How is one valve safer?
When all the faucets are closed in the house it’s the same.
My house is PEX.
Jeez, Brian…next time could you respond a little faster? I’ve been holding my breath waiting for your okay. 
2 inspection this week and one draw Larry, I am going stir crazy, Sorry. 
No problem my friend. The snow is getting a little deep in Michigan, too. 
You gotta admit the ten valve things was good though.
I have never seen a water heater installation manual recomending two valves. Dosen’t mean it is wrong though. Probably the plumber needed some extra money for the weekend or something.
Permitted by some unadopted plumbing code. I guessed that. Thanx Larry.
Further along was interesting, not allowed in Chi Town, that would be right also, they have to be different about everything.
Most international plumbing code states only a valve on the cold water is required in order to service the water heater. However two valves are more convenient for servicing. There is absolutly nothing wrong with it. Especially when the tank is in a bad spot i.e the aforementioned attic. The The tank would not be a closed system because of the TPR valve. If it is bad then that is a whole different problem. I hope that helps.
Jon Hittle
Hittle Home Inspection,LLC
Licensed Plumber
Thank you. But I am as confused as when I started.
One is needed, two is OK
Having a valve on the hot side of the water heater may not be correct by some building codes, but it is not going to hurt anything. The TPR valve will provide a means for depressuriztion in the event the thermostat fails. A valve on the hot side being closed is no different than all the valves at the fixtures being closed. Water heaters don’t blow up when all the faucets are closed. They blow up when the thermostat malfunctions and superheats the water. I installed valves on both sides of the last water heater I installed. Makes installation and servicing a lot cleaner and dryer.
I’m with you Scott. Just makes everything easier for $6. Second valve isolates the fixture/appliance. Always did it if I could. But Brian no more than two, unless your into valve redundancy (isn’t that a cult on the west coast).
If it were a fact that a tank might blow if both valves were closed, almost all of the comments above would sound totally ridiculous. None of us would ever question recommending removal of the hot water shut off. And as far as the comments above similair to “where would the heat come from…” and “Why would anybody…” We all know what happens when a fella named “Murphy” screws around with anything that could go wrong. Therefore the real question here is; Could the tank blow? It sounds to me that none of us is sure what that answer actually is. So the only truth I find in this thread is that we don’t know what would happen in a closed HW tank if the heat were to inadvertantly come on.
On a personal level I feel there is a real possibility of a danger here, yet I do not know for sure… which is why I started the thread in the first place. I for one do not depend on “bureaucratically written codes” to protect my client. If I know there is a danger I will document it.
I will continue to study this question and will continue to ask others their thoughts, even if I did find most of the posts here to be; less than professional, off subject, pure conjecture, smart assy,and made of pure bullcrap.
If it were a fact that a tank might blow if both valves were closed, almost all of the comments above would sound totally ridiculous. None of us would ever question recommending removal of the hot water shut off, if this were true. And as far as the comments above, similair to “where would the heat come from…” and “Why would anybody…” We all know what happens when a fella named “Murphy” screws around with anything that could go wrong. Therefore the real question here is; Could the tank blow? It sounds to me that none of us is sure what that answer actually is. So the only truth I find in this thread is that we don’t know what would happen in a closed HW tank if the heat were to inadvertantly come on.
On a personal level I feel there is a real possibility of a danger here, yet I do not know for sure… which is why I started the thread in the first place. I for one do not depend on “bureaucratically written codes” to protect my client. If I know there is a danger I will document it.
I will continue to study this question and will continue to ask others their thoughts, even if I did find most of the posts here to be; less than professional, off subject, pure conjecture, smart assy,and made of pure bullcrap.
Fact is, there is a shut off on the hot side of every water heater. That may be a shut off at the sink or simply a faucet.
The question is really, does the distance from the water heater matter?
Now for my smart assy part -
And repetitive. :p;-)
Ian actually started the thread. ;-):mrgreen:
2/19/08
Hmmm
Seems there may be a bit of Deja Vu going on.
Are there two Ian"s
Even a Lunk Head like me came around to two valves is no big deal. It just helps bone heads change out the water heater without gettting wet.
:mrgreen:
Now you have this topic going in at least three different threads. Seems like you’re bound and determined to make an issue out of something that is a non-issue. If you don’t generate sympathetic responses in this thread, do you intend to go to a fourth or fifth thread?