Review: Reliance Products SOMS K-6 Compact Electric Water Heater

Do you get tired of running out of hot water when someone else turns on a faucet? Are you a large household that’s living in an even larger house? Then the Reliance Products SOMS K-6 Compact Electric Water Heater is an affordable and simple solution to stop all the drama with your hot water needs. This small hot water heater is sized to fit in a crawl space, under a counter, or next to a faucet to provide immediate hot water.

It functions with a single 120-volt 1,650-watt copper heating element and offers 6 gallons of hot water support.

Installing this little hot water heater is super simple. You just connect your water lines on the side-mounted inlet and outlet and then connect it to an appropriate power source. It will provide you with plenty of hot water within 30 minutes of starting.

When to Use the Reliance Products SOMS K-6

This is not a whole-home hot water solution. The 6-gallon capacity wouldn’t power a shower for more than a minute or two… and that’s assuming there’s a low-flow showerhead installed. This is a faucet-specific solution that can reduce the load that is on your primary hot water heater.

Let’s say you have an older home. The plumbing tends to be centrally-sourced in those homes, which means your water pressure and hot water demands cycle through the entire system. You can tell if you have this type of system by flushing the toilet while someone is in the shower. If you hear screams because the water went suddenly hot or suddenly cold, then you can benefit from this hot water heater.

Just hook it up to the faucet that you primarily use. It could be your bathroom, your kitchen, or a shop faucet. This electric water heater can even be used in some mobile homes and RVs with the right connections. By doing so, you’re creating a separate “circuit” that can bypass the main hot water heater.

No more screams and it’s for a price that is highly competitive.

What to Expect with the Reliance Products SOMS K-6

This hot water heater utilizes ¾-inch connections. If you’re using an older hook-up, like from an older camper or RV, you’ll likely need to use an adapter to go down to the smaller size. It generally works fine under that circumstance, but does reduce the flow rate of the unit by about 20%.

You will need to either permanently install this unit or purchase the optional cord kit. It works best when you have it on a dedicated 20-amp circuit. That is why it may not work for all mobile homes or RVs.

We found that it is necessary to purge all the air out of the system during the setup process with this hot water heater. The heating element can overheat very quickly with added air in the system and that will cause it to burn out. Some users may see an immediate burnout. If this occurs, it is not covered by the warranty.

The Reliance Products SOMS K-6 Compact Electric Water Heater gets your water hot. Be careful with the pressure relief valve and this will be a hot water heater that takes care of you.

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