hot water heater issues

<p>Anyone know anything about hot water heaters? We have a 7 year old tank and I recently had the plumber out to confirm it’s in good working order and the temp is set appropriately (actually a little high). Our problem is that, in the morning when we go to shower, more often than not we can’t get water as hot as we’d like…it’s warm but not really, really hot. My husband’s current hypothesis correlates it to whether someone showered the night before; if so, the water in the morning is nice and hot–if not, the hot water hasn’t been accessed for so long that it just doesn’t get hot enough. Also, regardless, it takes a very long time for the water to heat up and we waste quite a bit waiting for it to get hot.</p>

<p>A nice hot shower in the morning seems reasonable and I’m happy to replace a not-worn-out-yet heater if that’s what I need to do. I’ve heard about immediately-hot options (like the kind we have in our kitchen) and want to explore that as well as whether anyone has any insight as to why we have this problem with our plumbing. Anyone in the know about plumbing and hot water heaters??</p>

<p>Piggle mom replying :
I am not an expert in plumbing, but have you checked out recirculating pumps ?</p>

<p>Your husband’s hypothesis may be correct if your bathroom is far from the water heater. Our master bathroom is upstairs, opposite end of house from the water heater and the first shower is lukewarm. So I always take the 2nd shower, after DH! The other bathroom is right above the heater and the hot water is fairly instantaneous. I suspect poorly insulated water pipes in our case. I thought about tankless heater installed in our master bathroom but the cost does not justify the inconvenience.</p>

<p>If you turn on the sink faucet to hot in that same bathroom does it come out with the hot temp you’d like or does it come out more lukewarm like the shower? If it seems fine at the sink but not the shower then there’s a possibility it’s the shower mixing valve that’s the issue - i.e. it doesn’t allow enough from the hot side. You can further test it by turning it all the way to hot in the shower and seeing if it comes out hot. Also test it at other bathroom showers - especially if they’re about as far away from the HW heater and the same height above the HW heater as the problem one. If it does, then you probably have a ‘volume’ issue - i.e. the water is plenty hot but there’s not enouhg volume of it so that when mixed with the cold it comes out too cool.</p>

<p>If it’s a heat issue then the HW heater could be gunked up with minerals which can be flushed out by connecting a hose to the outlet on the tank and draining it. I assume your plumber already checked this.</p>

<p>If it’s a volume issue then you might have some clogged pipes somewhere along the line decreasing the flow.</p>

<p>If you live in a cold climate and have a long run of pipes from the HW to the shower then maybe the pipes aren’t insulated well enough.</p>

<p>Another thing to consider is whether this problem came on pretty quickly or if it’s always been an issue in that house - to let you know if something ‘went wrong’ vs the ‘way it’s designed’.</p>

<p>A decent plumber s/b able to figure it out but it needs to be a better one than the ones who just unclog drains - find one who constructs plumbing in new/remodel construction. Plumbers aren’t cheap though.</p>

<p>

I think this is the key.</p>

<p>The hot water in a water heater will slowly lose its heat over time because the is not perfectly insulated. When the water gets cool enough, the heater should fire up and heat the water again.</p>

<p>I can think of two possible problems: </p>

<ul>
<li><p>there is an issue with the thermostat. There are two set points - when the heat goes on (water temp is low) and when the heat goes off (water temp is high). It sounds like the low point is broken/malfunctioning. I don’t know if this will be separately adjustable, or fixable without replacing the entire control unit, which may well cost close to what a new heater will cost.</p></li>
<li><p>you have a broken dip tube. The dip tube brings cold water to the bottom where it won’t mix with the hot water at the top. If it is broken, the cold will cool off the hot water at the top, and you don’t get hot water until the whole tank reheats.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>I would guess the first issue is the problem.</p>

<p>I am not a plumber though.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>We just installed a tankless heater - it doesn’t fix that problem. It still takes a while for the hot water to reach the faucet. The only advantage to a tankless heater is once you get it going, you won’t run out of hot water and several people can be taking showers at the same time. We still have to run the water for several minutes in the morning before it gets remotely warm. The only way to circumvent that issue is to install a recirculating pump.</p>

<p>Just wanted to thank everyone for their responses. When I had a plumber out, he, of course, was able to get hot water and hypothesized that it could be what notrichenough mentioned – the thermostat – but discouraged us from replacing the HWH. </p>

<p>In response to the questions raised–we’re in California so not that cold…sink in our bathroom has a little instant hot tank so it’s not of help in trying to diagnose. I should check the other bathrooms though…my kids’ bathroom is much closer to the HWH and they complain frequently about not having hot enough water in the shower (running out is not the issue–no other drain on hot water at those times). Also, when I referenced a tankless in my original post, I meant a recirculating pump!</p>

<p>High school senior has narrowed down her choices to three schools and we’re very busy visiting the contenders so I’ve gotten side-tracked. We leave for Bucknell in the morning so I’ll try to figure this out next week. Again thanks all!</p>