There’s nothing like taking a hot shower after a long day… until the water is running cold. Common reasons you could be running out of hot water include: broken heat elements, sediment build-up and leaks or your water heater is just too small. Once you find out what is causing you to run out of hot water so quickly you can try and fix it yourself or call ASAP Appliance and Plumbing:
Water runs in streams of hot and cold
If you live out in the country or have hard water, you more than likely experience random spurts of hot and cold water. This may be sediment build-up in your water heater’s tank which is a common issue when running hard water, having old pipes or a worn-out anode rod. This may be robbing your hot water because when sediment builds up it leaves less room for water in the tank, and can absorb the heat produced by the heating element.
Try flushing and draining the tank completely. You can do this yourself or leave it to the pros… We recommend a flush and drain for your water heater around once a year. If you are still experiencing spurts of hot and cold water even after a flush, you may have too much build-up in the tank. Unfortunately, the only way to solve that problem is to replace your tank… which you should ASAP or it could, uh, explode.
Hot water isn’t lasting long
Water heaters typically have two heating elements: one at the top and one at the bottom. When working correctly, the top heating element constantly heats the water at the top of the tank while the bottom heating element heats all water in the tank to keep it at a constant temperature.
When the bottom heating element stops working properly, you are forced to rely on the small quantity of water from the top heating element to get hot water. When that water runs out you get that cold surprise in the shower. To fix this, you just need to replace the bottom heating element in your water heater. We can take care of this for you.
You run out of hot water quickly
Do you have to wait to do laundry or run the dishwasher until you and/or your family have showered? Are you racing to shower before everyone else so you don’t have a “cold” awakening? Your water heater is probably too small.
When you run out of heated water in the tank, it can take between 20 to 30 minutes to reheat new water since conventional water heaters can only supply an amount of water equal to the size of the tank. You may need to consider a bigger water heater.
No hot water at all
Your thermostat may be malfunctioning or just not set properly! It works just like any other thermostat, you tell it how hot you want the water and it heats it to that temperature.
Some water heaters have a reset button for the thermostat that is easy to find. But if it doesn’t, you’re probably like most people and you have no idea where the owner’s manual is for your water heater… You can typically find the settings online. Reset the temperature to what you want, then try resetting it again. If that doesn’t fix the problem, give us a call!
If you don’t see your issue listed here, reach out to the professionals at ASAP Appliance and Plumbing. No matter the reason you’re running out of hot water, we will find the solution for you. Next time your shower runs cold, give the pro team at ASAP a call to help warm you up!
