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The Daring Dufas[_8_]

On 1/30/2013 8:42 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 06:11:42 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Jan 30, 6:34 am, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 05:56:51 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:25:02 -0500, wrote:

Houses should have basements - that's where water heaters belong. And
not hidden in a closet - you want them out where you can see it every
day so you see the first sign of seapage.

Right, destroy all those homes than cannot have a basement. You can
always settle those people on reservations in the Dakotas.

I wonder, with the automated heat systems that are now the norm, how
often does the average home owner go down and snoop about in the
cellar?
--
Cheers,

John B.

The problem here is that some folks think that because using basements
as living spaces is common in Canada, where they are from, that it's
done everywhere. Here in the northeast USA, many basements, probably
the majority of them, are not finished.

Agreed, WRT the NE, though it seems that older houses tend to have a
higher probability of having the basements finished. The houses tend
to be smaller so people look for a way to expand their footprint
cheaply.

Here in the SE, basements are uncommon to rare, depending on the
terrain. Judging by my house-hunting last year, about a third of
basements are finished and a third completely unfinished. The one we
bought is *completely* unfinished (no insulation in the 2-1/2 above
ground walls, even).

And even those that are,
the water heater, furnace, etc are almost always in an unfinished
area seperated off from the finished space.

My water heater is in the garage and the heat pumps are in the attic.
Go figure. ;-)

So the idea that if you put a water heater in a basement someone is
likely going to see it every day is bogus.

A leak in an unfinished basement (or unfinished area) will cause less
damage than one in the living area. Of course if it's not caught for
a week...

Many homes in this area have the garage in the basement and the furnace
and water are next to each other and are seen whenever the home owner
pulls their car into the garage. Of course the building code requires
that a gas fired water heater be 18" off the floor to prevent gasoline
fumes from the vehicle being ignited. ^_^

TDD