thanks in advance for all support:
I will be repositioning my gas water heater, possibly several times (basement remodeling).
To avoid draining the whole house, can I install a shutoff valve between water heater hot water outlet, and the house lines?
This is 3/4" line. If I install a 3/4" gate valve, will this reduce hot water pressure to the house? Maybe install a 1" gate valve instead, with 3/4" reducers on both sides of the valve?
This is a 3 bedroom 1,500 sq. ft. house. Longest faucet run is approx. 50'.

Having a shut off on the hot side is a very good thing
No gate valve though use a full port ball valve

Careful with a shutoff on the hot outlet. If the hot and cold valves were turned off and and heater fired up, the only safety mechanism is the pressure relief valve. If it is stuck you could end up with a big explosion.

You have to mount the heater on a heavy duty platform on wheels to move it when it is filled with water.

3/4 full port ball valve is PERFECT



[www.plumbingsupply.com]


make a dolly with 4 HEAVY DUTY small casters - mount the tank on it the first time it is moved


operate/test the safety manually before any move and valve installation - it should flip open by using the lever and reseat 100% when manually closed

Since your purpose is to avoid draining the house while the water heater is being disconnected and reconnected during it's relocation, do you plan on putting the stop valves on the "house side" after disconnection or the WH side?

I am curious because once you disconnect the WH from the house piping, and the WH is in the basement, water will run out of the house piping as soon as you cut anyway unless you immediately cap the hot and cold on the house side? Water is not going to spill out of the WH if the cold feed and hot outlet are on the top of the WH.

To me, I would cut the piping on the cold feed on the WH side, leaving the cold stop valve on the house side. Then I will probably get a 3/4 Sharkbite ball valve (I don't use SBs except for temp short term purposes) to put on the house's hot side.

One option is to then run a metal flex hose from the cold to the hot directly bypassing the WH, and you can pressurize the house without it, depends on where you are...where I am in south Florida it's no big deal to take cold showers for a few days even in the winter. If hot water is a must, then I will drain the WH to reduce it's weight then put it on a flat platform with wheels and be able to roll it around, then I will get some 3/4XHOSE adapters to put on the house valves and the WH's nipples and use two garden hoses in between so the WH can be moved around without even having to disconnect.

Not a pro so just thinking out loud here.