Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 39 posts · 13 votes
Hi, I have a single family home that currently has 1 tank water heater serving 3 bathrooms and a kitchen. I am converting to a duplex and later on into a quad. The contractor is recommending adding a second for the duplex. My question is, what are my opinions? I need to make changes to the current water heater now anyway, I'd like to get it set up for the quad so we don't redo work later. Do I need one heater for each unit? is there a single commercial water heater I can use for four so I only need one unit? Space is an issue and we would need to run new gas lines for tankless.
Think of your duplex or quad as individual single-family homes.
You want to have separate systems for each unit. Each one should have it's own HVAC and water heater. They should also be metered separately to allow your tenants to pay for the water they use.
As far as doing the work upfront for a quad, I'm not sure how that would work if you don't yet know where the plumbing lines should be tapped into for each unit.
If you are limited for space it very well may be that the units share the water system. This I assume would mean that you would be paying for the water or somehow prorating and splitting it between the units and factoring that into the rent.
or billing them for their portion. I'm not sure how that works.