I need to install a water heater in a basement
TamaraMarie62
| Posted in Building Code Questions on
According to IBC codes, pressure-relief valve piping must exit the structure but the basement floor is 8′ below ground and the piping cannot go uphill. So what do you do to drain water should it discharge?
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Replies
Tamara-Marie,
It's possible to buy a condensate pump that conveys liquid to an upstairs drain. But I have never heard of a condensate pump being used for a temperature/pressure relief valve. In most residential buildings, building inspectors allow these valves to be discharged onto the basement floor.
I would check with your local building department to see what is recommended.
Condensate pumps used for AC drips can't handle either the heat or the volume if the thing really opens up. A real sump pump can, but I'd be surprised if local code really required it.
Perhaps there has been a change, but most new install water heaters that I have seen have a drain pan with a pipe down to.......somewhere. Grade level on a concrete floor they usually just spill on the floor.