Steve Calif
New Member
I have read several reader comments on this site and others that current Powered Direct Vent water heaters have 1) loud exhaust fans and 2) burner combustion "rumble" (low pitched rumbling noise). Many people are shocked to hear these noises in their very expensive water heaters.
I'm looking at PDV water heaters from Bradford White, HTP Phoenix, Rheem, and GSW.
Which of these are the quietest? Are there others I should consider?
It also seems there are quite a few control problems reported on the HTP Phoenix.
Why am I looking at PDV? Because I need to seal off the existing air inlets to my utility room off the garage. There's an upper air inlet that opens into the ventilated attic overhead and another floor inlet that opens to the ventilated crawl space. The air vent to the attic dumps a huge amount of heat to the attic contributing to snow melt on the roof and ice dams. It's also a good fire path from the utility room straight to the attic. With a sealed combustion water heater, I can permanently close off both the upper and lower combustion air vents. The utility room also has a Bryant condensing furnace with a closed combustion system. So with a sealed, closed combustion burner in both the water heater and the furnace, I won't need the air vents to the crawl space and attic.
I'm looking at PDV water heaters from Bradford White, HTP Phoenix, Rheem, and GSW.
Which of these are the quietest? Are there others I should consider?
It also seems there are quite a few control problems reported on the HTP Phoenix.
Why am I looking at PDV? Because I need to seal off the existing air inlets to my utility room off the garage. There's an upper air inlet that opens into the ventilated attic overhead and another floor inlet that opens to the ventilated crawl space. The air vent to the attic dumps a huge amount of heat to the attic contributing to snow melt on the roof and ice dams. It's also a good fire path from the utility room straight to the attic. With a sealed combustion water heater, I can permanently close off both the upper and lower combustion air vents. The utility room also has a Bryant condensing furnace with a closed combustion system. So with a sealed, closed combustion burner in both the water heater and the furnace, I won't need the air vents to the crawl space and attic.