hot water heater troubles

[Shantimama]

For teh last month or so we have been running short of hot water. This never used to be a problem, but now we run out before the end of one shower : We only use hot water for bathing and washing dishes so it isn't like we use much. My concern is that we used to have plenty, now hardly any supply.

What should I do? We own, not rent, the water heater.

[avendesora]

I'm not sure if this relates or not... We have had a problem with cold showers this winter. DH and I both take showers in the morning, but the water never really feels very hot. So we put it on the hottest setting (rather than the mix of hot and cold that we would normally do) and then we use up the hot (actually, it's warm water, sigh) water quickly. But by the end of the day, washing dishes in the kitchen, the water is super hot and it nearly burns our hands! It took us a while to figure out what was going on. We realized that we let our house get very cold at night, and our pipes were getting cold. In the morning, a lot of the heat from the water gets lost to rewarming the pipes. Our solution: we're lucky enough to have a washer that has a delay start timer. We get the laundry set so that it runs a warm/cold load at 5 or 6 am. That pre-heats the pipes for us, and our showers are hot!

Maybe you need to try to insulate your pipes better... if the hot water is hotter, you can run a mix of hot and cold and it will be warm enough.

Good luck,
Aven

[Blue Dragonfly]

I have that problem; I guess there is a tube that runs down the tank and pulls the hot water from the bottom of the tank, but sometimes it breaks, or corrodes maybe, and starts pulling water from half way down the tank, which is cooler.

That is my secondhand explaination from the plumber. Iwas told it would be about 150 to fix, so depending on how old your HW heater is, it may or may not be worth it.

[Shantimama]

The house is only 14 years old, so I am assuming that is how old the heater is. The house is very well insulated and it is a sudden change. Ugh. I really don't want to try and call a plumber - they are almost impossible to get around here as there is a ton of new building going in to keep them busy.

The water is very hot, as it always has been, while it lasts - it is just that while it used to last for 2 or 3 showers right in a row, it runs out before the end of the first shower.

[U2can]

Most hot water tanks have 2 elements, 1 at the top of the tank & one at the bottom, when 1 breaks or malfunctions -the water doesn't reheat as fast. Running out of hot water sooner is how we've noticed there's a problem. The elements can be replaced which is much cheaper than a new tank. In our area, however, too many minerals in the water can cause corrosion to build inside -so when removing the element, the tank develops a leak or rupture. :
Then we're left with replacing tank anyway.

Better luck to you.

[moon child]

It could be as simple as you just need to replace the heating element.
( the metal thingy inside the tank that actually warms the water)
Dh replaced ours 2 years ago, when we had the same problem. It seemed pretty simple and cheap! The element was under $20 at home depot. all you need to do is turn off the water, empty the tank, unscrew the element from the outside of the tank, replace it and refill.
Our house is about as old as yours and my dh is pretty handy. Its worth a try first, before you call a plumber.

[Shantimama]

Thanks for the idea......... my dh is the sweetest, best husband and Dad in the world - but he is definitely NOT handy. Hmmm. I will have to figure out what to do from here.

[momto l&a]

its normally very easy to change out the heating elements. In electric there are normally 2, one at the top and one at the bottom.

There may also be a build up of deposits at the bottom of the tank. Those will flush out hopefully when you drain the tank to put in new elements.

[Shantimama]

So how exactly do I do this? :