PEX and Hot Water Heater

[OldFart]

OK, here's the problem. I'm getting ready to replace an existing lo-boy hot water heater that is under my kitchen counter. I live in a very small house that was built ten years ago. The HW heater was installed by the builder. I have read here that code requires 18 inches of copper to a HW heater. It is currently connected with PEX! There is also very little room to even use a flex copper pipe here. The entire house is plumbed with PEX. The pipe to the heater comes out of the wall, and is only about twenty inches long. So how am I expected to connect this, and be up to code?

 

[FullySprinklered]

Get a pair of copper flex connectors and coil them up and pack them in there.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

Maybe add a couple of brass elbows if the overhead space is to limited. It's not clear from your photo if there is more space above.

 

[Terry]

With an electric water heater it might be okay to run PEX to it. Not so with gas.
Take good measurements, as water heaters have changed in size since yours was installed.

 

[Reach4]

https://www.ncdoi.com/OSFM/Engineering_and_Codes/Documents/BCC_Documents/Minutes_ah/2018 NC Plumbing Code - Proposed.pdf

This is a proposed NC code based on IPC, and it does not address whether you can use PEX all of the way to the WH. I think page 102 would have been the place if they had a rule.

 

[Plumber69]

This whole discussion was posted on this site a long while ago. It's like 3 pages long. To lazy to find it again