The water heater is behind the cabinet door that is screwed shut. Strange. It does have a shelf just can height like the one on the other side of the hutch. I put canned goods on that shelf. We had a bin that we never used in our other camper, and it is just big enough for a 17# of dog food. It's only maybe 9" or 12" wide, so both it and beer (out of the case, in 6 pack cases) fits just fine on the pantry floor.