With the hot water heater in use, the cold water inlet, and attached pipe is literally scalding to the touch. The hot water outlet is cool and doesn't even get warm. Yet the water is hot at all faucets. To further complicate the situation they installed a shut-off lever at both the cold and hot side connections at the water heater. I'm having trouble determining which side is the cold water coming from the wall. I am concerned that the previous owner may have connected the cold water inlet to the hot side of the water heater, causing the hot water to exit from the cold connection of the water heater. Is there a test to rule out a backwards installation besides shutting off the main and cutting the pipes to see which of the two pipes coming from the wall is truly the cold water side? Also, since the existing electric water heater (38 gallon lowboy 4500 watts) is wired to a 240v outlet with a cheap appliance cord...I chose to hardwire it. I purchased: (1) 60 amp/ 240V Non-fuseable ac disconnect box (1) 10/3 6ft. Liquid tight wire whip Does this sound like proper materials? I do appreciate any advice. This is my first water heater install.