Week 155 - water heater under the sink

6 years ago

I've read several comments about people installing a water heater under the sink to avoid wasting water and getting instant hot.

Some have both an instant hot and a water heater.

What's your take about the usefulness of a mini water heater under the sink? Do you have one that you can share pros and cons with us.

Which type did you use? Mini tankless or one with a boiler.

I had an instant hot with a boiler and it rusted and leaked a lot. It also did not have enough hot water for our needs before the regular hot water kicked in.

I'm not sure how a mini tankless would work or if one is even available for under sinks.

Featured Answer

Kate

6 years ago

I have nothing to offer, but am very interested in this topic. It's on my "to research" list! Our hot water takes forever to get to our kitchen. Looking forward to others' experiences.

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Comments (8)

Fori
6 years ago
I have a gas tankless water heater for my house. It is close to the kitchen and has a pump so it is good. It's decent for the rest of the house that isn't as close but that half of the house needs to be replumbed--it should be much better if we do that. (The hot pipes are corroded to a small enough diameter that it takes the thing a while to detect the draw.)

I have an instant hot under the sink. It is probably an energy hog. We use it throughout the day--tea, pot of water for pasta or vegetables, cleaning the floor, French press coffee...it is perfectly fine for those uses. It reheats fairly quickly but not instantaneously. It hasn't leaked in the few years I've had it, nor did my previous one. It's probably something you should keep an eye on every so often but I don't consider it a big risk. It is not a substitute for hot tap water!

(I'd like to see one with a programmable thermostat so I'm not keeping water hot all night...)
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PRO
Joseph Corlett, LLC
6 years ago
I installed butcher block tops in a manufactured home recently. When her water heater goes, I'd advise the plumber to unzip the siding rather than pull my tops. An under sink water heater is an excellent idea here.
MizLizzie
6 years ago
I had an instant hot tank put under my prep sink, which is more like a bar sink and prep area for cat food rather than food prep. The faucet supplies both filtered cold and instant hot. It is the only faucet on the prep. I love it. I don't keep it roaring hot unless we have a lot of guests and I'm making a lot of tea or French press. It was the ideal solution for us. My sis talked me into it, but I couldn't do without it now.
CEFreeman_GW DC/MD Burbs 7b/8a
6 years ago
I had understood insta-hots were only efficient if they were propane? I have a solar water system, but my shower is almost 60' from the heater. It takes forever to get water. But, at the time the system was installed, they recommended against an insta-hot "booster" because an electric one would use wayyyyy too much energy.

What's the current word on differences and what's better?
salex
6 years ago
I'm curious what brand/model of instant hot tanks or boilers have been reliable for years. I researched the most widely available ones in my area, and all get terrible reviews for leaking or otherwise failing after 2-3 years. That was my previous experience as well so I'm reluctant to get another one but I love on-demand hot water for tea or French press coffee.
suzanne_sl
6 years ago
We went with a 4 gal. Bosch Ariston GL4S Electric Mini-Tank Water Heater, which is close to 2 years old at this point.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006GVO1C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It needs an emergency drain. Ours is pushed through the exterior wall. It's the pipe to the left of the hose bib:

This is one of my favorite things in the new kitchen. Yes, it's a bit of a space hog, but I don't regret losing the under sink storage a bit. You know all the times you just need to wash your hands or that one little thing you're using? Or wash the raw meat off your hands and cutting board so you can do the next thing? You need hot water, but don't want to wait 60-180 seconds for the warm water to show up? This is the answer. We hooked ours into the hot water line. It provides hot water until the hot water from the tank in the garage shows up, which only happens when I have pots and pans to wash. Meanwhile, I can just wash my hands without a major production.

I was recently using DD's kitchen making chicken nuggets for the kids' dinner and was reminded how much I love this water heater at my house. I had raw chicken, raw egg, flour, and Panko crumbs all stuck to my fingers and I needed to get a move on. I'm pretty sure it took 3 minutes standing there watching the water run down the drain waiting for warm water to show up, wondering, "Have I got the handle pushed the right way for hot? Maybe cold is to the back. Maybe I should flip it the other way." Five minutes later when I needed hot water again - well, I settled for cold. How often do you settle for cold?
Russ Barnard
6 years ago
I have an instant hot at the sink and we have a whole house gas water heater (tankless). I hate waiting for water to the kitchen, so I think I am going to install one under the sink soon.

Love my instant hot.. don't laugh.. I use it to clean dishes more than anything else.. Coffee cup dried before you could get it in the washer? No worries.. *pppssshhh* coffee all gone!

lol

R

Week 155 - water heater under the sink

Kate

Comments (8)

Fori

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