I agree with thisoldbuilder, who pointed out last week that gas-fired water heaters need oxygen to combust, and thus need enough ventilation. But this one was ventilated correctly, with openings for fresh air at the eaves and a chimney out the roof for exhaust – I just think it was a bad place to stick a piece of machinery whose main task is heating. It was 4 below here in Boulder a few weeks back.

And Fudge, we did get rid of that water tank – or at least we decommissioned it. I’ll be writing about that soon.