Should I be concerned about heater placement? Siding and hvac

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Nolagirlswimmer

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Mar 10, 2021
9
New Orleans, LA
The siding is an issue already. It’s vinyl. When the city came out they told builder to either move the heater or remove siding. We are considering just replacing with hardie plank in that area rather than move. BUT after looking up options I learned that the proximity to the school condenser might not be ok.
The propane tank people are coming Monday and the placement of the tank depends on the placement of the heater.
Should I tell them to move it? And that should be their expense right? They are supposed to be aware of code and clearances and distance from combustibles, correct?

I attached pics of heater and pool build so far. We were thinking that propane tank will go where the grill is currently set up. C974B2C7-3A9A-4F7C-9CAE-C6461C43BEDC.jpeg
 

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It seems there were many options and they chose the most favorable to their plumbing. Just turning the heater 90 degrees (with vent facing the AC condenser) would have at least helped. You could have also switched where the heater and filter were placed. That would have put the heater furthest away from AC and still offset to your wall if at 90 degrees.
Also, it appears you have lots of room on that side - they could have pulled the whole pad out another 1-2 ft (fill in the back with gravel) and the heater would be that much farther away from the wall.
 
The exhaust from the heater is HOT. Check out the manufacture's specifications. If it is following those, your builder could possibly argue with the inspector that it is ok. But typically code is code and wins out. I would say YES, your builder should know and follow code and is responsible for all remediation costs. Do you have a spa? In New Orleans with no spa I think you'd be better off with a heat pump. A propane heater is going to bankrupt you they are by far the most expensive way to heat your pool.
 
I can't figure out how to quote!

1. It does not meet the clearance for vinyl. It's 7 in clearance in the back.

2. Yes! There was plenty of room to have another ft of clearance and STILL have room for the propane tank (I believe they have to be at least 10 ft apart). We are going to do the hardie plank just because we are already delayed by two months after some serious feet dragging with the permitting office and issues with the dirt walls needing to be flashed to stop them from falling in. But I'm wondering if I should demand some sort of discount or compensation because we are modifying our home due to their mistake. I don't know what the best solution is.

3. I'm in NOLA and yes we have a spa. The heater is actually just for the spa, we don't have much need for heating the entire pool. I thought about heat pump but we wanted the quicker heat time from propane. It was a huge debate though.
 
The best solution is whatever you and the PB agree to.

The PB should give you some compensation for needing to correct their error. The clearances where in the heater installation manual.
 
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Nolagirlswimmer said:
I can't figure out how to quote!

1. It does not meet the clearance for vinyl. It's 7 in clearance in the back.

2. Yes! There was plenty of room to have another ft of clearance and STILL have room for the propane tank (I believe they have to be at least 10 ft apart). We are going to do the hardie plank just because we are already delayed by two months after some serious feet dragging with the permitting office and issues with the dirt walls needing to be flashed to stop them from falling in. But I'm wondering if I should demand some sort of discount or compensation because we are modifying our home due to their mistake. I don't know what the best solution is.

3. I'm in NOLA and yes we have a spa. The heater is actually just for the spa, we don't have much need for heating the entire pool. I thought about heat pump but we wanted the quicker heat time from propane. It was a huge debate though.
Click to expand...

Just hit the "reply" button. Not sure what the "quote" button does it is confusing. Probably that is for multi-quotes. Also you can simply copy and paste any photos directly into the editor window without specifically "attaching" them.

I agree the builder should bear some or all of the costs for the Hardie-board. But will Hardie-board meet code requirements?

Should be no argument over the heater! The only acceptable heater for a spa is natural gas or propane. A heat pump would be near useless for a spa.

Update your Sigline here -> https://www.troublefreepool.com/account/signature
 
The hardie board will meet code since it isn't combustible. I looked at the installation manual for my particular model and it only says 6in from the rear (400fdp). It doesn't add additional clearance for vinyl, which I find odd. The city inspector said just placing a metal heatproof barrier would be acceptable but the clearance is so tight (7in) that a barrier would cause other issues. I'm tempted to just tell them to come out and move it out 12 inches but I'm worried about the delay. I was really hoping to have this done by Easter but safety first.
 
Nolagirlswimmer said:
I looked at the installation manual for my particular model and it only says 6in from the rear (400fdp). It doesn't add additional clearance for vinyl, which I find odd.
Click to expand...

What model heater do you have? It looks like a Hayward H-Series heater that I referenced in post #2.
 

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There are two issues.

The first is the manual, which should have come with the heater. That is going to determine what the manufacturer requires. The installer should have left the paper copy that came with the heater. See what that says. Most likely, it will have the vinyl note.

The second issue is the local building codes, which it seems that the inspector is indicating are not met.

Based on the inspector saying that it's not right, the contractor should be responsible for fixing the problem.
 
Thanks for all your help! I wasn’t given any copies of the manuals. I assumed we would get them during “pool school” but now I think I should ask.

I’ll speak to the builder about some kind of compensation or discount for us taking on the siding project instead of having the heater moved and specifically note that they are saving on the labor costs to move the heater 12 inches
 
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Just wanted to thank you all for the help! The heater was moved pretty easily while the shotcrete was being done. Propane tank is now here (It's so UGLY lol) and we are now in the money. Currently curing and picking out tiles this week. I'm really looking forward to this forum and hopefully with experience I can help as much as I ask for help.
 
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