When I take my shower, my water loses it's heat in about 2 minutes. I have to adjust it just a pinch to get my hot water back. That lasts about a minute. Then I have to adjust it again. I usually end up adjusting it about 4 or 5 times. I'm not using up all my hot water because once I turn the knob I get it back. When I can't turn it anymore then that's the end of my hot water. The same goes for my sink when I'm washing dishes. Anyone one know what's up?
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It's possible that your hot water heater's storage tank has filled up with sediment. We have a lot of limestone in the area which tends to accumulate in the bottom of the tank. I have to regularly drain the tank to get this rock salt like deposits out of the tank. Be sure to turn off the electricity to the unit first. You may also want to determine if both the upper and and lower heating elements are working. It's 220, so it can kill you if you're stupid.
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Let's say your shower uses 2.5 gallons per minute. You have a 30 gallon tank that starts at 120 degrees. The water going into the tank is colder (let's use 60 degrees, in this case). After 2 minutes, you've replaced 5 gallons of hot water with 5 gallons of 60 degree water. So, 2 minutes in, the water in the tank is only 110 degrees. 4 minutes in, the water is down to 100 degrees. etc. You always seem to have hot water, because you are turning down the cold water as much as you are turning up the hot. Eventually, you'll have comfortable water coming from just the "hot" side, but that won't last.
This phenomenon is at it's worst in the winter, when the ground, water, and pipes are their coldest. Also, dry cool air, plus drafts in the bathroom, make it worse. Water droplet temp can lose 40 degrees between the shower head and the floor of the shower, depending on these conditions.
This example is not to scale and does not calculate the ratio of cool to hot water at the faucet, which changes the rate of change, per minute, of both the water heater rate of heat exchange and the rate of flow from said water heater.
Could be sediment in the tank, could be time to buy a new hot water heater.
Are you using restricted flow shower heads? A regular shower head uses 5-7 gpm, that will drain a standard 40 gal tank pretty quick. You can buy 2.5 gpm heads at any hardware/home improvement store for just a few bucks, they can save you a lot of money.
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We have the same problem. Only notice it in winter cause never need any hot in the shower during summer.
The thing that makes me think it isn't running out of water is that filling the sink for the dishes shouldn't drain the entire hot water service. Right?
Our service is relatively new so shouldn't have much build up in it.
Where is your tank located? If it's in an unheated area putting a water heater blanket on it can make a huge difference. They run about $10 at Home Depot.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin, 1759
could turning up the temperature on the hot water help this at all? we have the same issue, and were going to try that out - but if it's useless we won't bother.
Our tank is in our basement. The build up idea seems logical to me. I think I that blanket sounds like a cheap helper. As for turning up the temp on the water, I don't know if that would help because we have hot water, it's there for use, I just have to adjust the knob. What LD posted makes pretty good sense. I wonder if there is a solution to that.
I planned on calling the oil company because they installed the heater and maintain it, but I'm a little anxious because we got into it last week about something else. I kinda want to let some time pass before I go to him again.
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Kick the tires and light the fires big daddy!!
If you have an electric tank there are two elements and one of them could be burned out. When that happens there is usually only enough power left to heat a small portion of the water which rises to the top and gets used up quickly.
If that is not the case, then it could be that when the tank was hooked up the cold water line into the tank was connected to the hot output on the tank. This is important because the cold line in adds water to the tank at the bottom while the hot output draws water from the top of the tank. That allows you to draw lots of hot water before you notice a temperature drop.
But, when they are reversed the hot water to your shower now comes from the bottom of the tank which cools quickly from the cold water that is replacing the water being used. Even though the cold water comes in at the top (where the hot water should be drawn from), it quickly drops to the bottom of the tank (because cold water always goes to the bottom) and that cold water now gets drawn out to your shower.
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Hot water question for my shower
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