AO Smith Effex Atmospheric Gas Water Heater?

exm

Hi,







I have an old chimney vented gas water heater and I'm considering AO

Smith Effex GAHH-50 Atmospheric Gas Water Heater, since it's from a

respectable brand with a 0.70 EF. However, I am not sure if atmospheric

requires extra plumbing but it looks like it does not.







My questions:



- Does anyone has any experience or thoughts about this model?



- Can this model replace my existing chimney vented gas water heater

without any additional plumbing or vent installation? Initially I was

looking at the Vertex line but most plumbers are quoting over a $1,000

for installation of the outside vent, so I want to use the chimney.

This looks like an affordable solution







Thanks!







FYI... Here's the AO Smith link



<a href="http://www.hotwater.com/water-heaters/residential/conventional/gas/effex/">http://www.hotwater.com/water-heaters/residential/conventional/gas/effex/</a>

Tim McElwain

Atmospheric simply means

it gets its air for combustion from within the room it is installed in. It is not typically a problem with gas piping as long as the pipe is sized correctly.



You may however have a problem with the chimney depending on its age and whether it is lined or not. Is there any other equipment vented into the chimney? Modern appliances today require installation into lined chimneys.