Water Heater is outside at my apartment..IN DENVER?

Question

Is this normal? I moved from an apartment in Florida, so I was never concerned about the water heater before. There is a door on the back porch, which has a 1 inch gap at the bottom. It is the same temp as outside and when we moved last winter, it got down to -10 a couple of days. Also, there is a small 12x12 room heater on the ground that was turned on when we moved in. There is no way that little thing heats that area. Im afraid this is killing my electric bill. Should I put some insullation around it? Any other advice?

Answer 1

Caulk around all your windows on the porch and get a pressure strip weatherseal for the bottom of the door. If the window glass isn't double layer glass, then you can also cut rigid foam sheets to fit over the windows and press it in there for the winter months. That really helps warm up the room.

Wrap the water heater in the most insulating heat blanket you can find. Also, they sell wire wraps that go around the water lines to the water heater that can keep the water from freezing in the lines. They draw very little electricity and are well worth the money. My hot water heater is in my unheated garage and I live in a snowy northern state.

Good luck!! : /

Answer 2

If it is an electric water heater and you are paying the bill, get the insulation out and install it. This really should be the apartments responsibility though. The electric heater is costing you also.

Answer 3

If this is a gas water heater it must have airflow for combustion.

I cant tell from your description if it is outside or in an enclosure with a door.

Have a plumber check this out and get his recommendations.