Is it possible to have a shared water tank and separate water heaters?

Question

I live in a duplex, where we share a water bill because there is only one tank. We each get separate gas and electric bills though. How is the energy to heat our water separated? Is it possible that one apartment is paying for the heated water of the other unknowingly? Thanks for all the help!

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Yes, it is possible that only one of you is paying for the energy usage, I have seen it happen many times. There is one way to separate the bill, you could have an individual utility connection made to the water heater and then split that bill. If you are renters, the property owner may have already done this, and would split the cost by adding to the rent for each of you. However, if you do this yourself the cost of the conversion would be more than the water heater. Your local gas or electric utility company, depending on the energy type of the water heater, my be able to help you answer the question. See If you can get them to come and check the connections to verify who it paying the bill. You may have to pay a contractor to verify.

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Asker's Comment:

Very helpful. For those who asked, we each have our own thermostat for gas heating; it's really just the water in question.

Thanks!

Answer 2

Find out from the apartment owner which side heats the water. If there is only one tank then it seems logical that there is only one source of heat.

Answer 3

in a building i lived in there was a couple shared outlets, the owner could no longer have separate meters until the place was rewired to fix the problem. the landlord had to compensate and the cover the utilities till then

Answer 4

Normally the first floor pays for heating but I would check to make sure because one of you is getting screwed.I live in a duplex myself and we share the gas because we have a gas dryer + gas boiler that we use.One more thing to check for is the thermostat.Where is it located? Should be in the apartment that pays for the heat although that is not always true. I put my thermostat on the second floor because it is colder up here.

Answer 5

If there is only one water heater, then only one of you is paying the water heating bill.

All apartment buildings, duplexes, etc have one cold water supply line that feeds all of the apartments, unless they have gone through the expense of separate metering.

Each unit then should have3 a separate hot water line and an individual water heater when the utilities are separated and paid for individually.

And no, it's not possible to have a shared water tank and separate water heaters and have equitable separation of utility bills. You each need to have your own water heater.

Answer 6

You are splitting everything except the electric.