Reliance 6 2 SSUS K 2.5 Gallon Electric Water Heater

I installed the Reliance 2.5 gallon water heater at my store just over a week ago. The unit comes with a very short power cord with a standard 3-prong plug. They recommend that you not use an extension cord to connect it, but I bought a short 12-guage cord to reach the nearest outlet and it seems to work fine. The 1/2 inch male connections are the same as the standard connections on a faucet, so that simplifies matters. I installed it under the sink using a 3/8 inch T attached to the cold water line coming from the wall. I ran one leg of the T straight to the cold water valve, then ran the other into the input on the water heater. The only nonstandard bit was the line from the heater output to the hot water valve, which was 1/2 inch on both ends rather than the customary 3/8 at the wall to 1/2 inch at the valve. Used plumber's tape on all the connections and none of them leaked a drop when I turned the water back on.Works like a champ thus far. If the thing holds up, it'll have been some of the best money I ever spent.UPDATE as of 6 February 2013. The good news to report is that there's nothing to report. The heater has been sitting there under the sink heating water for better than a year now with no drama of any kind.UPDATE as of 23 September 2016. It's still there, still heating water, still not leaking. Not much else to say.

I just installed this water heater under the sink in the bathroom. Normally it takes about 2 minutes of running the water for it to get hot. It's a long run and the water was very cold so no fun washing hands. Now the water is instantly hot. No more wasted water and no time spent waiting for the hot water! I took one star off because the stupid instructions caused me to waste a lot of money buying stuff I didn't need. If you download the instruction manual you will see a kit of 3/4 " nipples, hoses and 3/4 to 1/2 adapters. The thing comes with 1/2 " Male connectors so all you need to hook it under a sink is a pair of 24" Universal Faucet Connectors from Fluidmaster. Just turn off the water at the sink, disconnect the hot water line and put this in line. No need to mount it as it sits quite nicely on the floor of the cabinet. It has a regular AC plug so just stick it in a handy outlet. Don't forget to turn the knob on the front to the desired temp while you are under the sink.

I was building an outdoor kitchen for my "Man Cave" and wanted to have an easy to install and affordable H/W source. This unit was perfect. Small size but very well insulated. Simple to hang with the provided bracket. Quick way to disconnect if necessary. Total time to recover a full tank is less than 20 mins. 2 1/2 gallons is ample for a point of use where the main concern is washing hands and platters when grilling. 12 amp draw is no problem for the end of a long run circuit and have had no issues with GFCI. Pilot light above on/off temp control knob is another nice feature. Temp setting is just a turn of the front mounted dial. Great unit.

I purchased this product because my kitchen sink was about 30' from my main hot water heater. It would literally take about a minute and a half to get hot water. After going through a couple of dishwashers (they don't make them like they used to), I decided a couple of years ago to just wash dishes by hand. I connected the input to my existing hot water line at the shutoff valve and then I connected the output to my faucet where the original line had been connected. I wired the old dishwasher line to a GFCI receptacle and then plugged this unit into the GFCI receptacle. I would have needed only one supply hose, but decided to replace the two old plastic supply hoses with reinforced hoses. My only hitch was purchasing 3 hoses that had 1/2 inch ends, whereas my cutoffs needed 3/8 inch connectors. The hot water heater and the faucet used 1/2 inch connector ends. The unit sits underneath my cabinet and was a little deeper than expected, but I still have plenty of space for kitchen detergents and accessories. Total install time was about 2-3 hours including a trip to the hardware store to replace the connectors and the last minute decision to go with a GFCI receptacle instead of a standard one.I absolutely love having hot water immediately for washing dishes, for cooking, and just to wash hands. My only regret is not having done this about 20 years ago. Since I don't have gas installed at my home, electric was my only option. I expect that the extra cost of heating an additional 2.5 gallons of water will be countered with the savings of not having to waste so much water, not to mention my time savings of having instant hot water at my fingertips. No regrets with this unit at all!

Water leaked out of two drain holes on the bottom of the unit. Opening the front panel, there was a tiny amount of water near one of the instrument openings, but not enough to account for what was coming out below. The connections were all secure, with no leaks. We concluded that the tank is probably ruptured.I can't return this through Amazon as the return period has elapsed. I hope Reliance treats me right. I will update this review after I've spoken with them.UPDATE: I had my plumber look at it. He pointed out that the fittings were dull rather than bright and reflective, an obvious indication that they had been in use for some time. Possibly months or longer. He also discovered a broken weld near one of the openings, and this is what was leaking. He fixed the weld and pressure tested it for a couple of days - no leaks.I don't know if this is Reliance or Amazon's fault, but someone needs to look into the QA on this product. Paying for a new product and getting a refurb - a BROKEN refurb - is not cool. It could be a return that went wrong, but without evidence it's hard to say, and those fittings showed enough use that I'd be surprised if this was a within-30-days return. Absent any comment from Reliance, I don't think I will buy from them again.