Hot water heater as a water source for ice maker?

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surban100

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I am moving an old fridge into my garage. It has an ice maker, but there is currently no water line in the garage. The location is, however, very close to the hot water heater tank. The tank has a couple of spigots near the bottom, and I am wondering if they can be used to feed the refrigerator's ice maker, or if there's any way to leverage the hot water heater tank for this purpose.

Thanks,

Scott
 

Terry

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You should never use hot water for drinking purposes. There are too many contaminents from a water heater.
The water heater is supplied with cold water. Tee off from the cold supply.
 

Gary Swart

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The preferred way to make the connection is to cut into the cold water line, install a tee, add a ball valve and adapt to 1/4". From there you can use 1/4" copper or a flex ice maker line. Saddle tees are often sold to uninformed DIY, but these are not trustworthy. I prefer the flex lines because they are not prone to kinking like 1/4" copper. These flex lines are available at hardware stores. Cost a bit more than copper, but allow you to move the ice maker without worry of ruining the line.
 

Bill Shack

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Old plummer NEVER use hot water for drinking, food , coffee. They have seen the crap that forms on the bottom of hot water tanks.
 

Dj2

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...And don't forget a filter somewhere along the supply line to the icemaker. Don't just rely on the filter in the fridge.
 

hj

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Plus if you are sending hot water into the freezer compartment, it will take longer to make the ice and the unit will have to overcome the heat.
 
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