

to determine whether a water heater is certified for use in a mobile home. I've installed (in houses) concentric vented water heaters not rated for use in a mobile home as well as standard vented water heaters in a mobile that WERE rated for mobile homes.

The big difference between mobile and modular homes is mobile homes are built to HUD code and modulars to the same code as site built homes are subject to. The easiest way for a lay person to tell which is which is by looking at the frame the home is built upon.

All I can say is you haven't seen a true modular home then. We have worked on a ton of them and I've yet to see a modular with a furnace or boiler in the living area. They've all had the heating appliance in the basement or crawl space.

BTW, I went through this with our home which is modular. We had neighbors complain to the building inspector we were putting a mobile home in an area that wasn't zoned for mobile homes. He let them know the difference.

How many cape or colonial mobile homes have you seen?

Glenn Harrison_2

Maybe it's a regional terminology thing?

What is considered a modular in my area, and a modular in your area are different.

I just know there are a couple of different subdivisions in my area that have "modular" homes, although I have refered to them as glorified mobile homes. These homes were delivered in two or three pieces, backed onto a prepoured foundations, pushed and connected togther, and the wheels removed.

Now that I think of it, I know what your refering to, where sections of the house are built at a factory, and deleivered on a trailer. My appologies as I have only seen that done on TV.

Anyways, to cover the original posters question, and considering we can't see the actual installation to know that a standard water heater would not cause problems, I'm still going to say if the existing water heater is a pipe in pipe mobile home type water heater, I would stay with a pipe in pipe type water heater. This will insure everyone stays Carbon monoxide free.

By the way, you right, direct vent water heaters are not mobile home certified, and the only way I would use a standard vented W.H. in a mobile home is if the W.H. is in it's own exterior entrance closet.