Water Heater Inspection and Code Violations

My AHJ allowed a small hole in the TPR drain line to make the discharge visible in the room. It's in a basement, so has to discharge up, and the hole also satisfies the requirement discharge draining down to avoid standing water against the TPR. Also to see the bulk of the discharge is a long walk to the other end of the house, up the stairs, outside, and around to the back. This was a good improvement on the prior install -- that discharged up and into an adjacent crawl space and left the TPR valve submerged.

Watch out on the heat pump units - they move heat from outside the tank into the tank. Where is that heat going to come from? * From outside, it won't work well in below freezing temperatures but will work well most of the year. * If from space using air conditioning, the heat pump water heater is a win - it will reduce your A.C. usage. * If you are heating the space where the water heater "breaths" then you will have to add more heat, negating the heat pump usage and your final efficiency depends on your heating system efficiency minus the heat pump. In my case I do not need it cooling my basement, and since I'm in a dry climate the dehumidification doesn't help me either. I'll definitely look again should I need to buy another water heater, and maybe then I'll be able to use an outside air source for good results 9+ months of the year.

It’s been fine for 18 years.