Supporting electric water heater

[stuey]

Hi all , I'm just buying a unit and the water heater seems to be very precariously balanced ona shelf that rests just on a pipe. Its a Rheem heater and not sure how much it weighs when full but its about the size of standard kitchen rubbish bi . How are these normally supported ? and would i be ok installing a shelf on very heavy duty brackets to support it ? - the walls are brick - thanks

[wonderplumb]

On a shelf is ok, it sounds like its a 50L rheem, you should see the wall brackets they give you for them

[jedmanrocks]

Hi, i just joined and this is my first reply.
Re the heater, if it is only a 50lt the diagnal braced brackets you can bye from any hardware store ( 300mm x 450mm i think ) with 50mm x 10mm dyna bolts will kill it. I've done 80lt ones with these as well.
Before u put the heater up there and fill it up, just hang off the brackets yourself, cpl of chin ups and youll know how your goin.

[Smurf]

Total weight is somewhere around 70kg for these so it does need to be properly supported.

If you are going to do any relocation etc of it then make sure there's enough space above the unit to allow the anode to be checked / replaced.

(And if you haven't already then check the anode - it's what stops the heater from rusting and they need to be checked after 5 years. About $40 to replace the anode if needed (materials only) versus $$$ for a new heater if you don't.)