If your house is connected to gas supply, then you have the opportunity to enjoy the presence of hot water in the pipes constantly and not depend on utilities. However, there are practically minuses of everything, including gas heating. We will not dwell on each of the possible shortcomings, but we will only talk about one problem that everyone who lived in a house with a gas pipeline encountered.
In today's article we will talk about the features of using and installing a flow-through gas water heater in the bathroom. You will learn about where it is best to install a gas column, and how to do it without violating the safety rules.
Show or hide?
Of course, we all want to make the bathroom as comfortable and aesthetic as possible, because this is the territory of not only hygiene, but also relaxation. Large-size, not always visually external gas equipment usually does not fit into our ideas about a beautiful and comfortable bathroom, although now you can on sale to meet the columns that can become a decoration of the bathroom.
It would seem that the most obvious solution is to hide the gas column inside the wall, but all norms and safety requirements are strictly forbidden. Therefore, if you do not want to leave a running water heater in sight, you can hide it in a niche from a drywall or in a cabinet.
It is necessary to observe two important points:
- The niche must be substantially larger than the water heater itself;
- It is necessary to provide free and fast access to the column( to build in a niche a door from plastic or from the same drywall).
Site selection and installation principles
In old houses - in stalinkas and in the first Khrushchevs - the project provided for the location of the gas column exclusively in the bathroom. It was there that the chimney and ventilation were removed, so the transfer of the water heater to another place, for example, to the kitchen, was not coordinated by any instances.
Today, building codes allow placing a gas column in the bathroom and in the kitchen, but several important principles are required:
- to the device must be provided with free access, allowing quick inspection, preventive or repair work if necessary;
- flow-through gas water heater should not obstruct the movement of the bathroom, interfere with the use of plumbing fixtures or furniture.
Which law governs the installation?
The main documents that need to be guided by installing gas equipment in the house are as of today:
- Code of Regulations SP 62.13330.211 "Gas distribution systems".Updated version of SNiP 42-01-2002;
- Code of Regulations JV 60.13330.2012 "Heating, ventilation and air conditioning".Updated version of SNiP 31-01-2003.
Sections of the "Building Regulations and Rules" issued before 2003 concerning the use of gas columns in multi-apartment houses are considered not relevant, so you can not take them into account.
Requirements and installation conditions
When choosing the optimal location for installing a gas flow heater in the bathroom, it is necessary to comply with the requirements specified in the regulatory documents, otherwise the gas services can recognize your actions as illegal. Here is the list of the most important rules under which installation in the bathroom is allowed:
- the gas column can not be placed on a wall covered with combustible finishing material;
- the column should be located at a distance of at least 150 mm from furniture and side walls;
- to columns installed in closed boxes( for example, gypsum boards or special cabinets), a recuperation pipe must be provided.
Also, gas workers may have claims if the requirements that are practically impossible to fulfill to residents of standard city apartments are violated:
- , the room in which the column is located should be an area of at least 15 m2;
- in this room should be an opening window, the area of which is not less than 0.45 m2.
Fortunately, on the violation of the last paragraphs, the eyes usually close.
