Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

How to reduce heat emanation from hot water tank

I just rented a house and didn’t look inside the fitted cupboards in my bedroom ahead of moving in. I have now found it has a hot water tank in it and I’m really miffed it’s probably going to be unbearable in there during the warmer summer months. Is there anything I can do to keep the heat in the cupboard? Will putting a jacket on it help? Is there anything I can line the cupboard with? TIA

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,170
    There are insulating jackets made just for the purpose. Lowe's has them.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,776
    Gas or Electric?
    mattmia2
  • DianaB1111
    DianaB1111 Member Posts: 2
    pecmsg said:
    Gas or Electric?
    Gas
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,561
    edited May 2022
    You might want to post a few pictures of this one. There are quite a few reasons that installing a gas-fired appliance inside a cabinet can be very unsafe, especially in a bedroom. Think CO poisoning and/or fire. :(
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
    pecmsgkcopp
  • Larry Weingarten
    Larry Weingarten Member Posts: 3,273
    Hi, As @Jamie Hall said, put a blanket on the tank itself. Get one that's thick! Not one of the common thin ones... or double up on them. R-11 would be nice. Also, insulate both hot and cold lines at least five feet from the heater if possible. Insulate the relief valve too. Use foam insulation at least 3/4" thick for this.

    Although I like to keep tanks around 130F for bacteria concerns, you may want to turn it down to 120F, so there is less heat escaping... and less scald risk.

    Yours, Larry
  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,776
    pecmsg said:
    Gas or Electric?
    Gas
    Please say there’s a louvered door?
    mattmia2