I have a 4 plex with one HW heater. Tenants have access to the basement where the water heater is located. One tenant likes it extra hot – 140 degrees! Other tenants don’t complain but I think it’s too hot.

There are no dishwashers or clothes washers in the building. There’s no recommended temperature in the Rheem owner’s manual. I learned via a phone call to Rheem that the factory setting was 120 degrees. I want to turn it down from 140 degrees but expect a mutiny of sorts WHICH I WON’T YIELD TO.

factory setting at 120 sounds like enough to me, why dont you set it where you want it and put a lock on the basement door?

Are your tenants all adults? No part-time kids, visiting grandkids, etc?

If there are any kids at all, I'd set it to a setting between low and moderate. I don't want a kid to burn themselves in the tub because they thought they could draw a bath but not know to check the water temperature or look for clues.

Tony, you may be "crazy"! Can you send me the make, model and spec.'s on this water heater that provides hot water to 4 units. Is this the commercial 65, 80 or 100 gallon high recovery? If not, U r crazy.

First of all, having a water heater set at 140 degrees is foolish, dumb, stupid and crazy. As a plumbing contractor I have to install water temperature regulators/restructures on all bathtubs. Why? You put a child, pet or old person in the tub and they knock against the "Single or Level" hot mixer handle and change the water flow from cold/hot=warm to HOT ONLY.

At 140 degrees is will burn someone within SECONDS!

AND YOUR MODERN WATER HEATER WITH A FLASHING INDICATOR LIGHT TO LET YOU KNOW THE TROUBLE CODE, WILL FAIL AT 140 DEGREES WITHIN A YEAR OR TWO. Instead you MUST set it at LOW, or between low and medium, but never hot.

I installed a new water heater and bathtub, shower fixtures. All with adjustable temperature limits.

The owner of this house, worth 50 million, actor from a top tv show, had me set the guest bathroom at 120 degrees. The Master shower at 125 degrees and the maids room at 110 degrees.

The maid had her baby's daddy remove the limit device so the water was now at the highest temp. I had set the water heater at 130 degrees. The boy/friend of the maid had thee water heater craned to it's limits.

Am actress from their tv series lost her home in the recent fire. So the owner of this house allowed this person to stay at his home. She took her children and put them in the maids large bathtub. 1st floor with a tile floor, pitched to a center drain on the floor. while taking a bath the water started to get cold, so someone turned on the single handle elver, facing left--towards the hot side. Within 20 seconds the 140 degree water from the water heater caused severe burns to the children in the tub. They did not turn off the water or could get out of the tub by themselves. Help was 30 seconds away. They are in the burn ward of a major hospital.

The parents of the burned children are suing me, the owner and the maid for tampering with the instructor.

What I also do in install a water heater burner sensor, to cut off the gas if the chamber is too hot. Better to be safe than sorry.

Google hot water storage and minimum temperature to kill Legionnaires' disease.

Use a thermostatic mixing valve so that water at the fixture doesn't hurt anyone.

I did a quick search and, if what I found is accurate, NJ apparently actually has a law on this stating that hot water temp must beset by a landlord between 120-140F. So, 140F is in the "legal range allowed" there.

To me, as others said, way too hot. Burns too fast. I set all of ours at 125F and if a tenant changes it, so be it. I can still state in court that I set it at 125F if something happens.

Of course, in my 4-plexes, we have individual water heaters for each unit. So, this shared one seems really odd to me.

Like RobertJ asked, I am curious what size tank this is?

Ha! Just for a point of interest... I see that the New Jersey code was changed in 1999 regarding this.

Before 1999, the law said that the landlord had to set the temp between 120-160F! 160F is insanely hot! 1st degree burns instantly and 3rd degree burns in half a second!

They lowered it from a max of 160F to 140F in 1999.

I print H20 heater labels for all my properties. They state H20 temperature set at 120 degrees, the unit address and date on it.

At move-in, I test the H20 temp with two thermometers in front of the tenants and take a picture of the reading on the thermometers in water taken from the tap. Then I place the label on the corresponding H20 heater and take a picture of the label. Tenants sign a move-in sheet that contains what is given at move-in. There is a line on it: WH set at the 120 degrees.

This is a 50 gallon Rheem gas water heater - about 4 years old.

There are no complaints of running out of hot water.

Thanks to John MI for best understanding my inquiry.

I'll make one last attempt to respond to the tenants who like it hot after I confirm and print out what John MI suggested.

Oreo, have you been stung by the water temperature before?

Just seems like a lot of effort.

As Robert said--50 gal for a 4plex is way too small. That may be part of the reason they are turning up the temperature--they get more "warm" water volume after it is mixed with the cold.