Abstract: A point-of-use electric water heater is provided with a unique configuration permitting it to be selectively used in (1) a wall or ceiling-mounted horizontal orientation, (2) a floor or wall-supported vertical orientation, or (3) a wall-supported inverted vertical orientation without any substantial modification of the water heater, thereby advantageously avoiding the previous necessity of manufacturing differently configured water heaters for mounting in these various operational orientations. Specially designed mounting brackets are provided to support the water heater in any of its wall or ceiling-mounted orientations. In one embodiment of the water heater a dual element electric resistance type immersion heater is provided with an integral temperature control structure illustratively in the form of a separate sensing tube having operatively mounted therein a pair of thermistors each operatively associated with a different one of the two heating elements.

Abstract: A fuel-fired water heater has a combustion chamber disposed beneath the storage tank portion of the water heater. The bottom side wall of the combustion chamber is defined by an annular perforated wall structure with a perforated mounting plate structure being removably secured to the underside of the wall structure over the central opening therein. A burner and associated pilot/thermocouple assembly are secured to the upper side of the mounting plate and project upwardly into the combustion chamber, with the piping and wiring of the burner and pilot/thermocouple assembly extending externally beneath the combustion chamber, outwardly through a side wall access passage, and then turning upwardly along the outside of the water heater for connection to a thermostatic fuel valve. To remove the bottom plate-mounted burner and pilot/thermocouple assembly the fuel supply piping must first be decoupled from the thermostatic valve, thereby assuring that the access plate cannot be removed while the burner is firing.