Does my hot water heater need clearance on the sides?

[Straylight]

I'm thinking of extending my sleeping area by squeezing a plywood panel 3" closer to my hot water heater. The heater is a standard foam-octagon thingy that I've seen whenever I Google "rv hot water heater." The extra 3" will be huge for me (I'm 6'3" and my sleeping area is only 6' long)

Do I need to have a certain amount of space between the outer foam edge of the heater and the plywood/particleboard/whatever it is, or will I be okay squeezing the board right up to the edge of the heater? Could I mitigate any potential issues by installing some standard hot water heater insulation wrap around it beforehand?

(I would move the heater if I could, but of course it's installed to line up with the big ol' hole in the chassis, so that ain't happenin')

Thanks so much!

[Boxster1971]

I have the installation manual for my Atwood water heater, but it's too large for this forums 2MB pdf limit. It has a standard foam outer shell. Page 2 indicates you can do a zero clearance installation, so you should have no problem doing what you propose. Im attaching a copy of page 2 from this manual.

Hope this helps,
- - Mike

[Straylight]

Awesome, thanks for clearing it up! I bet mine's the same way.