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Look what I found hidden in my kitchen!

9 years ago

We're doing some work in the kitchen and we pulled out the old range. Look what we found in the cabinet -- a secondary water heater. Weird part is that it's on and has water running through it. We've owned the condo for almost 8 years and had no idea this was there. It was installed in 1999 based on the sticker on the unit.

We have a main water heater in another closet that we replaced a few years ago. When the main water heater is off, water comes out of the kitchen sink at a tepid temperature. When the main water heat is on, the kitchen sink water is hot. So somehow they work together. We turned the water supply to the secondary water off, and water in the whole condo stopped (other bathrooms that are not near the kitchen). So somehow this little secondary unit is needed/used.

Does anyone have any ideas why a condo unit would have a secondary unit like this? It might make more sense if the two units were completely independent. My husband and I are just scratching our heads. We can just leave it there -- but it would be nice to understand why it is there. Also, if it fails that would be a mess. It's probably not up to code either.

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Comments (9)

weedmeister
9 years ago
It's not strange to put a unit in the kitchen to augment the main unit that is farther away.
klem1
9 years ago
Based on the way the heaters are plumbed,I'm thinking the small heater was the only heater when the place was built. If that copper line in picture is connected to the t&p valve,that is diffinatly not to code.
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ShellKing
Original Author
9 years ago
but in an 1,100 square foot condo?
LilMason
9 years ago
this is really good news you found your water heater, The typical unit in a 12 unit building is essentially a box of airspace bounded by the interior surface of the interior perimeter walls, the unfinished lower surface of the floor and the unfinished upper surface of the ceiling. The unit owner owns everything within these boundaries and is responsible for the maintenance and repair.
Vith
9 years ago
Nice little suprise there. I believe you could get rid of it if you dont want it there, just connect the inlet and outlet tubes together in some way. Otherwise just leave it, knowing its there. There should have been a door there to access it instead of boxing it in. Make sure the T&P valve tube (the copper pipe hanging down) is not capped off. It kind of looks like that but it could just be the end of a water heater connector. If its capped off you have a potential pressure cooker bomb in your house if the water heater malfunctions.

This post was edited by Vith on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 15:36
cheysula
9 years ago
Probably to get hot water to the sink faster...
ShellKing
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you to those of you with helpful comments.

I don't think it's necessary and we are going to try to remove it. Since there is no way to access it without moving the range, it doesn't seem like a logical place to put a water heater.
weedmeister
9 years ago
I lived in an apartment that had a heater in the corner of the kitchen cabinets like this. 20-gal as I remember.
klem1
9 years ago
A properly operating 20 gallon heater is usually enough for two people unless they do laundry,run dishwasher and take back to back showers.

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