I am planning a replacement for my water heater, which is in my basement. The basement is partially finished, but the water heater is in an unfinished section. The current water heater does not have a drain pan under it. There is no floor drain, nor is there a sump pump nearby. However, I do have a condensate pump for the HVAC system that is directly next to where the water heater will go.
I see my choices here as:
1. Install the new one just as the old one was, without a drain pan or any kind of leak protection
2. Add a drain pan, elevated on bricks, and plumb the drain into the existing condensate pump
3. Add a drain pan, plug it so it holds water, and put a leak detector or alarm inside the plugged drain pan
4. Add a drain pan and blow up the concrete basement floor to add a floor drain (not gonna happen since the plumbing only goes under the floor in the finished section of basement, but added as an option for the sake of completeness)
What would you do?
I see my choices here as:
1. Install the new one just as the old one was, without a drain pan or any kind of leak protection
2. Add a drain pan, elevated on bricks, and plumb the drain into the existing condensate pump
3. Add a drain pan, plug it so it holds water, and put a leak detector or alarm inside the plugged drain pan
4. Add a drain pan and blow up the concrete basement floor to add a floor drain (not gonna happen since the plumbing only goes under the floor in the finished section of basement, but added as an option for the sake of completeness)
What would you do?
