Someone stole my hot water system....

cypher67 on 15/07/2014 - 09:46

So I live in townhouse in a block of 12 out Sydney West. We all use those on demand hot water systems that hooked up to gas and heats it up as you need it.

I woke up this morning to have a hot shower, turn it on and its cold water. Ok so my gas ran out, walk outside and switch the gas bottles and then noticed that my entire system on the wall was stolen.

I've called the police and said they would be around later, but my question is how common is this? I've never heard of someone stealing a hot water system before.

Hats off to the thief as it wouldnt have been easy but they could have at least done it in summer.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • IIGnomeII on 15/07/2014 - 09:51
    +13

    I shouldn't say it but I am impressed. I would never have thought something like that would be worth stealing but who knows what goes through the druggies heads.

    I don't know what the police will do other than take the report, you are best to speak to local plumbers and see if they have people offering cheap second hand heaters, or maybe keep an eye on gumtree and the like for it showing up there.

  • Moots on 15/07/2014 - 09:52
    +7

    I'd be looking around at any houses that deal in scrap metal. They have a tonne of copper in them, mainly why they are highly sort after.

  • xyron on 15/07/2014 - 09:53
    +6

    This happened to my grandparents in a very affluent suburb in Adelaide about 10 years ago. Was very random - and they removed the unit very cleanly too (I was expecting the wall to look like a dashboard after a 15-year-old methylamphetamine addict had tried to remove the head unit).

    Apparently they get re-used on other building sites and the customer gets charged for a brand new unit by the builder. Dodgy stuff. Then again, from my experience in dealing with builders I'm not surprised at all that it happens.

    If I had to have a cold shower on mornings like what we have been having recently, I'd probably sooner top myself…

    • cuteseal on 15/07/2014 - 09:58
      +3

      Hmm very insightful - didn't think of that. Wouldn't it be ironic if they called a local guy/company to install a new system and they came and installed the same system they had stolen… haha.

      • PVA on 18/07/2014 - 14:49

        Yeah, I thought thats what they do, steal them for other sites but usually it is new homes being built that are stolen from.

  • cuteseal on 15/07/2014 - 09:56

    Yeah I wonder what the motivation was? Surely it would be impractical to re-sell these on a large enough scale to make it a profitable venture. Logistics and risk of getting caught unbolting a large heavy metal object from the side of a house and making off with it as well…

    • Davo1111 on 15/07/2014 - 11:46
      +2

      Probably a sketchy plumber with a request to fill.

      Google suggests they're between 1-2k new, not really a money maker.

      • JimmyF on 18/07/2014 - 13:50
        +1

        well they sort of are…. I mean, cost of goods is $0, so straight up $1k profit. Then the plumber charges another few hundred to install they unit, so for a mornings work, he might charge $1500 for the unit and install, so thats $1500 profit! Nice!

        • Wraith on 18/07/2014 - 14:22
          +2

          I would not risk a prison sentence for $1,500. Hell, I wouldn't risk prison for 20 times that figure. This is a high risk endeavour.

        • JimmyF on 18/07/2014 - 14:30
          +3

          You might not….. but others would!

  • RockyRaccoon on 15/07/2014 - 10:12
    +24

    Will they now be in hot water? Sorry couldnt resist.

    Jokes aside.

    My guess is they are using it elsewhere, the scrap value would be pretty small, its instantaneous not like larger units with more metal etc.

    Maybe someone nearby who's unit died, so they just saved themselves at trip to the hardware store.

    Nice bastards.

    • cypher67 on 15/07/2014 - 10:16
      +86

      Unlikely, Police said its a cold case

    • AuSlade on 18/07/2014 - 17:42

      Most new hot water systems are glass core, there isn't a whole host of metal in them to steal.

      These smaller units have coils copper in them that the water flows through to heat up around a central core. I'm not sure how much copper is in them, but at close to $7 a kilo for scrap, it doesn't take too many hot water systems for thieves to make some money.

      This is also why in new housing projects, hot water systems, aircon units, appliances, etc never get installed until the client takes possession. The builders don't want to pay for items only to have them stolen.

      It's a bummer someone stole it, hopefully it can be fixed under your house insurance without affecting your premiums.

  • BiotBargin on 15/07/2014 - 10:33
    +7

    very common, especially on buidling sites. they advise all these sort of services are installed after or during someone moving in and with a cage over them. very keen to install one many years ago until i found out what hot property they are. what a joke this country is becoming, you cant even have a decent letter box these days without people trying to flog it as well or even your garden hose…..and heaven forbid if the thief injures himself/herself in the process.

    • cypher67 on 15/07/2014 - 10:38
      +1

      Yeah its a crazy I know. I had my finger on dial for my lawyer as I looked for blood in an attempt to quash any potential law suites immediately. Thankfully it was a clean steal, dodged a bullet there.

      • RockyRaccoon on 15/07/2014 - 12:29
        +4

        law suites

        = Jail/Gaol

      • Davo1111 on 15/07/2014 - 13:00
        +10

        law suites

        Why are you looking for a new office?

      • McFly on 18/07/2014 - 11:34

        I had my finger on dial for my lawyer as I looked for blood

        But then you took a cold shower?

    • JediJan on 16/07/2014 - 14:26
      +1

      My mother had her lovely pot plants, she had spent years on bringing them on, stolen on the eve of Mothers Day one year. The plants cost nothing as they were all taken from cuttings; the way most pensioners do, but the pots did cost money. As it was a very late evening/early morning heist we assume it must have been a drunk on his way home from the pub, after spending all his remaining cash on alcohol. Either way, after the shock, we did consider that there was a very happy mum out there.

      Yes, I don't know. I know they hire security personnel/people sleeping on sites for those new building sites, so (mostly) the dodgy installers don't help themselves.

      What's it with letterboxes I don't know peoples; kind of "weaselly" weak practices to steal some pensioners letterbox isn't it? Pity that these people don't take the time to reconsider; some of these old letterboxes were installed by the dear departed and offer kind memories for the owners. Oh well, hope one of them has a chance to reconsider and act a little kinder in future.

      • timmypete on 16/07/2014 - 21:47
        +1

        Someone knocked off a housemate's hand-painted pot plant from our balcony one evening. Worth bugger all apart from the sentimental value. Go figure.

        • JediJan on 18/07/2014 - 09:18
          +1

          The only thing (touch wood) that I have ever had stolen was a room deodoriser (about $2) left on the bathroom window sill, when I lived in Cairns. My brother said the locals insist that if you are not wearing something then you don't want it … so I couldn't leave any shoes by the doormat … I remember an argument a neighbour had with someone taking his shoes. The guy said he thought he didn't want them. I don't know how to comment about this.

      • lonix on 18/07/2014 - 20:02

        You would probably find your pot plants for sale at some market stall in a town nearby

    • ricerocket on 19/07/2014 - 10:19

      Yea, the same thing happened to me …. luckily just a few days prior to handover.

  • scotty on 15/07/2014 - 11:17
    +3

    When we changed our hot water system to those tiny on demand units, our builder did warn us to secure it properly because of the likelihood of having it stolen. They got resold to building sites and gumtree.

  • [Deactivated] on 15/07/2014 - 11:30

    Interesting post. Wouldn't have thought they would be a target, but thinking it through you can see how it would be easy for the right person. Turn the water, electricity and gas off, easy access to those. Some quick and careful unscrewing of connectors. Yoink and you are done.

    We were thinking of putting in an instant hot water service. Wouldn't have thought about securing it. Will do so now.

  • cypher67 on 15/07/2014 - 11:47
    +1

    Could be a niche market if someone started selling lock kits for hot water systems, similar to the lock nuts you get on car wheels. There has to be an easier and more visually pleasing method then putting a cage around it?

    • donga100 on 16/07/2014 - 21:38
      +9

      Electrify the cage and install cctv.

    • lonix on 18/07/2014 - 20:03

      Weld the nuts on the dynabolts

  • Davo1111 on 15/07/2014 - 11:59
    +3

    Consider buying some concrete fasteners and securing the box using the extra mount points.

    Finally go along with some 2 part epoxy and put globs of glue around many of the heads (on the mounting brackets only). That way you'll need a dremel to remove the epoxy before using a spanner/screwdriver

  • [Deactivated] on 15/07/2014 - 12:01
    +1

    An extremely common event…It also happens for split system aircons and kitchens that have been installed (typically installed during the day, and gone at nite)…

    • phatsteve on 18/07/2014 - 10:23

      How the hell does someone steal a kitchen?!

      • rodericb on 18/07/2014 - 15:39

        Unscrew the bits. Pretty much all kitchens are modular nowadays, like what you buy from bunnings, masters and IKEA. Easy to install, easy to remove and as they are modular and have standard sizing, easy to re-use.

      • Randxyz123 on 18/07/2014 - 18:19

        Easy… Not the kitchen entirely but bits such as the oven, stove, tap, sink can be worth several thousand dollars and a lot of the time during the building process during a renovation or building a new house the house is not properly secure… Sometimes the kitchen might go in while the windows or doors are being finished or there might be a tempory lock or the last tradies to leave may not lock up on a Friday night in a rush to the pub…

  • minniethemoocher on 15/07/2014 - 12:14
    +3

    Had it happen to friends, turns out it is very common. You should be able to claim it on your home insurance depending on the excess.

  • IIGnomeII on 15/07/2014 - 12:26
    +2

    http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-home-garden/sydney/water+heater/…
    ^ A few here on gumtree but I don't know if you have any record of a serial number and the make should you want to pass on the details to the police.

  • chinabestdeals12 on 15/07/2014 - 16:06

    I think maybe just because his own is broken, so he took yours away , hope your problem can be solved soon!

  • Mikaela on 15/07/2014 - 16:21

    Damn that sucks. Hope you get it resolved soon and are able to have some hot showers. I haven't had any friends or family experience this… yet

  • JediJan on 16/07/2014 - 09:10

    Nothing like a cold shower to put things in perspective; how much we take hot water, even water for granted. Actually I am not a fan of those "on demand" hot water units. Years ago, when I was still a schoolchild, just walking out of the house when an enormous explosion occurred. It turned out the unit (which was inside the laundry) blew up, blew off the wall breaking gas and water pipes. Not only was gas escaping but water pouring out from it. Fortunately no one was in close proximity at the time! Fun and games for a student running around trying to turn off water and gas with no prior knowledge, but I managed it. Flooded laundry through to the hall carpets … and of course middle of Winter too. We had birds in the house at the time and I would not like to think what may have happened with the build up of gas in the home between 9am and 3pm when we got home from school … not forgetting there would have been a pilot light alight on the space heater in the lounge. Doesn't bear thinking about. It was a relatively new home and Father had said no telephone as he thought us teenagers would be using it all the time … After a few sharp words from Mother to Father we had a new phone installed within 2 days. Ah the days of public utilities … Gas & Fuel repairman out the very next day and Telstra soon after to install a new telephone line. Those were the days! Miss your public authorities now Melbourne?

    • matt_will_fix_it on 17/07/2014 - 12:11
      +2

      there are no pilot lights on the new units

      • JimB on 18/07/2014 - 09:30

        And you certainly wouldn't put in inside as they take bugger all room outside.

    • lonix on 18/07/2014 - 20:06

      Lucky you didn't die from carbon monoxide poisoning when doing your laundry

  • timmypete on 16/07/2014 - 09:49

    I didn't know this was a thing. Just found a half dozen forum posts and community newspaper articles (example) and it seems pretty commonplace.

    A lot of the posts mention some manufacturers sell security kits for this reason (link to product dead), but I got the distinct impression that some installers were not using them even when they were included.

    UPDATE: Found a Rinnai bracket on their website

  • Speckled Jim on 16/07/2014 - 10:27
    +5

    Anything of value is a potential target.

    Some years ago in a Perth suburb, an unoccupied home that was for lease was broken into. Guess what they stole?
    The curtains.

    • Lockieasy on 16/07/2014 - 14:22
      +4

      Yeah, tell me about it. My mother's car got broken in to and they stole a box of tissues and whatever small change was lying in the ash tray. The annoying part was they did $300 worth of damage to the car to steal under $5 of loot.

      • young_dazza on 16/07/2014 - 23:52
        +2

        My Aunts car was stolen. They took the car stereo, seat covers, spare change, and a fruit cake that was left in the boot!

      • Azn310 on 18/07/2014 - 00:27

        This is why I keep telling my family members to not leave anything insight in a locked up car. Even a 5c coin or a phone (or GPS) holder is enough for them to crack it open. I tell them if they need to leave them in there, might as well leave the car unlocked and save from the damages!

      • JediJan on 18/07/2014 - 09:34

        I had the passenger window forced down half mast; they broke the window winding mechanism of my first car (old 72 celica). Nothing was inside the car at all, apart from a cheap tape deck. Cost quite a bit to have the window winding mechanism replaced … not only that it was rainy weather and couldn't take the car to work and leave the window down like that (totally jammed) all day in a public car park. All that and they got nothing because there was nothing. What can one do!

      • coolhand on 18/07/2014 - 10:39
        +1

        This is why I think it's stupid that it's illegal to leave your car unsecured. If you know there's nothing in there worth stealing

        • OYC on 18/07/2014 - 14:33

          except for the car itself

      • 2025 on 19/07/2014 - 10:23

        A few years ago now I ran out of petrol and left my car. I came back to a smashed window and the coffee table in the back was missing.

        Last year I left my car unlocked overnight in my driveway by mistake. My top of the line Tomtom and iPhone were sitting in the centre console, untouched… All the idiot took was the Tomtom window mount!

    • Charity on 16/07/2014 - 21:24
      +3

      had my garden hose stolen when I lived in south perth.

      Literally left it unattended for 20 mins half dangling over the fence to water some plants over the fence.

      It was a decent quality one - but really?

      • SaberX on 17/07/2014 - 13:20

        Would've thought south perth would be affluent enough to avoid that issue (apart from the public inflows due to the foreshore, exercise etc).

      • elf888 on 17/07/2014 - 15:55
        +3

        In Sydney townhouse, my garden hose connector is missing after my holiday……$1 worth???

        • JediJan on 18/07/2014 - 09:31
          +3

          I always remove mine from the front of my unit (only used for car washing) so my neighbour cannot take it. Yes, I like to be annoying. I also turn off the water tap excessively tight.

      • diddy50 on 17/07/2014 - 21:30

        I had 5 meters of cold water copper stolen and it cost $1k to replace/repair from how they cut it.

        Screw those bastards

    • SaberX on 17/07/2014 - 13:26
      +2

      Worries me hence I feel like I need to do a HDD backup as someday touchwood my laptop will get stolen.

      Wish you could install electrified house doors, walls etc lol for intruders.

      What's worse that takes the cake for me, one christmas period they pulled the lights off the outside plants that we decorated, strung it across the road for cars to run over. We've never put up outside lights anymore. Bastards.

      There's alot of people in this world which if you left it up to me I reckon should be thrown right out of here. People who cause troubles for others and who just can't mind their own business and carry on earning their own way in life.

      • Riczter on 17/07/2014 - 16:38
        +4

        erm, you should do a hdd backup anyway, your laptops hard drive will probably die before it gets stolen. Last figures i read said that 6% of consumer drives die within 12 months, 20% within 5 years. Always keep a backup, and a backup of your backup ;)

  • Peck on 16/07/2014 - 11:32
    +2

    A cheap security system could be to bolt 2 brackets (in a + sign) to it over the unit with oneway screws. And maybe a movement detecting light too. It sounds like he knew what he was doing and has not done much collateral damage (thank God!) Especially with being a gas unit. Will your home/contents insurance cover it? He knows where you live and how easy it was. Be careful that he doesn't return for your next (Brand new) one!!

    • pmupsinep on 16/07/2014 - 20:02
      +1

      You could easily hook the unit up to the house alarm with a reed switch like the doors & windows. As soon as the unit is removed the alarm triggers.

  • WT on 16/07/2014 - 12:29

    I was watching a used one on ebay as I thought ours was failing, it only sold for $1XX

  • JimB on 16/07/2014 - 14:30
    +1

    If newish, it could have been stolen by a plumber who will onsell it to a customer as new.

    I have one and love it. Never ending hot water and not boiling up hot water when you aren't using it.

    I should stamp it with the address or my drivers licence on it.

  • cashews on 16/07/2014 - 14:49
    +2

    Sorry to hear about your loss. We had carpet stolen from our new house a week before we were going to move in, they ripped it off the floor, rolled it up and took off with it. In addition someone tried to steal our water pump that was connected to our water tank, but couldn't manage to unbolt it from the ground.

  • Cluster on 16/07/2014 - 15:05
    +1

    When I had a new house built a couple of years ago, during handover the builder asked if I would be moving in immediately as the hot water heater (gas) was not yet connected. I asked why that was important, and he said it's known for the heaters to be stolen from new houses if the thieves suspect it's not yet occupied.

    Sometimes the unit will be sold whole, or even taken apart and melted down for the scrap copper content. Yes, more than $1000 damage to retrieve maybe $20 in metal. Some thieves aren't too bright.

    • Charity on 16/07/2014 - 21:12
      +3

      From the thieves point of view, the whole unit, or even the $20, is a good return - it cost you $1000.
      The noble police will also likely do zippo about it as well. (other than perhaps issuing you a ticket as you rush back to meet them at your house.)

      Certainly not saying it is right, it is wrong, but there isn't that much incentive for the thieves to stop.

    • timmypete on 16/07/2014 - 21:46
      +4

      A mate is a doctor sick of his premises being raided for drugs and paying multiple thousands of dollars repairing the damage from unsuccessful attempts. He now has a brilliantly concealed safe which stores the good stuff. He also has a saline-filled safe which is poorly hidden and isn't especially well tied down.

      They can't necessarily stop breakins, but they're doing less damage when they rip the safe out of the floor and leave.

  • [Deactivated] on 16/07/2014 - 16:49

    Check eBay, Gumtree or whatever whenever where ever they might use this system

    Tell everyone and asked everybody to look for some signs of this and help to find it also be careful themselves and make it as hard for thieves to do it again. Leave ads and flyers everywhere, also ask the thieves to bring it back peacefully.
    Check the suppliers secretly or friendly if they came up across someone asking to install or sell it.
    give them some though time in the area. one day they will get caught red handed

    This @$$holes should be kicked and sent to hell

    • gimme on 16/07/2014 - 18:48
      +5

      Alternatively lodge an insurance claim and don't waste your time and blood pressure doing the above. Just saying

      • [Deactivated] on 16/07/2014 - 19:43

        It is good to cough up some more money to insurance companies (if you have done already), but your face would be more enjoyable if they deny paying up for such.
        I would still say give the thieves some though time instead of encouraging them, this is not hell of a chaos! it is a place to live!

        • cosmic on 16/07/2014 - 21:23

          What is "some though time"? You used it twice and I still can't work out what it means.

        • lplau on 16/07/2014 - 21:50
          +2

          @cosmic: lol i think he wanted to say "tough time"…

  • Risser on 16/07/2014 - 21:36

    I've heard that solar inverters are a good catch for crooks as well…

  • t_c on 17/07/2014 - 06:33

    Is it less of a offence for the theifs as their not breaking and entering into the home to remove the hot water systems.

  • windrc on 17/07/2014 - 08:46

    At the time when we built our house, our builder delibrately left out the hot water unit to be installed until very close to settlement date, the reason he gave was it can get stolen easily. Looks like he was right, it is surprising to hear that it can happen to an occupied house.

  • brett-au on 17/07/2014 - 10:29
    +4

    Spray paint it pink and do a really bad paint job. It would surely raise some eyebrows on whereever the dodgy plummer tried to install it.

  • ricodbn on 17/07/2014 - 11:19

    Sucks. I am now worried about the solar inverter stuck on my outside wall.

    • Davo1111 on 17/07/2014 - 13:35
      +2

      Engrave your street address onto it in various places. And do a really crappy paint job with pink paint

  • edgar28 on 17/07/2014 - 13:45
    +2

    Went to coles yesterday, saw an old man stole a roast chicken, walking out between the checkout.

    everyone just stare at him awhile…… then meh……. lives go on……..

    I remember I saw someone posted such thing before in ozbargain forum, is this some sort of syndicate? every old man stole one chicken per shop per day. 10 dollars per day, 1 year $3650 profits?

    • donga100 on 17/07/2014 - 14:08
      +8

      Is the old man eating a whole chicken every day or are people buying second hand chickens off old men?

      • rodericb on 18/07/2014 - 15:47
        +1

        You never know what he was doing with it beforehand. May have stolen a roast chook because they didn't have pie (a LA American Pie…the movie geddit…)

        So if you get offered one of these preloved roast chooks, steer clear but if you simply can't resist a bargain tell the seller you want one without mayo!

        • edgar28 on 18/07/2014 - 22:13

          You win….

    • JediJan on 18/07/2014 - 09:28

      Yes, it always seems a bit odd to see elderly people do this. I remember an old guy stealing womens soaps/powders etc outside a chemist just before Christmas once. Must have been Christmas presents; they obviously were not for him. You stare in amazement at the audacity of them but you cannot say anything. Maybe they rely on that though.

    • scotty on 18/07/2014 - 10:55

      I remember I saw someone posted such thing before in ozbargain forum…

      Yeah. 2 weeks ago.

    • WT on 18/07/2014 - 16:40

      some woman used self serve the other day, put everything through and walked out. The next person called the attendant, she never paid and just left the last screen.

      The attendant looked for 2 seconds, cleared it and went on.

    • gimli on 18/07/2014 - 22:46

      One of the other guys at school would steal whole roasted chicken and it for breakfast. I didn't even release they made chicken so early.

      Then we release stinky farts in class for the rest of the day.

  • Schezwon on 17/07/2014 - 14:06

    Wow that's very strange. Just wondering if insurance will cover that?

  • daviid24 on 17/07/2014 - 18:22
    +1

    Got ours stolen back in 2006. Now my dad has used a special screw to hold in place and pretty much covered it up where probably a power saw or drill could only be used to take it off

  • effgee on 17/07/2014 - 21:27
    +1

    if the cops weren't so busy collecting speeding fines, they could set up 'honey pot' houses in new developments and monitor them to catch these scum.

    • JediJan on 18/07/2014 - 09:25

      I have seen them reporting these in new housing estates in the local paper; Casey. They do catch a few so I think they get a few tip offs too.

      When my son started his L driving I took him to some very quiet backstreets of a semi industrial area. Just up and down the road, u turns, 3 point turns, corners etc. and quite a lot of it. Wasn't long before I was questioned and was told my rego was taken as it appeared we were acting suspiciously. Explained to the people (car was wearing Ls) and advised them we expected to do a lot more of this in the next few weeks. I think good on them for keeping an eye on what is happening about them. I wouldn't have minded a Police car checking us out either. We were probably putting off a few prospective crimes also; noticed a few cars parked in quiet spots suddenly take off when we approached … and my son's driving wasn't that bad at all! Would be nice to think we put the heebie jeebies into someone.

    • lplau on 18/07/2014 - 13:40
      -5

      It depends on how you look at it.

      Speeding = you can die or kill somebody.
      Losing a water system = you lose money. Not quite life threatening.

      I would rather cops taking dangerous drivers off the streets than wasting their time catching the small time crooks who steal a hot water system. lol.

      • effgee on 18/07/2014 - 14:53
        +1

        I've got no issue with cops targeting dangerous drivers, like tailgaters, people who turn in front of pedestrians etc. I see lots of them, but they aren't necessarily speeding.

        Doing 62kmh in a 60 zone isn't inherently dangerous.
        Doing 58kmh in a 60 zone can be dangerous due to factors other than speed.

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 18/07/2014 - 10:40

    Very common in new housing estates. Been a happening a lot here in melbourne northern suburbs.

    Surprised they targeted your house since you occupy it. They normally target newly built houses before anyone moves in.

    • JimmyF on 18/07/2014 - 13:54

      Nothing new… Been happening for decades. Its the reason a lot of new houses don't have the 'easy to remove' appliances installed until move in date, ie dishwasher, stove, hot plates, hot water and some central heater units! Heck even light fittings are left till the last minute.

      Builders knock them off to 'reuse' on sites as its 100% profit to them!

  • Randxyz123 on 18/07/2014 - 13:46

    Very strange thing to do… I can only assume it was someone who's has broken and they decided to help themselves to yours. Out of interest has any one elses been stolen recently? Maybe ask your neighbours if they have seen anything suspicious or strange. Or if they have been broken into recently?

    It is a bit surprising they would taget a house with someone in it as stealing it may make quite a bit of noise….

    When you get a new one perhaps get it engraved or have it bolted to the wall or have a cage built around it and locked

    • JimmyF on 18/07/2014 - 14:03

      Not really much noise. A shifter and a screw driver is all you need.

      Unplug the power, turn off the water and gas values. Use the shifter to loosen the connections and unscrew. All these connections are exposed (see link below). Undo the screw holding it in, then lift the unit up to release from the mount, at this point you can walk away with the unit. But if they want the mount, then use the screw driver to unscrew the mount from the wall.

      Really would have been done in under 10 mins. These units are pretty light and if its a exact replacement for yours that died at home, no need to even get the bracket. So 5 mins, you would be in and out.

      http://www.m2greenerlivingsolutions.com.au/assets/images/Rin…

      Sad I know…. but when they cost ~1k and people don't have the money to replace it and no hot water they do these things. The best way to stop it, is to keep it out of sight so people driving around looking for one, can't see it. Then secure your unit down with special screws (once again, will only slow them down, not stop it if they really want the unit).

  • JimmyF on 18/07/2014 - 13:55
    +2

    If you're in a block of 12 and they all use the 'same' type of unit, maybe you should be looking at your other 11 neighbours. One of theirs may have died and they 'borrowed' yours. That said, if they had been smart, they should have just swapped it over in the night ;)

  • PVA on 18/07/2014 - 14:51

    There is not someone else in your mdu block that needs a new water heater is there - rather than buy a new one they pinch next doors?

  • [Deactivated] on 18/07/2014 - 15:45

    A similar thing happened when I was renovating my house. My new oven was stolen, but insurance replaced all of it.

  • MoeMoney on 18/07/2014 - 20:08

    I've heard of this before too!
    Having a dog is the best security system, when it comes to things like this.

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