Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this Rheem RTE 9 to be used as a point of use water heater in my new bathroom in my "man cave". I also wanted to run hot water to a hose bib where I could use it for washing the dog, putting hot water in a 5 gal bucket, etc. Don't be deceived by the 3 GPM rating. According to the "Use & Care Manual, with Installation Instructions for the Installer" provided with the unit you can only expect a 30 deg F rise in water temp at 3 GPM. My inlet water temp this time of year (January) is 48 Deg F. At 1.5 GPM I was only getting a 40 Deg F rise in temp. Yup, at half the rated flow I had 240 volts at 40 amps via two 40 amp breakers going in and only 98 deg F water out of the tap! Figured there must be something wrong. After reading the chart this is exactly what is to be expected. I started to send it back then started figuring the costs. I spent $166 on this unit, $70 on 30 feet of 8 gauge 2 conductor wire, $8 on a double pole 40 amp breaker, and $65 on miscellaneous conduit, junction boxes, connecters, etc. Just over $300 to install this unit. I can get $166 of this back if I send it back and purchase a different/larger heater with better performance. But, all the lager units require more amps (larger wire, would have to replace all the new plumbing, wiring and breakers I just installed). So I decided to purchase another RTE 9 and hook them up in series (98 deg water out of first unit connects to cold water inlet of second unit) now I have 130 deg water at the tap. This is where I wanted to be but not how I wanted to get there. All in all I received three of these units. The second one I ordered was defective so a third was sent to replace the second. This unit is nice and small but it's ability to heat water also seems small. If your water inlet temp in the 60 - 70 deg F range and you only need 1.5 GPM of hot water it may work great for you. I've added a couple of images from the box to help you decide if this unit would work for you. Update: 4-12-2013 It's been 3 months since I installed both units. The unit that was sent to replace the defective unit only works about 85% of the time. When it's not working I have to stop the water flow, shut the power off at the breaker and then turn the power back on get it to work. I have tested the breakers and it's not a power supply issue. The problem is definitely in the water heater. All in all, if I had it to do over again, I would have gone with a different water heater.